2005 NLL season

The 2005 National Lacrosse League season began on January 1, 2005 and concluded with the championship game on May 14. The Toronto Rock won their fifth NLL championship, defeating the Arizona Sting 19-13 in Toronto.

Colin Doyle of the Toronto Rock won the scoring title, marking the first time since 1990 that someone other than Gary Gait, Paul Gait, or John Tavares has led the league in scoring. For his efforts in leading the Rock to the championship, Doyle was named both league MVP and Championship Game MVP.

Just hours after the Rock's championship victory, another lacrosse legend, former Toronto head coach and general manager Les Bartley lost his battle with colon cancer at age 51. Bartley had coached the Buffalo Bandits to three MILL/NLL championships before moving to the expansion Ontario Raiders in 1998. Bartley moved with the Raiders to Toronto the next year, and went on to win titles in four of the next five seasons. Bartley also won the NLL Executive of the Year award in 2005, in part due to his involvement in the negotiation of the new CBA.

The 2005 season featured the NLL retirement of two lacrosse legends: Gary Gait and Tom Marechek. Marechek played his entire 12-year career with the Philadelphia Wings, winning Rookie of the Year in 1994, as well as four championships with the Wings. He was named to the All-Pro team eight times, and is third all-time in the NLL in points, after only Gary Gait and John Tavares . Marechek announced his retirement shortly before the end of the season.

Gait, at the time the league's all-time leading scorer, announced his retirement shortly before the season began. He was named League MVP six times, won seven scoring titles, and was named an All-Pro an astonishing 14 times in 14 seasons. With four games left in the regular season, Gait managed to coax his twin brother Paul out of retirement to play with him. However, Colorado was eliminated in the division semi-finals by Arizona, so Gait's dream of winning the championship in his final season did not come to fruition. He did win the championship in his first year as head coach of the Mammoth the next year.

Labour Dispute

The collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association (PLPA) expired at the end of the 2004 season, and negotiations for a new CBA took place over the summer. However, these negotiations did not result in a new agreement, and the NLL even accused the PLPA of negotiating in bad faith. The league made its "last, best, and final offer" to the PLPA on September 29, 2004, and announced that if this offer was not accepted by the players, the season would be officially cancelled on October 2.

Marathon negotiations continued until early morning on October 1, and resulted in two different proposals. Both were presented to the players that day with the stipulation that if neither of them was acceptable, the season would be cancelled. One of the two proposals (a three-year deal) was accepted, and the season went on as scheduled.

Team Movement

The season featured a new team added to the East division, and one removed from the West. The ownership of the Minnesota Wild NHL team purchased the rights to the old Montreal Express franchise, moving it to Minnesota and renaming it the Minnesota Swarm, while the Vancouver Ravens franchise was removed from the schedule less than three weeks before the start of the season.

Milestones

• February 10: Buffalo Bandits legend John Tavares became the first player in league history to reach 500 assists, as the Bandits defeated the Anaheim Storm 20-9.
• February 18: Tavares reaches another milestone in his very next game, scoring his 1000th point in an 11-7 defeat of Rochester. Tavares becomes only the second player ever to reach that milestone, following Gary Gait.

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

Qualified for playoffs

Playoffs

• Toronto hosted the championship game.

All Star Game

The 2005 All-Star Game was held at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary, Alberta on February 26, 2005. The East division defeated the West 11-10 in a thrilling overtime game. John Tavares scored the winner, and hometown captain Tracy Kelusky was named game MVP.

All-Star teams

Eastern Division starters		Western Division starters
John Grant, Jr., Rochester		Dan Dawson, Arizona
Blaine Manning, Toronto		Gary Gait, Colorado
John Tavares, Buffalo		Tracey Kelusky, Calgary
Glenn Clark, Toronto		Pat Coyle, Colorado
Andrew Turner, Rochester		Jim Moss, San Jose
Pat O'Toole, Rochester (goalie)		Anthony Cosmo, San Jose (goalie)
Eastern Division Reserves		Western Division Reserves
Craig Conn, Minnesota		Ryan Boyle, San Jose
Kyle Couling, Buffalo		Craig Gelsvik, Calgary
Ryan Cousins, Minnesota		Peter Lough, Arizona
Colin Doyle, Toronto		Gee Nash, Colorado (goalie)
Dallas Eliuk, Philadelphia (goalie)		Jesse Phillips, Calgary
Thomas Hajek, Philadelphia		Casey Powell, Anaheim
Mike Hasen, Rochester		Gavin Prout, Colorado
Tom Marechek, Philadelphia		Lewis Ratcliff, Calgary
Mark Steenhuis, Buffalo		Gary Rosyski, San Jose
Dan Teat, Buffalo		Scott Self, Arizona
Shawn Williams, Rochester		Mike Law, Anaheim
Jim Veltman, Toronto		Kaleb Toth, Calgary

Awards

Annual

Award	Winner	Team
MVP Award	Colin Doyle	Toronto
Rookie of the Year Award	Ryan Boyle	San Jose
Les Bartley Award (Coach of the Year)	Bob Hamley	Arizona
GM of the Year Award	Bob Hamley	Arizona
Executive of the Year Award	Les Bartley	Toronto
Defensive Player of the Year Award	Andrew Turner	Rochester
Goaltender of the Year Award	Steve Dietrich	Buffalo
Sportsmanship Award	Gary Gait	Colorado
Championship Game MVP	Colin Doyle	Toronto

All-Pro Teams

Reference:

First Team

• Colin Doyle, Toronto
• John Grant, Jr., Rochester
• John Tavares, Buffalo
• Dan Dawson, Arizona
• Steve Dietrich, Buffalo
• Andrew Turner, Rochester

Second Team

• Gary Gait, Colorado
• Blaine Manning, Toronto
• Josh Sanderson, Toronto
• Jim Veltman, Toronto
• Bob Watson, Toronto
• Tracey Kelusky, Calgary

All-Rookie Team

Reference:

• Ryan Boyle, San Jose
• Delby Powless, Buffalo
• Andrew Burkholder, Philadelphia
• Rory Glaves, Anaheim
• Ryder Bateman, Minnesota
• Dan Finck, Philadelphia

Weekly Awards

The NLL gives out awards weekly for the best overall player, best offensive player, best defensive player, and best rookie.

Week	Overall	Offensive	Defensive	Rookie
1	Craig Conn	Craig Conn	Gee Nash	Pat Dutton
2	Dan Dawson	Dan Dawson	Dallas Eliuk	Ryan Boyle
3	Blaine Manning	Blaine Manning	Mike Miron	Riley Kemp
4	John Grant, Jr.	John Grant, Jr.	Matt Disher	Ryan Boyle
5	John Tavares	John Tavares	Pat O'Toole	Delby Powless
6	Dan Dawson	Dan Dawson	Dallas Eliuk	Kevin Fines
7	John Tavares	John Grant, Jr.	Bob Watson	Ryder Bateman
8	John Grant, Jr.	John Grant, Jr.	Steve Dietrich	Andrew Burkholder
9	Keith Cromwell	Keith Cromwell	Dallas Eliuk	Andrew Burkholder
10	Mark Steenhuis	Gary Gait	Dallas Eliuk	Dan Finck
11	John Tavares	John Tavares	Curtis Palidwor	Ryan McNish
12	Pat Campbell	Aaron Wilson	Pat Campbell	Dan Finck
13	Casey Powell	Colin Doyle	Bob Watson	Rory Glaves
14	Matt Roik	Colin Doyle	Matt Roik	Delby Powless
15	Blaine Manning	Blaine Manning	Steve Dietrich	Andrew Burkholder
16	Tracey Kelusky	Tracey Kelusky	Nick Patterson	Ryder Bateman

Monthly Awards

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

Month	Overall	Rookie
Jan	John Tavares	Ryan Boyle
Feb	John Grant, Jr.	Andrew Burkholder
Mar	John Tavares Bob Watson (tie)	Ryan Boyle

Statistics Leaders

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

Stat	Player	Team	Number
Goals	John Grant, Jr.	Rochester	49
Assists	Josh Sanderson	Toronto	71
Points	Colin Doyle	Toronto	111
Penalty Minutes	Jesse Phillips	Calgary	69
Shots on Goal	John Grant, Jr.	Rochester	193
Loose Balls	Jim Veltman	Toronto	193
Save Pct	Steve Dietrich	Buffalo	78.9
GAA	Steve Dietrich	Buffalo	10.96

See also

• 2005 in sports

References

External links

• 2005 Archive at the Outsider's Guide to the NLL
• Standings from pointstreak.com
• Scoring Leaders from pointstreak.com
• Goalie Leaders from pointstreak.com