- Albany Attack
NLL Defunct Team Infobox
team_name=Albany Attack
bg_color=#9BDDFF
title_color=black
division=Central
logo=AlbAttack.png
played=2000-2003
home_arena=Pepsi Arena
hometown=Albany, New York
team_colors=Navy Blue, Columbia Blue, Silver, White
division_champs=2002
later=San Jose Stealth The Albany Attack was the name of a franchise which played in theNational Lacrosse League (NLL) from the 2000 season through the 2003 season. The Attack played in the former Pepsi Arena inAlbany, New York (now known as theTimes Union Center ). After the 2003 season, the franchise was sold and moved toSan Jose, California and renamed theSan Jose Stealth .Awards & honors
2002 Highlights
The 2002 Albany Attack team was the most successful Attack team during the franchise's four years in Albany, NY. It is the only Attack team to have made the NLL playoffs. (Note: The
San Jose Stealth made the NLL playoffs in their inaugural season, 2004, as well as the 2007 and 2008 seasons.) The team went 14-2 in the regular season winning the Central Division championship, and went 15-3 overall having lost to the Toronto Rock in the 2002 NLL Champion's Cup Game in Albany.* Before the season began, Head Coach Terry Sanderson left the Albany Attack to become the Head Coach of the expansion
Montréal Express . He was replaced byBob McMahon .
* The 2002 season began in Albany onNovember 16 ,2001 . On that date, the Albany Attack defeated the expansionNew Jersey Storm who were playing their first game. Storm owner and former NBA starJayson Williams was in attendance.
*With a regular season record of 14–2, and overall record of 15–3, the Albany Attack established new NLL records for most regular season wins and most overall wins.
*The Attack finished first in the Central Division, one game ahead of theRochester Knighthawks who had finished with a regular season record of 13–3, the second best in the NLL that season. Ironically, those two Attack regular season losses were both to Rochester; one game in Albany and another in Rochester.
*In the playoffs, the Albany Attack (the #1 seed) had a bye during the first round. They then hosted and defeated the Rochester Knighthawks (the #4 seed), 14–10, in a semifinal game with an attendance of 5074. On SaturdayApril 13 ,2002 , the Albany Attack hosted the #2 seedToronto Rock for the Champion's Cup, but they lost to Toronto by a score of 13–12 in front of 9289 fans.
*Head Coach Bob McMahon was named NLL Head Coach of the Year. [http://www.nll.com/article_86.shtml]
*ForwardJosh Sanderson established a new NLL record for Most Assists (68). (Update: In the 2005 season, Sanderson, then with the Toronto Rock, broke his own record and accumulated 71 assists.)
*Goalie Rob Blasdell was named 2002 Goalie of the Year. [http://www.nll.com/article_82.shtml]
*Forward Josh Sanderson and Goalie Rob Blasdell were selected to the NLL All-Pro First Team. [http://www.nll.com/article_81.shtml]
*Five Albany Attack players were selected to play on the South Team of the 2002 NLL All-Star Game:Rob Blasdell (G, starter),Cam Woods (D, starter),Jim Moss (D), Josh Sanderson (F, starter), and Gary Rosyski (F). The Head Coach of the South Team was the Albany Attack Head Coach, Bob McMahon.Attendance problems
For various reasons, the Albany Attack were plagued by poor attendance most of their existence with average attendances in the 3000–4000 range which was not enough for the franchise to be profitable.
On
June 14 ,2001 , Albany Attack owner Herb Chorbajian, abanker with CharterOne Bank, andAlbany River Rats owner Walter Robb announced an agreement in which Robb would purchase a minority equity share in the Albany Attack. Given both teams played in thePepsi Arena , the purpose of the agreement was to establish marketing and promotional synergy. [http://www.albanyriverrats.com/news/?id=61]Despite the agreement, the Albany Attack was still not profitable so, throughout the 2002 season, Herb Chorbajian considered selling the Albany Attack. However, the success of the playoffs encouraged him to keep the team for another season. Furthermore, in the summer of 2002, the Albany Attack Pack, the Official Fan Club of the Albany Attack, was created by several fans with hopes of improving attendance.
In the 2003 season, according to Albany Attack
General Manager Michael DeRossi, season ticket sales did go up considerably over the previous season, but the marketing effort actually decreased. Furthermore, the Attack went only 2–6 in their first eight games, losing all four home games to that point. While the Attack did have a second half record of 6–2, they never recovered enough to return to the playoffs nor did they have sufficient attendance to be profitable.Move to San Jose
With no significant improvement in attendance throughout the 2003 season, the Albany Attack were destined to be a financial loss for a fourth consecutive year. During that season, there were numerous rumors that Mr. Chorbajian was going to sell the franchise, in particular to a group from San Jose,
California .On
June 9 ,2003 , the rumors were confirmed when an announcement was made that the Albany Attack franchise was sold and relocated to San Jose, CA [http://www.nll.com/article.php?id=1852] where it is currently (as of2007 ) located. Mr. Chorbajian retained a share in the franchise.During the summer of 2003, the new owners had a "Name the Team Contest" and, on
September 16 ,2003 , the winner, a high school sophomore from San Jose, elected to officially rename [http://www.nll.com/article.php?id=1782] the team theSan Jose Stealth .External links
* [http://www.nll.com Official Website of the National Lacrosse League] and its Media Guide
* [http://sjstealth.com Official Site of the San Jose Stealth]
* [http://www.geocities.com/prosportshistory/nllhistory.html Entry for National Lacrosse League at the Major League Sports Almanac]
* [http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/ Outsider's Guide to the National Lacrosse League]
* [http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/alba.htm Albany Attack page at the Outsider's Guide]
* [http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/sanj.htm San Jose Stealth page at the Outsider's Guide]
* [http://www.oursportscentral.com/sports/?l_id=14 National Lacrosse League page at OurSportsCentral.com]
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