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2001 NLL season
2001 NLL season
League	National Lacrosse League
Sport	Indoor lacrosse
Duration	December 21, 2000 – April 27, 2001
Number of games	14
Number of teams	9
TV partner(s)	CNN Sports Illustrated
Regular season
League champions	Toronto Rock
Runners-up	Philadelphia Wings
Season MVP	John Tavares (Buffalo Bandits)
Top scorer	John Tavares (Buffalo Bandits)
Champion's Cup
Champions	Philadelphia Wings
Runners-up	Toronto Rock
Finals MVP	Dallas Eliuk (Philadelphia)
NLL seasons
	← 2000 season 2002 season →

The 2001 National Lacrosse League season is the 15th season in the NLL that began on December 21, 2000 and concluded with the championship game on April 27, 2001. The Philadelphia Wings won their 6th NLL championship, defeating the Toronto Rock 9-8 in Toronto. Philadelphia had now won twice as many championships as any other team in NLL history (the Buffalo Bandits had won three, and the Rock two). The Championship game was one of only two games (out of ten) the Rock lost at home during the 2001 season, and ended Toronto's bid for an unprecedented third straight Championship.

The NLL expanded its schedule from 12 games to 14 during this season.

The lowest-scoring game in NLL history happened during the 2001 season, as the Toronto Rock and Albany Attack combined for only 11 goals in a 7-4 Toronto win at the Air Canada Centre.

Team movement

For the 2001 season, one expansion team was added to the NLL, the Columbus Landsharks. In addition, the Syracuse Smash ended a dismal existence (dead last in the standings for three straight years) in Syracuse, moving to Ottawa, Ontario to become the Rebel. Unfortunately, the Rebel would finish in the basement three straight years as well. The Pittsburgh CrosseFire, formerly the Baltimore Thunder, moved again, this time to Washington, becoming the Washington Power.

In addition, the Toronto Rock moved from the aging Maple Leaf Gardens to the Air Canada Centre for the 2001 season. The first Rock game at the ACC was a 17-7 Toronto win over the Ottawa Rebel on the opening night of the season, December 21, 2000.^[6]

Teams

Attack

Bandits

Landsharks

Saints

Rebel

Wings

Knighthawks

Rock

Power

National Lacrosse League Teams

2001 National Lacrosse League
Team	City	Arena	Capacity
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
New York Saints	Uniondale, New York	Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum	16,297
Ottawa Rebel	Ottawa, Ontario	Corel Centre	18,500
Philadelphia Wings	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	First Union Center	19,519
Rochester Knighthawks	Rochester, New York	Blue Cross Arena	10,662
Toronto Rock	Toronto, Ontario	Air Canada Centre	18,800
Washington Power	Washington, District of Columbia	MCI Center	18,277

Regular season

Reference: ^[7]

P	Team	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	GF	GA	Diff	GF/GP	GA/GP

1	Toronto Rock – xyz	14	11	3	.786	0.0	6–1	5–2	168	125	+43	12.00	8.93
2	Philadelphia Wings – x	14	10	4	.714	1.0	6–1	4–3	205	177	+28	14.64	12.64
3	Rochester Knighthawks – x	14	10	4	.714	1.0	6–1	4–3	198	159	+39	14.14	11.36
4	Washington Power – x	14	9	5	.643	2.0	4–3	5–2	226	204	+22	16.14	14.57
5	Buffalo Bandits	14	8	6	.571	3.0	4–3	4–3	248	218	+30	17.71	15.57
6	New York Saints	14	6	8	.429	5.0	3–4	3–4	179	181	−2	12.79	12.93
7	Albany Attack	14	5	9	.357	6.0	3–4	2–5	152	169	−17	10.86	12.07
8	Columbus Landsharks	14	3	11	.214	8.0	1–6	2–5	134	201	−67	9.57	14.36
9	Ottawa Rebel	14	1	13	.071	10.0	0–7	1–6	144	220	−76	10.29	15.71

x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games Played
W: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowed
Differential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game

All Star Game

No All-Star game was held in 2001.

Playoffs

Semifinals			Championship

3	Rochester	11

2	Philadelphia	12
			2	Philadelphia	9

			1	Toronto	8
4	Washington	9

1	Toronto	10

Awards

Award	Winner	Team
MVP Award	John Tavares	Buffalo
Rookie of the Year Award	Tracey Kelusky	Columbus
Coach of the Year	Tony Resch	Philadelphia
Executive of the Year Award	Russ Cline	Philadelphia
Goaltender of the Year Award	Bob Watson	Toronto
Championship Game MVP	Dallas Eliuk	Philadelphia

Weekly awards

Each week, a player is awarded "Player of the Week" honours.

Week	Player of the Week
1	no award given
2	John Grant Jr.
3	John Tavares
4	Roy Colsey
5	Derek Malawsky
6	Steve Toll
7	Jake Bergey
8	Devin Dalep
9	Pat O'Toole
10	Gee Nash
11	Tracey Kelusky
12	Kim Squire
13	Kevin Finneran
14	Pat O'Toole
15	Matt Shearer
16	Roy Colsey
17	Dallas Eliuk

Monthly awards

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

Month	Overall	Rookie
Jan	Derek Malawsky	Tracey Kelusky
Feb	John Tavares	Kris Bryde
Mar	Gary Gait	Tracey Kelusky

Statistics leaders

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

Stat	Player	Team	Number
Goals	Roy Colsey	New York	51
Assists	John Tavares	Buffalo	64
Points	John Tavares	Buffalo	115
Penalty Minutes	Pat Coyle	Toronto	65
Loose Balls	Jim Veltman	Toronto	161
Save Pct	Pat O'Toole	Rochester	79.7

Attendance

Regular Season


Home Team	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance^[8]
Toronto Rock	7	15,749	110,240
Philadelphia Wings	7	15,174	106,215
Rochester Knighthawks	7	9,147	64,032
Ottawa Rebel	7	8,058	56,409
Buffalo Bandits	7	8,041	56,289
Columbus Landsharks	7	6,559	45,912
New York Saints	7	5,918	41,426
Albany Attack	7	4,255	29,782
Washington Power	7	3,341	23,386
League	63	8,471	533,691