Dan Dawson (born December 11, 1981) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

former professional

box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in the 1930s in Canada, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's officia ...

player formally playing for the Toronto Rock of the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league comprises 14 teams8 in the United States and 6 in Canada. The NLL is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

, Brampton Excelsiors (MSL) of Major Series Lacrosse, and is currently a free agent in

Major League Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse (MLL) was a men's field lacrosse league in the United States. The league's inaugural season was in 2001 Major League Lacrosse season, 2001. Teams played anywhere from ten to 16 games in a summertime regular season. This w ...

. Dawson ranks 2nd on the all-time NLL points list through of the 2022 season. He is a 7 time NLL All Pro selection. As a professional, he is a 7 time Mann Cup Canadian box lacrosse champion, and a 1 time Major League Lacrosse (field) champion (2009 Toronto Nationals. Representing Canada, Dawson has won two World Indoor (Box) Lacrosse Championship titles and was a finalist in the 2010 World (Field) Lacrosse Championship. Dawson has won two Champion's Cups as a member of the Rochester Knighthawks in 2013 and 2014.

NLL career

Dawson was drafted in the sixth round (68th overall) by the Columbus Landsharks in 2001, and played in 11 games in his rookie season with Columbus, tallying 3 goals, 3 assists and 29 loose balls. In 2003, he played in 16 games, setting career highs in goals and loose balls. In 2004, Dawson helped Team Canada beat Team USA in the Heritage Cup. During the 2004 season, he led Arizona in assists and was 2nd in points. In

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, Dawson finished 7th in the NLL with 84 points and 2nd in goals with 48. He scored a hat-trick in his first All-Star game with the West Division. In 2005 he was named a First Team All-Pro. Dawson was selected first overall by the LumberJax in the

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

dispersal draft, after the Arizona Sting and Boston Blazers announced that they would not be playing in the 2008 season. After leading the LumberJax's the

Champions Cup final, Dawson was again put into National Lacrosse League dispersal draft pool when Arizona ceased operations. This time, Dawson was selected first overall by the Boston Blazers. During the 2009 NLL season, he was named a starter to the

All-Star Game An all-star game is an exhibition game that showcases the best players (the "stars") of a sports league. The exhibition is between two teams organized solely for the event, usually representing the league's teams based on region or division, bu ...

. Dawson and Josh Sanderson both finished the season with 74 assists, a new league record. During the 2012 NLL season, Dawson broke the assists record he shared with Josh Sanderson. However, Garrett Billings eclipsed Dawson's total with 82 and now holds the record. After only one season in Philadelphia, Dawson was traded along with his brother Paul to the Rochester Knighthawks for four players including

Paul Rabil Paul Rabil (born December 14, 1985) is an American Business executive, sports executive and retired professional lacrosse player. He is currently the president of the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL), which he co-founded with his brother, league CEO ...

. Played one season with the expansion team San Diego Seals from 2018-2019. Dawson announced his retirement on June 12, 2023 after 21 seasons in the NLL. He retired leading all-time in assists and games played, 2nd in points, and 4th in goals scored.

Canadian Professional Lacrosse

As a junior in 2002 he played for Brampton Excelsiors Jr.A, jumped to the Brampton Excelsiors (MSL) that same year and won the

Mann Cup The Mann Cup is the trophy awarded to the senior men's box lacrosse champions of Canada. The championship is a best-of-seven, East vs West series played between the league champions of Major Series Lacrosse, the East, and Western Lacrosse Associat ...

. He was signed by the Victoria Shamrocks in 2005 and helped lead them to their 8th Mann Cup victory. He won the Bill Ellison Award twice for the MVP of the 2005 WLA playoffs and the 2006 WLA playoffs.

Mann Cup

2002 - Member of Brampton Excelsiors (MSL), winners in the

, MSL champions
2003 - Member of Brampton Excelsiors (MSL), runner up in the

, MSL champions
2005 - Member of Victoria Shamrocks, winners in the

, WLA champions
2006 - Member of Victoria Shamrocks, runner up in the

, WLA champions
2008 - Member of Brampton Excelsiors (MSL), winners of the

, MSL champions
2009 - Member of Brampton Excelsiors (MSL), winners of the

, MSL champions
2011 - Member of Brampton Excelsiors (MSL), winners of the

, MSL champions
Bible of Lacrosse Mann Cup Stats

International lacrosse career

2004 - Member of Team Canada, winners of the Heritage Cup (box lacrosse)
2007 - Member of Team Canada, winners of the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and most populous municipality of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the most populous municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of 2024, it is estimated that the population of the H ...

2010 - Member of Team Canada, runner up in the World Lacrosse Championship in

Manchester, England Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

2011 - Member of Team Canada, winners of the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Bible of Lacrosse 2011 World Box Lacrosse Stats
Indoor.com

Statistics

NLL

Reference:

CLA

Awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dawson, Dan 1981 births Living people Arizona Sting players Boston Blazers players Canadian expatriate lacrosse people in the United States Canadian lacrosse players Hamilton Nationals players Lacrosse forwards Lacrosse people from Ontario National Lacrosse League All-Stars Philadelphia Wings players Portland LumberJax players Rochester Knighthawks players Sportspeople from Oakville, Ontario