2017–18 NBL Canada season explained

The 2017–18 NBL Canada season is the seventh season of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC). The regular season ran November 18, 2017 to April 2, 2018.

League changes

After two years as league commissioner, Dave Magley left the league to found North American Premier Basketball. He was replaced on an interim basis by London Lightning owner and league president Vito Frijia.

After years of league ownership, the Moncton Miracles were folded to make way for an expansion team under new ownership called the Moncton Magic.^[1] The league also awarded expansion franchises in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador,^[2] and Sudbury, Ontario. However, the Sudbury ownership group delayed their launch in the league until 2019.^[3] The Orangeville A's folded in the Central Division, leaving the league with six teams in the Atlantic region and four in the Central. As a result, the new St. John's Edge were scheduled to play in the Central Division.^[4]

Offseason coaching changes

• The Cape Breton Highlanders hired longtime NBLC head coach Rob Spon away from the Saint John Riptide, replacing their fired inaugural head coach Dean Murray and the interim Ben Resner.
• The Island Storm hired Tim Kendrick to replace longtime Storm head coach, Joe Salerno.
• The London Lightning hired Keith Vassell, former Niagara College head coach and the interim head coach of the Niagara River Lions the previous season. During the 2017 playoffs, then-Lightning head coach Kyle Julius notified ownership he would not return for the following season.
• The Moncton Magic hired Joe Salerno as its inaugural head coach. Salerno had coached the previous season for the Island Storm.
• The Niagara River Lions hired Joe Raso as its permanent head coach after Grâce Lokole stepped down during the previous season and Keith Vassell coached the rest of the season.
• The Saint John Riptide hired Nelson Terroba to replace Rob Spon.
• The St. John's Edge hired Jeff Dunlap as its inaugural head coach.

Midseason coaching changes

• The KW Titans released Serge Langis on 25 February 2018 after a 5–22 record, and replaced him with former Titans' player Cavell Johnson.^[5]

Teams

2017-18 National Basketball League of Canada
Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Atlantic	Cape Breton Highlanders	Sydney, Nova Scotia	Centre 200	5,000
	Halifax Hurricanes	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Scotiabank Centre	10,500
	Island Storm	Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island	Eastlink Centre	4,000
	Moncton Magic	Moncton, New Brunswick	Moncton Coliseum	6,554
	Saint John Riptide	Saint John, New Brunswick	Harbour Station	6,603
Central	KW Titans	Kitchener, Ontario	Kitchener Memorial Auditorium	7,312
	London Lightning	London, Ontario	Budweiser Gardens	9,000
	Niagara River Lions	St. Catharines, Ontario	Meridian Centre	4,030
	St. John's Edge	St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador	Mile One Centre	6,750
	Windsor Express	Windsor, Ontario	WFCU Centre	6,500

Map of teams

Regular season

Standings as of 2 April 2018:^[6]

Atlantic Division
	40	28	12		—
	40	23	17		5
	40	20	20		8
	40	19	21		9
	40	13	27		15

Central Division
	40	27	13		—
	40	25	15		2
	40	20	20		7
x —	40	17	23		10
	40	8	32		19

Notes

• z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
• c – Clinched home court advantage for the division playoffs
• x – Clinched playoff spot

Attendance

As of games played 2 April 2018

Playoffs

Bold Series winner
Italic Team with home-court advantage

Draft

The 2017–18 NBL Canada Draft and Combine was held on October 20–22. The St. John's Edge selected Aaron Williams first.^[7]

		Player		Team
1	1	Aaron Williams		St. John's Edge	Chicago State
1	2	Zachary Valliere		Island Storm	Fitchburg State
1	3	Duke Mondy		Cape Breton Highlanders	Oakland
1	4	Steven Toyloy		Moncton Magic	Cincinnati
1	5	Matthew Hart		Niagara River Lions	George Washington
1	6	Torrence Dyck		Island Storm	Daemen College
1	7	Scottie McRae		Windsor Express	Albany
1	8	Cleon Roberts		Saint John Riptide	La Salle
1	9	Andrew Hayles		Windsor Express	Alabama State
1	10	Shawn Amiker		Halifax Hurricanes	Youngstown State
1	11	Bright Mensah		London Lightning	William Paterson
2	12	Zach Gordon		St. John's Edge	Cal Poly
2	13	Jean-Rony Cadot		Windsor Express	TCU
2	14	Damarcus Harrison		Cape Breton Highlanders	Clemson
2	15	Willie Connor		KW Titans	Buffalo
2	16	Robert Ukawuba		Windsor Express	NJIT
2	17	Georges Serresse		KW Titans
2	18	Kyle Steward		Saint John Riptide	UMKC
2	19	James Johnson		Windsor Express	Culver–Stockton
2	20	Daryl Hunter		Halifax Hurricanes
2	21	Boyd Vassell		London Lightning

Awards

Player of the Week award

For games in week ending	Atlantic Division	Central Division
width=60	Player	width=60	Team	width=60	Player	width=60	Team
November 27, 2017				St. John's Edge
December 3, 2017				St. John's Edge
December 10, 2017				Niagara River Lions
December 17, 2017			Charles Hinkle (2)	St. John's Edge
December 24, 2017				London Lightning
December 31, 2017				London Lightning
January 7, 2018				London Lightning
January 14, 2018	Gabe Freeman (2)		Royce White (2)	London Lightning
January 21, 2018				Niagara River Lions
January 28, 2018				Windsor Express
February 4, 2018				KW Titans
February 11, 2018	Terry Thomas (2)			Windsor Express
February 18, 2018	Billy White (2)		Ryan Anderson (2)	London Lightning
February 25, 2018				Windsor Express
March 4, 2018	Franklin Session (2)		Carl English (2)	St. John's Edge
March 11, 2018	Corey Allmond (2)			Niagara River Lions
March 18, 2018				Niagara River Lions
March 25, 2018	Antoine Mason (2)		Logan Stutz (2)	Windsor Express
April 2, 2018	Malcolm Miller (2)			London Lightning

Coach of the Month award

width=60	Month	width=60	Player	width=60	Team
December
January
February
March	Mike Leslie (2)

End-of-season awards

Source:^[8]

• Most Valuable Player: Carl English, St. John's Edge
• Canadian Player of the Year: Carl English, St. John's Edge
• Newcomer of the Year: Franklin Session, Island Storm
• Defensive Player of the Year: Du'Vaughn Maxwell, Island Storm
• Rookie of the Year: Jaylon Tate, Niagara River Lions
• Sixth Man of the Year: Ta'Quan Zimmerman, Halifax Hurricanes
• Coach of the Year: Mike Leslie, Halifax Hurricanes

External links

• NBL Canada website

Notes and References

1. News: Magic retires Miracles: Moncton welcomes new pro basketball team . July 22, 2017 . . October 7, 2017.
2. Web site: What is St. John's getting into with NBL Canada? The Telegram. www.thetelegram.com. 17 October 2017. en.
3. Web site: Sudbury Expansion team to start fall of 2018 . NBLC . 1 August 2017 . 2017-10-18 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170803212059/http://nblcanada.ca/p/14578/nr/101546/sudbury-expansion-team-to-start-fall-of-2018 . 2017-08-03 . dead .
4. Web site: St. John's Edge shows off jerseys ahead of pro-basketball debut. CBC News. 17 October 2017. en.
5. Web site: KW TITANS RELEASE HEAD COACH SERGE LANGIS . KWTitans.com . 25 February 2018 . 26 February 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180226092216/http://www.kwtitans.com/news/id/100125/view . 26 February 2018 . dead .
6. Web site: 2017–18 NBL Canada Standings . NBL Canada . 20 November 2017.
7. News: St. John's Edge look forward with draft picks . October 23, 2017 . thetelegram.com . October 23, 2017.
8. Web site: NBLC Awards.