National Lacrosse League Cup

The National Lacrosse League Cup is the trophy awarded each year to the champions of the National Lacrosse League. Prior to 2018, the league awarded the Champions Cup.[1]

The National Lacrosse League Cup, photographed in 2023 after the winning season of the Buffalo Bandits.
The Calgary Roughnecks raise the Champion's Cup in celebration of their 2009 championship.

Winners

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Year Winner Runner-up Score Series
1998 Philadelphia Wings Baltimore Thunder 2–0[2]
1999 Toronto Rock Rochester Knighthawks 13–10  
2000 Toronto Rock Rochester Knighthawks 14–13  
2001 Philadelphia Wings Toronto Rock 9–8  
2002 Toronto Rock Albany Attack 13–12  
2003 Toronto Rock Rochester Knighthawks 8–6  
2004 Calgary Roughnecks Buffalo Bandits 14–11  
2005 Toronto Rock Arizona Sting 19–13  
2006 Colorado Mammoth Buffalo Bandits 16–9  
2007 Rochester Knighthawks Arizona Sting 13–11  
2008 Buffalo Bandits Portland LumberJax 14–13  
2009 Calgary Roughnecks New York Titans 12–10  
2010 Washington Stealth Toronto Rock 15–11  
2011 Toronto Rock Washington Stealth 8–7  
2012 Rochester Knighthawks Edmonton Rush 9–6  
2013 Rochester Knighthawks Washington Stealth 11–10  
2014 Rochester Knighthawks Calgary Roughnecks 2–1[3]
2015 Edmonton Rush Toronto Rock 2–0[4]
2016 Saskatchewan Rush Buffalo Bandits 2–0[5]
2017 Georgia Swarm Saskatchewan Rush 2–0[6]
2018 Saskatchewan Rush Rochester Knighthawks 2–1[7]
2019 Calgary Roughnecks Buffalo Bandits 2–0[8]
2022 Colorado Mammoth Buffalo Bandits 2–1[9]
2023 Buffalo Bandits Colorado Mammoth 2–1[10]
2024 Buffalo Bandits Albany FireWolves 2–0[11]

Most Valuable Players

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Year Winner Team Statistics
1998 Dallas Eliuk Philadelphia Wings 2 wins
1999 Colin Doyle Toronto Rock 4 goals, 2 assists
2000 Dan Stroup Toronto Rock 5 goals
2001 Dallas Eliuk Philadelphia Wings 40 saves
2002 Colin Doyle Toronto Rock 3 goals, 1 assist
2003 Bob Watson Toronto Rock 40 saves
2004 Curtis Palidwor Calgary Roughnecks 41 saves
2005 Colin Doyle Toronto Rock 5 goals, 3 assists
2006 Gavin Prout Colorado Mammoth 4 goals, 3 assists
2007 John Grant, Jr. Rochester Knighthawks 3 goals, 5 assists
2008 Mark Steenhuis Buffalo Bandits 5 goals, 1 assist
2009 Josh Sanderson Calgary Roughnecks 2 goals, 3 assists
2010 Lewis Ratcliff Washington Stealth 5 goals, 1 assist
2011 Bob Watson Toronto Rock 46 saves
2012 Cody Jamieson Rochester Knighthawks 4 goals, 4 assists
2013 Cody Jamieson Rochester Knighthawks 3 goals, 2 assists
2014 Dan Dawson Rochester Knighthawks 3 goals, 5 assists
2015 Mark Matthews Edmonton Rush 5 goals, 3 assists
2016 Aaron Bold Saskatchewan Rush 9.50 GAA, 82.5% save pct.
2017 Lyle Thompson Georgia Swarm 3 goals, 4 assists
2018 Jeff Shattler Saskatchewan Rush 7 goals, 5 assists
2019 Dane Dobbie Calgary Roughnecks 7 goals, 6 assists
2022 Dillon Ward Colorado Mammoth 289 playoff saves
2023 Dhane Smith Buffalo Bandits 9 goals, 14 assists
2024 Josh Byrne Buffalo Bandits 4 goals, 12 assists

All-time Finals appearances since league inception

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Appearances Team Wins Losses Winning %
Currently active franchises
13 Buffalo Bandits 6 7 .462
9 Toronto Rock 6 3 .667
6 Colorado Mammoth[12] 3 3 .500
5 Saskatchewan Rush[13] 3 2 .600
4 Vancouver Warriors[14] 1 3 .250
Calgary Roughnecks 3 1 .750
1 Georgia Swarm 1 0 1.000
Albany FireWolves 0 1 .000
Inactive franchises - Knighthawks relocated, not inactive
10 Rochester Knighthawks (1995-2019) 5 5 .500
9 Philadelphia Wings (1987-2014) 6 3 .667
2 New York Saints[15] 1 1 .500
Arizona Sting 0 2 .000
Washington Wave 0 2 .000
1 Detroit Turbos 1 0 1.000
Boston Blazers (1989-1997)[16] 0 1 .000
New York Titans 0 1 .000
Portland LumberJax 0 1 .000

All-time league championships

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League Championships Team Winning Seasons
6 Toronto Rock 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2011
Philadelphia Wings (1987-2014) 1989,[17] 1990,[17] 1994,[17] 1995,[17] 1998,[17] 2001[17]
Buffalo Bandits 1992, 1993, 1996, 2008, 2023, 2024
5
Rochester Knighthawks (1995-2019) 1997,[18] 2007,[18] 2012,[18] 2013,[18] 2014[18]
3 Saskatchewan Rush 2015,[19] 2016, 2018
Calgary Roughnecks 2004, 2009, 2019
Colorado Mammoth 1987,[20] 2006, 2022
1 Detroit Turbos 1991
Georgia Swarm 2017
New York Saints[21] 1988
Washington Stealth 2010

National Lacrosse League Cup Appearances

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Appearances Team Wins Losses Winning %
4 Buffalo Bandits 2 2 .500
2 Colorado Mammoth 1 1 .500
1 Saskatchewan Rush 1 0 1.000
Calgary Roughnecks 1 0 1.000
Rochester Knighthawks (1995-2019) 0 1 .000
Albany FireWolves 0 1 .000

All-time National Lacrosse League Cup wins

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NLL Cups Won Team Winning Seasons
2 Buffalo Bandits 2023, 2024
1
Saskatchewan Rush 2018
Calgary Roughnecks 2019
Colorado Mammoth 2022

Champion's Cup appearances

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The NLL Champion's Cup, photographed in 2006 after the winning season of the Colorado Mammoth.

Awarded from 1998 to 2017

Appearances Team Wins Losses Winning %
Currently active franchises
9 Toronto Rock 6 3 .667
7 Rochester Knighthawks (1995-2019) 4 3 .571
4 Saskatchewan Rush[22] 2 2 .500
Vancouver Warriors[14] 1 3 .250
Buffalo Bandits 1 3 .250
Calgary Roughnecks 3 1 .750
2 Philadelphia Wings (1987-2014) 2 0 1.000
1 Colorado Mammoth 1 0 1.000
Georgia Swarm 1 0 1.000
Inactive franchises
2 Arizona Sting 0 2 .000
1 New York Titans 0 1 .000
Portland LumberJax 0 1 .000

All-time Champion's Cup wins

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Champion's
Cups Won
Team Winning Seasons
6
Toronto Rock 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2011
4
Rochester Knighthawks (1995-2019) 2007,[23] 2012,[23] 2013,[23] 2014[23]
2 Calgary Roughnecks 2004, 2009
Philadelphia Wings (1987-2014) 1998,[24] 2001[24]
Saskatchewan Rush 2015,[19] 2016
1 Buffalo Bandits 2008
Colorado Mammoth 2006
Georgia Swarm 2017
Washington Stealth 2010

North American Cup era

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For the 1987 and 1988 seasons, the league was known as the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League; from the 1989 season until the conclusion of the 1997 season, the league was known as the Major Indoor Lacrosse League. In 1998, the Major Indoor Lacrosse League changed to become the National Lacrosse League. During the entire non-NLL name era (1987-1997), a different trophy was awarded to the league champion called the North American Cup.[25] It was a tall, skinny, silver-colored trophy that somewhat resembled the Stanley Cup.

North American Cup era league champions

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Year Winner Runner-up Score
Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League
1987 Baltimore Thunder Washington Wave 11—10
1988 New Jersey Saints Washington Wave 17—16
Major Indoor Lacrosse League
1989 Philadelphia Wings New York Saints 11—10
1990 Philadelphia Wings New England Blazers 17—7
1991 Detroit Turbos Baltimore Thunder 14—12
1992 Buffalo Bandits Philadelphia Wings 11—10 (OT)
1993 Buffalo Bandits Philadelphia Wings 13—12
1994 Philadelphia Wings Buffalo Bandits 26—15
1995 Philadelphia Wings Rochester Knighthawks 15—14 (OT)
1996 Buffalo Bandits Philadelphia Wings 15—10
1997 Rochester Knighthawks Buffalo Bandits 15—12

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Lacrosse League Unveils Its New Championship Trophy". 30 April 2018.
  2. ^ Best-of-three series. Philadelphia won the first and second games 16–12 and 17–12.
  3. ^ Best-of-three series. Rochester won the second and third games 16–10 and 3–2. Calgary won the first game 10–7.
  4. ^ Best-of-three series. Edmonton won the first and second games 15–9 and 11–10.
  5. ^ Best-of-three series. Saskatchewan won the first and second games 11–9 and 11–10.
  6. ^ Best-of-three series. Georgia won the first and second games 18–14 and 15–14 (OT).
  7. ^ Best-of-three series. Saskatchewan won the first and third games 16–9 and 15–10. Rochester won the second game 13–8.
  8. ^ Best-of-three series. Calgary won the first and second games 10-7 and 13-12 (OT).
  9. ^ Best-of-three series. Colorado won the second and third games 11–8 and 10–8. Buffalo won the second game 15–14.
  10. ^ Best-of-three series. Buffalo won the first and third games 13–12 and 13–4. Colorado won the second game 16–10.
  11. ^ Best-of-three series. Buffalo won the first and second games 12–8 and 15–13.
  12. ^ 2 win and 0 losses as the Colorado Mammoth and 1 win and 2 losses as the Baltimore Thunder
  13. ^ 2 wins and 1 losses as the Saskatchewan Rush and 1 win and 1 loss as the Edmonton Rush
  14. ^ a b 0 wins and 1 loss as the Albany Attack and 1 win and 2 losses as the Washington Stealth
  15. ^ 0 wins and 1 loss as the New York Saints and 1 win and 0 losses as the New Jersey Saints
  16. ^ As the New England Blazers
  17. ^ a b c d e f As the Philadelphia Wings.
  18. ^ a b c d e As the Rochester Knighthawks.
  19. ^ a b As the Edmonton Rush
  20. ^ As the Baltimore Thunder.
  21. ^ As the New Jersey Saints.
  22. ^ 1 win and 1 loss as the Saskatchewan Rush and 1 win and 1 loss as the Edmonton Rush
  23. ^ a b c d As the Rochester Knighthawks
  24. ^ a b As the Philadelphia Wings
  25. ^ GetBenched (2013-12-31), 1993 MILL Championship Game: Buffalo Bandits vs Philadelphia Wings, archived from the original on 2021-12-13, retrieved 2016-03-13