2003 NLL season explained

The 2003 National Lacrosse League season is the 17th season in the NLL that began on December 27, 2002, and concluded with the championship game on May 3, 2003.

In 2003, the NLL became the first major men's sports league in North America to feature a woman playing in a regular-season game. Ginny Capicchioni, a stand-out goaltender at Sacred Heart University, was signed by the New Jersey Storm as their third-string goaltender. She dressed for three games, though only played in one. Capicchioni collected one loose ball and made six saves while allowing 7 goals in 11 minutes of play.^[1]

Team movement

2003 saw the Montreal Express suspend operations, and also saw the Washington Power move to Colorado, where even they were unprepared for the warm welcome they received in Denver. The franchise had drawn small crowds in Washington as well as in Pittsburgh and Baltimore before that, but averaged more than 16,000 fans per game^[2] in 2003, second in the league only to Toronto.

Teams

2003 National Lacrosse League
Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Central	Albany Attack	Albany, New York	Pepsi Arena	14,236
	Buffalo Bandits	Buffalo, New York	HSBC Arena	18,690
	Columbus Landsharks	Columbus, Ohio	Nationwide Arena	18,136
	Rochester Knighthawks	Rochester, New York	Blue Cross Arena	10,662
East	Colorado Mammoth	Denver, Colorado	Pepsi Center	18,007
	New Jersey Storm	East Rutherford, New Jersey	Izod Center	19,040
	New York Saints	Uniondale, New York	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	16,234
	Philadelphia Wings	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	First Union Center	19,519
North	Calgary Roughnecks	Calgary, Alberta	Pengrowth Saddledome	19,289
	Ottawa Rebel	Ottawa, Ontario	Ottawa Civic Centre	10,550
	Toronto Rock	Toronto, Ontario	Air Canada Centre	18,800
	Vancouver Ravens	Vancouver, British Columbia	General Motors Place	18,514

Milestones

• January 31: John Tavares became the 3rd player in NLL history (after Gary and Paul Gait) with 400 career goals, scoring 5 and adding 6 assists as the Buffalo Bandits defeated the Columbus Landsharks 19–16^[3]

Final standings

Semifinals

Colorado 11 @ Toronto 15
Buffalo 13 @ Rochester 16

Championship

Toronto 8 @ Rochester 6

All Star Game

No NLL All-Star game was held in 2003.

Awards

Award	Winner	Team
MVP Award	Gary Gait	Colorado
Rookie of the Year Award	Brian Langtry	Colorado
Coach of the Year	Darris Kilgour	Buffalo
GM of the Year Award	Kurt Silcott	Buffalo
Executive of the Year Award	Brad Banister	Calgary
Defensive Player of the Year Award	Jim Moss	Albany
Goaltender of the Year Award	Pat O'Toole	Rochester
Sportsmanship Award	Chris Driscoll	New York / Toronto
Championship Game MVP	Bob Watson	Toronto

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	Bill Greer			Patrick Merrill
2	Erik Miller		Erik Miller	Cam Sedgwick
3	Jason Clark	Jason Clark		Chris Schiller
4		Pat Maddalena	Bill Greer	Tom Montour
5			Dallas Eliuk	Aaron Wilson
6		Del Halladay		Aaron Wilson
7			Curtis Palidwor	Nick Polanco
8	Bill Greer			Lewis Ratcliff
9			Jim Veltman	Aaron Wilson
10				Travis Gillespie
11		Jeff Ratcliffe	Kyle Couling	Brian Tower
12	Gary Gait		Dwight Maetche	Marc Morley
13	Gary Gait		Gee Nash	Brian Langtry
14	Tracey Kelusky		Pat O'Toole	Brian Langtry
15	Pat Maddalena		Brian Beisel	Brian Lantry
16	Erik Miller	Pat Maddalena	Erik Miller	Marc Morley

Monthly awards

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

Month	Overall	Rookie
Jan	Pat Maddalena John Tavares (tie)	Cam Sedgwick
Feb	Chris Driscoll	Aaron Wilson
Mar	Gary Gait	Brian Langtry

Statistics leaders

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

Stat	Player	Team	Number
Goals	Gary Gait	Colorado	61
Assists	John Tavares	Buffalo	58
Points	John Tavares	Buffalo	107
Penalty Minutes	Casey Zaph	Rochester	59
Loose Balls	Jim Veltman	Toronto	207
Save Pct	Pat O'Toole	Rochester	78.3

Attendance

Regular Season

Home Team	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance[4]
Toronto Rock	8	16,733	133,867
Colorado Mammoth	8	16,488	131,907
Philadelphia Wings	8	14,021	112,168
Calgary Roughnecks	8	11,446	91,567
Rochester Knighthawks	8	8,984	71,870
Vancouver Ravens	8	8,337	66,699
Buffalo Bandits	8	7,002	56,015
New Jersey Storm	8	5,484	43,874
New York Saints	8	4,260	34,079
Ottawa Rebel	8	4,202	33,619
Albany Attack	8	3,689	25,103
Columbus Landsharks	8	3,138	25,103
League	96	8,603	825,871

Playoffs

Home Team	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance
Colorado Mammoth	1	17,129	17,129
Toronto Rock	1	16,733	16,733
Rochester Knighthawks	2	9,943	19,885
Buffalo Bandits	1	6,761	6,761
League	5	12,102	60,508

See also

• 2003 in sports

External links

• 2003 Archive at the Outsider's Guide to the NLL

Notes and References

1. Web site: PLUS: LACROSSE; First Woman Plays In League Game. The New York Times. April 14, 2003. February 4, 2007.
2. Web site: Denver to host 2004 All Star Game. Philly, R.A.. August 11, 2003. February 4, 2007. Outsider's Guide to the NLL. https://web.archive.org/web/20061221002027/http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/news030811.htm. December 21, 2006. dead. mdy-all.
3. Web site: Tavares hits 400 as Bandits top 'Sharks, 19–16. Outsider's Guide to the NLL. February 1, 2003. February 4, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070818075336/http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/game0306bucb.htm. August 18, 2007. dead. mdy-all.
4. Web site: 2003 Season. nllstats.com. 16 June 2023.