2002 NLL season

The 2002 National Lacrosse League season began on November 16, 2001 and concluded with the championship game on April 13, 2002. The Toronto Rock defeated the Albany Attack 13-12 to win their third championship in four seasons. Colin Doyle was named championship game MVP for the second time.

Only one year after the season was lengthened to 14 games, 2002 saw it extended again, this time to 16 games.

Team Movement

2002 was a year of expansion for the NLL, particularly north of the border. No less than four teams were added, three of them Canadian: the New Jersey Storm, Montreal Express, Vancouver Ravens, and Calgary Roughnecks all made their NLL debuts. The expansion caused the NLL to return to a divisional format for the first time since 1994. The teams were split into the Eastern, Central, and Northern divisions; the winners of each division would make the playoffs, as well as the top three ranked non-division-winners. The Eastern division consisted of Washington, Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey, the Central division had Albany, Rochester, Montreal, Buffalo, and Columbus, while the remaining Canadian teams (Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Calgary) were in the Northern division.

Early in the morning of February 14, limousine driver Costas Christofi was found shot to death at the home of New Jersey Storm owner Jayson Williams [cite web|url=http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/news020214.htm|title=Fatal shooting at Jayson Williams' estate|date=February 14, 2002|work=Outsider's Guide to the NLL|accessdate=2007-02-04|author=Philly, R.A.] . Williams was later arrested and charged with manslaughter [cite web|url=http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/news020225.htm|title=Williams charged with reckless manslaughter|work=Outsider's Guide to the NLL|date=February 25, 2002|author=Philly, R.A.|accessdate=2007-02-04] . Williams was acquitted of most charges [cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/news/ledger/stories/jayson_20040522_retrial.html|title= Prosecutor: We'll retry Williams on key charge|work=The Star-Ledger|author=Reilly, Matthew|date=May 22, 2004|accessdate=2007-02-04] , but was then retried for reckless manslaughter. This case is still pending.

For the first time in league history, a team changed arenas midseason, as the Ottawa Rebel left the Corel Centre for the smaller Ottawa Civic Centre [cite web|url=http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/news020215.htm|work=Outsider's Guide to the NLL|title=Rebel going downtown after Saturday|author=Philly, R.A.|date=February 15, 2002|accessdate=2007-02-04] . There were two home games left in the season at the time of the move.

Milestones

*November 23, 2001: The first ever game for both the Montreal Express and Calgary Roughnecks was a record-setting affair. Montreal set an NLL record for goals by one team in a game by defeating the Roughnecks 32-17 in Calgary. The records for most goals by in a game by both teams (49) and most penalty minutes in a game by both teams (155) were also broken in this game [cite web|url=http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/game0202moca.htm|work=Outsider's Guide to the NLL|title=Records shattered in Express' 32-17 romp|date=November 24, 2001|accessdate=2007-02-04|author=Mehling, Vaun] .
*January 4, 2002: Derek Malawsky of the Rochester Knighthawks sets a new NLL record with 11 assists in a 22-11 win over the Buffalo Bandits [cite web|url=http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/game0208robu.htm|author=McAllister, Deb|title=Malawsky's eleven assists set record in big K'Hawks win|date=January 5, 2002|accessdate=2007-02-04]

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"

Playoffs

3RoundBracket-Byes | RD1=Quarterfinals
RD2=Semifinals
RD3=Championship
RD1-seed3=5
RD1-team3=Washington
RD1-score3=12
RD1-seed4=6
RD1-team4=Philadelphia
RD1-score4=11
RD1-seed5=4
RD1-team5=Vancouver
RD1-score5=10
RD1-seed6=3
RD1-team6=Rochester
RD1-score6=11
RD2-seed1=5
RD2-team1=Washington
RD2-score1=11
RD2-seed2=2
RD2-team2=Toronto
RD2-score2=12
RD2-seed3=3
RD2-team3=Rochester
RD2-score3=10
RD2-seed4=1
RD2-team4=Albany
RD2-score4=14
RD3-seed1=2
RD3-team1=Toronto
RD3-score1=13
RD3-seed2=1
RD3-team2=Albany
RD3-score2=12

*Washington was the higher seed but surrendered the game to Philadelphia for financial reasons.

All Star Game

The 2002 All-Star Game was held on April 21 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, where the North team (all of the Canadian teams plus Rochester) beat the South 14-10. The MVP was Toronto's Steve Toll, who scored three goals. This also marked Paul Gait's final professional lacrosse game, as he retired after this season. However, Gait was convinced by his brother Gary to come out of retirement during the 2006 season, and played four games for the Colorado Mammoth before both Gait brothers retired for good.

All-Star teams

Monthly Awards

Awards are also given out monthly for the best overall player and best rookie.

tatistics Leaders

Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. "Italics" indicate tied single-season records.

See also

* 2002 in sports

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/arch021231.htm 2002 Archive at the Outsider's Guide to the NLL]