2008 NLL season

In the off-season between the 2007 and 2008 seasons the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the National Lacrosse League and the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association expired. The owners announced that if there no deal was in place before midnight, October 15, 2007 the 2008 season would be cancelled.[8] On the morning of October 16, the league announced that no agreement had been reached, and that the season was cancelled.[3] The next day, commissioner Jim Jennings even said that the league would not change its mind about the cancellation, saying:

There's no hope due to the fact that we've released our dates. It's very difficult to get dates in places like (New York's) Madison Square Garden and (Toronto's) ACC Centre and places like that. To try to restart this thing up on a moment's notice is an impossibility.[9]

However, the negotiations continued, and on October 25, the league announced that a new seven-year agreement had been reached, and that the season would be played.[4]

Before the initial cancellation of the season, the Versus network announced that it would not carry a game of the week, as they had in 2007, even if an agreement was reached before the deadline.[10]

• August 22, 2007: Colorado Mammoth head coach Gary Gait announced that he was stepping down to become the head coach of the women's lacrosse team at his alma mater, Syracuse University.[12] Former Arizona Sting assistant coach Bob McMahon was announced as Gait's replacement.[13]
• July 24, 2007: Less than three months after the end of the 2007 NLL season, the league announced one of the biggest blockbuster trades in NLL history. The trade involved three teams and six players, including a former Rookie of the Year and a former MVP and Goaltender of the Year. The trade saw the Calgary Roughnecks sending defenseman Taylor Wray to the Philadelphia Wings, and their first-round pick in the 2007 entry draft and their second-round pick in the 2008 entry draft to the Buffalo Bandits. The Wings sent Sean Greenhalgh to Buffalo and Ian Llord to Calgary, and the Bandits sent goaltender Steve Dietrich and Kyle Couling to Calgary and Jason Crosbie to Philadelphia.[14] During the entry draft in September, Llord was traded again, this time from Calgary to Buffalo for two draft picks.[15]
• October 16, 2007: The league announced that the 2008 season had been cancelled due to the failure of the owners and players to reach a CBA.[3]
• October 25, 2007: The league announced that a new agreement had been reached, and that the 2008 would indeed be played.[4]
• November 2, 2007: The revised schedule was released, and the league announced that the Arizona Sting and Boston Blazers would not play in 2008.[5]
• November 5, 2007: A dispersal draft was held for the remaining teams to choose players from the Arizona and Boston franchises.[16]

• January 9: The league announced the inductees into the National Lacrosse League Hall of Fame for 2008: Sal LoCascio, Johnny Mouradian, Tony Resch, and Neil Stevens.[17]
• January 12: The Rochester Knighthawks' 16-game winning streak came to an end as the Buffalo Bandits defeated the Knighthawks 14–9 in Rochester.[18] The Knighthawks had extended the streak with a victory over Buffalo in the opening game the previous night.[19]
• January 17: The NLL announced that New York Titans star Casey Powell would once again host "Inside the NLL with Casey Powell", a weekly one-hour show on Sirius Satellite Radio.[20]
• January 20: John Tavares of the Buffalo Bandits scored his 597th career goal in a win over the New York Titans, passing Gary Gait and becoming the NLL's all-time leader in goals scored.[21]
• January 30: The Edmonton Rush traded Chris Seller to the Calgary Roughnecks for a third-round draft pick in the 2008 entry draft.[22]
• February 5: Forward Andrew Lazore is traded from the Chicago Shamrox to the Buffalo Bandits for two second-round draft picks in the 2008 entry draft.[23]
• February 8: The Minnesota Swarm established a league record by running up a 12–0 lead before the New York Titans broke their scoreless streak in the third quarter.[24]
• February 20: After starting the season with an 0–5 record, the Rush fired the franchise's original head coach and general manager, Paul Day. On February 21, the Rush announced that Day's replacement would be former NLL Coach and GM of the Year Bob Hamley.[25]
• March 5: Three separate trades involving four teams and six players were made:[26]
  • Edmonton traded a 2008 conditional third-round draft pick and a 2009 conditional third-round draft pick to Chicago for Lindsay Plunkett
  • Chicago sent goalie Brandon Miller and a 2008 second-round draft pick to Philadelphia for Matt Roik, Brad Self, a 2009 first-round draft pick, and a 2010 second-round draft pick
  • In a three-way deal, Edmonton sent A.J. Shannon to Philadelphia, the Wings send Dan Marohl and Keith Cromwell to Minnesota, and Minnesota sent Mike Hominuck to the Rush.
• March 22: Colorado's Brian Langtry scored 9 goals and assisted on 4 others in a losing cause, as the Mammoth lost to the Portland LumberJax. Langtry's 9 goals is the most scored by a player in one game this season.[27]
• March 25: Multiple players were dealt on the season's trade deadline:[28]
  • In an exchange of All-Stars, the Toronto Rock traded set-up man Josh Sanderson to the Calgary Roughnecks for finisher Lewis Ratcliff. The teams also exchanged draft picks.
  • The Edmonton Rush were the most active at the deadline, exchanging goalkeepers with the Portland LumberJax with Matt Disher and a fourth-round draft pick going to the LumberJax in exchange for Matt King, Ian Crashley, and a first-round pick in the 2009 draft. The Rush traded Chris Gill and a second-round pick to the Colorado Mammoth for a first-round draft pick in the 2008 draft, and also traded Mike Accursi to the Buffalo Bandits for Dan Teat, a second-round draft pick in the 2008 draft, a first-round draft pick in the 2009 draft.
• April 12: Athan Iannucci scored three goals and broke Gary Gait's record of 61 goals in a season. Iannucci entered the game with 60 goals, averaging 4.6 goals per game, but didn't score the record-tying goal until six minutes into the third quarter. He then scored the record-setting goal less than three minutes later and then completed his hat-trick in the fourth quarter.[29][30]
• April 27: After announcing his retirement earlier in the year, Jim Veltman, the league's all-time loose balls leader, played the final game of his 16-year career.[31][32]

On January 11, the Minnesota Swarm defeated the Toronto Rock 17–16 in overtime, in a game which saw three Swarm players and one Rock player given game misconducts. After the game, Rock head coach Glenn Clark was involved in an altercation with Minnesota forward Sean Pollock outside the Rock dressing room.[33] Clark was later charged with assault by Toronto Police[33] and suspended indefinitely by the NLL.[34] The Rock announced that assistant coach Terry Bullen would serve as the interim head coach[35] and Bullen led the Rock to a 2–2 record.

On February 6, the charges against Clark were dropped by Toronto Police,[36] and the NLL lifted the suspension on February 13.[37]

* Unable to play due to injury

First Team

• Athan Iannucci, Philadelphia
• Casey Powell, New York
• John Tavares, Buffalo
• Mark Steenhuis, Buffalo
• Ryan Cousins, Minnesota
• Bob Watson, Toronto

Second Team

• Colin Doyle, San Jose
• Gavin Prout, Colorado
• Jeff Zywicki, San Jose
• Geoff Snider, Philadelphia
• Scott Self, Chicago
• Matt Vinc, New York

• Craig Point, Minnesota
• Tyler Codron, Portland
• Jordan Hall, New York
• Bobby McBride, Chicago
• Jamie Rooney, Philadelphia
• Merrick Thomson, Philadelphia

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

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