2004 NLL season

The 2004 National Lacrosse League season began on December 26, 2003 and concluded with the championship game on May 7, 2004. Over 19,000 fans, the second largest crowd ever at an NLL game, packed the Pengrowth Saddledome to watch the Calgary Roughnecks defeat the Buffalo Bandits 14-11. [cite web|url=http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/game0419buca.htm|title=Capacity crowd cheers Calgary to Cup|date=May 7, 2004|accessdate=2007-02-06|author=Philly, R.A.|work=Outsider's Guide to the NLL] This game was the first NLL championship game since 1998 that did not feature the Toronto Rock.

The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association expired before the 2004 season, and the lack of a new agreement caused a 12-day players strike in December 2003. On December 17, the NLL and PLPA announced that the previous CBA had been extended by one year, guaranteeing that the 2004 season would be played without strikes or lockouts [cite web|url=http://nll.com/article.php?id=1673|title=Re-Lax! League Players Reach Agreement|work=NLL.com|date=December 17, 2003|accessdate=2007-02-04] .

Team Movement

2004 was a season of turmoil for the NLL — two franchises disappeared while three others moved cross-country, causing a division realignment. Gone was the three-division format that had been used in the preceding two seasons; the league was now split into East and West divisions. The Ottawa Rebel and New York Saints franchises both folded, and the following teams moved:
* the Columbus Landsharks moved to Arizona, becoming the Arizona Sting
* the New Jersey Storm moved to Anaheim, California, becoming the Anaheim Storm
* the Albany Attack moved to San Jose, California, becoming the San Jose Stealth

These three joined Colorado, Calgary, and Vancouver in the West division, while perennial rivals Toronto, Buffalo, Rochester, and Philadelphia were left to fight over three playoff spots in the East.

Milestones

*January 9: The Anaheim Storm play their first ever home game, losing to the Arizona Sting 19-18 in the first triple overtime game in NLL history [cite web|url=http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/game0403azan.htm|title=Sting outlasts Storm, 19-18, in triple OT|author=Tucker, Seth|work=Outsider's Guide to the NLL|date=January 10, 2004|accessdate=2007-02-04] . This is a record not likely to ever be broken — before the 2005 season, the NLL changed overtime periods to 15 minutes from five [cite web|url=http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/news041228.htm|work=Outsider's Guide to the NLL|title=League announces various rule changes|date=December 28, 2004|author=Philly, R.A.|accessdate=2007-02-04] . Since then, no games have even seen "double" overtime.

Final standings

Regular Season

"W = Wins, L = Losses, GB = Games Behind Division Leader, PCT = Winning Percentage, Home = Home record, Road = Road record, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against"