1997 Major Indoor Lacrosse League season

1997 MILL season Major Indoor Lacrosse League Indoor lacrosse 6 10 January 4, 1997 - April 12, 1997 Regular season Gary Gait (Baltimore Thunder) National Lacrosse League MVP Award Gary Gait (Baltimore Thunder) 1997 MILL season Philadelphia Wings New York Saints Champion's Cup Champion's Cup Rochester Knighthawks (1st title) Buffalo Bandits Steve Dietrich (Rochester) Champion's Cup#Most Valuable Players MILL/NLL 1996 Major Indoor Lacrosse League season 1996 season 1998 NLL season 1998 season ESPN and ESPN2 The 1997 season is the 11th season of the league and, is the last as the MILL, began on January 4, 1997, and concluded with the championship game on April 12. The league was renamed to the National Lacrosse League after this season. Team movement The Charlotte Cobras, who debuted in the 1996 Major Indoor Lacrosse League season, folded after only a single winless season. Teams 1997 Major Indoor Lacrosse League Team City Arena Capacity Baltimore Thunder Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore Arena 10,582 Boston Blazers Boston, Massachusetts FleetCenter 17,850 Buffalo Bandits Buffalo, New York Marine Midland Arena 18,595 New York Saints Uniondale, New York Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum 16,297 Philadelphia Wings Philadelphia, Pennsylvania CoreStates Center 19,463 Rochester Knighthawks Rochester, New York Rochester Community War Memorial 10,662 Map of teams left 10px Major Indoor Lacrosse League Teams 2150 450 350 1550 270 United States 2150 United States 39.28 -76.62 Black pog.svg 94 left Thunder #ffe7 United States 42.37 -71.06 Black pog.svg 94 left Blazers #ffe7 United States 42.88 -78.88 Black pog.svg 94 left Bandits #ffe7 United States 40.72 -73.59 Black pog.svg 94 right Saints #ffe7 United States 39.90 -75.17 Black pog.svg 94 right Wings #ffe7 United States 43.15 -77.61 Black pog.svg 94 right Knighthawks #ffe7 Regular season All Star Game No All-Star Game was played in 1997. Playoffs Semifinals Championship 2 New York 10 3 Buffalo 19 4 Rochester 15 1 Philadelphia 13 4 Rochester 15 3 Buffalo 12 Awards AwardWinnerTeamMVP AwardGary GaitPhiladelphiaRookie of the Year AwardJeff WilfongBostonChampionship Game MVPSteve DietrichRochester Weekly awards Each week, a player is awarded "Player of the Week" honours. Week Player of the Week 1 Paul Gait 2 Roy Colsey 3 Sal LoCascio 4 Paul Gait 5 Paul Gait 6 John Tavares 7 Derek Collins 8 Thomas Carmean 9 Matt Panetta 10 Tom Marechek 11 Ted Dowling 12 Dallas Eliuk Monthly awards An award is also given out monthly for the best overall player. Month Player of the Month Jan Paul Gait Feb Derek Collins Mar Tom Marechek All-Pro Teams First Team: Gary Gait, Philadelphia Paul Gait, Rochester Tom Marechek, Philadelphia Mark Millon, New York John Tavares, Buffalo Dallas Eliuk, Philadelphia (goalie) Second Team: Thomas Carmean, Boston Duane Jacobs, Rochester Darris Kilgour, Buffalo Jeff Klodzen, Baltimore Bob Martino, Baltimore Sal LoCascio, New York (goalie) Statistics leaders Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. Italics indicate tied single-season records. StatPlayerTeamNumberGoalsGary GaitPhiladelphia40AssistsGary GaitPhiladelphia32PointsGary GaitPhiladelphia72Penalty MinutesTom PhairBuffalo58Shots on GoalPaul GaitRochester131Loose BallsJohn TavaresBuffalo104 Attendance Regular season + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendancehttp://nllstats.com/allgames?season=1997 1997 Season nllstats.com 16 June 2023Buffalo Bandits 517,53387,665Philadelphia Wings513,87569,336New York Saints 57,26836,338Rochester Knighthawks56,57032,852Boston Blazers56,14930,743Baltimore Thunder 55,01825,091League309,401282,025 Playoffs + Home team Home games Average attendance Total attendanceBuffalo Bandits 215,08530,170Philadelphia Wings19,372 9,372 League313,18139,542 See also 1997 in sports References 1997 Archive at the Outsider's Guide to the NLL MILL Category:Major Indoor Lacrosse League seasons