National : History

Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League

The rebirth of major professional box lacrosse in the United States came on March 13, 1986, with the formation of the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League (EPBLL), which was incorporated by Russ Cline and Chris Fritz.^[14] Previously, in 1985 box lacrosse sponsored an event played at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. The USA/Canada Superseries was an 8-game series seen as a precursor to the Major Indoor Lacrosse League.
The league opened play for the 1987 season with the 2 games on January 10, 1987: the Philadelphia Wings at the New Jersey Saints (Philadelphia defeating New Jersey by 11–8) and the Baltimore Thunder at the Washington Wave. Darrell Russell was named Commissioner of the league.
The 4 teams contested a 6-game regular season before a postseason which saw all 4 teams qualify for a single knockout tournament which ended with the Baltimore Thunder being crowned as the EPBLL's first champion in 1987.^[14] Coached by Bob Griebe, the Baltimore Thunder defeated the Washington Wave by a score of 11–10 to capture the league's first championship.
The league announced that a total of 124,536 fans attended Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League games in its first season. Those same 4 teams played in the second season of the EPBLL.^[14] The teams expanded to an 8-game schedule, and set up a 3-team playoff with the regular season winner claiming a bye to the title game.

Major Indoor Lacrosse League

MILL logo

1988

The league began its second season with each of the 4 teams playing an 8-game schedule. The league became known as the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL).
The New Jersey Saints became the second league champions by defeating the Washington Wave, 17–16 before 8,125 fans at the Capital Centre. For the Wave, it was the second time in as many years they reached the championship game, only to come away on the short end of a one-goal game.
The league then announced that the Saints would relocate to the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island beginning in the 1989 season. The team name was changed to the New York Saints to reflect their new home. The MILL announced that it would award expansion teams to Detroit, Michigan, and Boston, Massachusetts. The teams began play in the 1989 season. The Detroit team was named the Turbos, and began play in the Joe Louis Arena. Their team colors were announced to be purple, silver and black. The Boston entry was called the New England Blazers and they played their home games at the Worcester Centrum. The Blazers used green, orange, and white as their team colors.

1989

The league prepared to open its third season with 6 teams: the Baltimore Thunder, the Detroit Turbos, the New England Blazers, the New York Saints, the Philadelphia Wings, and the Washington Wave. Each of the 6 teams played an 8-game schedule in 1989, with an even 4 home and road games. In its first ever regular season game, 12,171 Detroit fans watched the expansion Turbos defeat the Washington Wave, 11–9, in the debut of the 1989 season. As the season went on, regular season attendance figures for the league totaled at 230,724 for 24 regular season games, which made an average of 9,614 people in the stands per game. When adding the postseason, the numbers grew to 255,088 total and an average of 9,811 a game.
Later that year, the Philadelphia Wings captured the league championship in front of a record postseason crowd of 16,042 at the Spectrum, defeating the New York Saints, 11–10. After the championship game, the league announced the expansion into Pittsburgh, a team later to be called the Bulls, who played at the Civic Arena, sporting the traditional Pittsburgh colors of black and gold, like the Steelers.

1990

In 1990, the MILL prepared to open its fourth season with 6 teams: the Baltimore Thunder, Detroit Turbos, New England Blazers, New York Saints, Philadelphia Wings, and Pittsburgh Bulls. Each of the 6 teams played an 8-game schedule over the 1990 season. During the near of the end of the season, the New York Saints defeated the Philadelphia Wings, 8–5, before the first sellout and largest crowd in league history: 17,177 at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. The Saints' victory forced a rematch the next week in the playoffs. However, the Wings won that game, and later went on to become the first team to win 2 league championship games, defeating the New England Blazers, 17–7 in front of 11,479 fans.
The Major Indoor Lacrosse League later announced that the attendance for 26 total games during the season was 287,585 which was a huge boost, increasing the average attendance a game to 11,060. After the season, the MILL announced the signing of twin brothers, Paul Gait and Gary Gait, 3-time All-Americans at Syracuse to the Detroit Turbos after being drafted (the two brothers won national championships with the Syracuse Orange in 1988, 1989, and 1990).

1991

The league prepared to open season 5 with the same 6 teams. However, this season schedule increased from 8 to 10 games with each team playing 5 games at home and 5 games on the road.
In the first game of the regular season, the debut of Detroit rookie twin brothers Paul and Gary Gait was successful, as they paced the Turbos to a 20–16 victory over the Baltimore Thunder.
The 1991 season was definitely a record-breaking year, especially in Detroit. Rookie twin Turbos, Paul and Gary Gait, set new standards in most offensive categories. Paul scored a record 47 goals, while Gary was second in the league with 32. Gary established new records with 36 assists and 68 points. As a team, Detroit set records for goals scored with 184, assists with 227, and total points with 411.
The Detroit Turbos defeated the Baltimore Thunder, 14–12, to claim the league's fifth title and the Turbos' first title. The World Championship Game was attended by 10,814 at the Baltimore Arena.
The league announced that Buffalo had been named as an expansion team for league play in the 1992 season. The team was named the Bandits, wearing the colors black, orange, and white, and had their home in Memorial Auditorium. The league promoted the team in conjunction with the Buffalo Sabres.
Final league attendance numbers for the 1991 season reached 287,654.
On April 20, 1991, the National Division All-Stars defeated the American Division All-Stars, 25–20, in the inaugural League All-Star Game at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

1992

The league opened the sixth season with 7 teams with the expansion Buffalo Bandits joining the league. Each of the 7 teams played an 8-game schedule with 4 home games and 4 road games.
The Buffalo Bandits defeated the Philadelphia Wings, 20–11, in their first ever sellout of 16,325 in Memorial Auditorium. It marked the second sellout in league history. The Buffalo Bandits defeated the Baltimore Thunder in front of their second sellout crowd of the season at the Memorial Auditorium, 16,325. It also marked the first time a team sold out 2 games in the same season.
The expansion Buffalo Bandits advanced to the League Championship Game by defeating the Detroit Turbos and the Gait brothers, 19–16, to win the National Division crown. The Philadelphia Wings defeated the Saints, 8–6, to capture the American Division Championship.
For the first time, an expansion team won the league's World Championship, as the Buffalo Bandits defeated the Philadelphia Wings, 11–10, in overtime.

1993

Buffalo won their second consecutive League Championship with a 13–12 comeback victory over the Philadelphia Wings before 16,325 in the sold-out Memorial Auditorium. The Bandits kept their 18-game winning streak alive, the longest in professional sports. Buffalo joined the Wings as the only team in league history to win back-to-back championships.
The League and the Players Association announced a 3-year contract agreement and the league signed a 6-year agreement with ESPN.

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Thursday, April 6, 2017

History