2024 NLL Playoffs: Everything you need to know
Nick Weiss, Steve Priolo and Dhane Smith, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Michael Hetzel)
The 2024 National Lacrosse League Playoffs start on Saturday, April 27 at the FirstOntario Centre when the first-place Toronto Rock host the Rochester Knighthawks in one of four NLL Quarterfinal matches.
Below is this year’s playoff schedule, scores, past NLL Finals results, Playoff MVPs, and the postseason’s most attended games in league history.
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All times listed are ET. All games will be streamed on TSN.ca/live and the TSN+ app in Canada, plus ESPN.com in the US. Select games will also be broadcast on TSN & ESPN television networks. See schedules below for further details.
2024 NLL Champions, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Michael Hetzel)
NLL Playoff Seeding
League standings (playoff teams only) in order of overall playoff placement based on regular season records & tiebreakers. Seeding only used to determine quarterfinal matches and home-floor advantage. Teams will remain on the same side of bracket no matter anyone’s results during quarterfinals. Toronto, Buffalo, Georgia and Rochester are on one half of the bracket, while San Diego, Albany, Halifax and Panther City are on the other.
1. Toronto Rock (15-3, 1-2)*
2. San Diego Seals (13-5, 1-2)*
3. Albany FireWolves (11-7, 3-2)*
4. Buffalo Bandits (11-7, 5-0) CHAMPIONS
5. Georgia Swarm (10-8, 0-1)*
6. Halifax Thunderbirds (10-8, 0-1)*
7. Panther City Lacrosse Club (9-9, 0-1)*
8. Rochester Knighthawks (8-10, 0-1)*
*Eliminated
Ian MacKay, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Michael Hetzel)
NLL Quarterfinals
Single-elimination game
(1) Toronto Rock vs. (8) Rochester Knighthawks
Date: Saturday, April 27, 2024 (4:30pm ET)
Location: FirstOntario Centre (Hamilton, ON)
Final: Toronto 9-6 over Rochester
(4) Buffalo Bandits vs. (5) Georgia Swarm
Date: Saturday, April 27, 2024 (7pm ET)
Location: KeyBank Center (Buffalo, NY)
Final: Buffalo 10-9 (OT) over Georgia
(2) San Diego Seals vs. (7) Panther City Lacrosse Club
Date: Saturday, April 27, 2024 (10pm ET)
Location: Pechanga Arena (San Diego, CA)
Final: San Diego 9-8 (OT) over Panther City
(3) Albany FireWolves vs. (6) Halifax Thunderbirds
Date: Sunday, April 28, 2024 (3pm ET)
Location: MVP Arena (Albany, NY)
Final: Albany 9-3 over Halifax
Josh Byrne, Buffalo Bandits, 2024 NLL Finals MVP (Photo: Michael Hetzel)
NLL Semifinals
Buffalo wins best-of-three series 2-0
(1) Toronto Rock vs. (4) Buffalo Bandits
Game 1: Friday, May 3, 2024 (7:30pm ET)
Location: FirstOntario Centre (Hamilton, ON)
Final: Buffalo 12-4 over Toronto
Game 2: Sunday, May 5, 2024 (5pm ET)
Location: KeyBank Center (Buffalo, NY)
Final: Buffalo 10-8 over Toronto
Matt Vinc, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Michael Hetzel)
(2) San Diego Seals vs. (3) Albany FireWolves
Albany wins best-of-three series 2-0
Game 1: Friday, May 3, 2024 (10:30pm ET)
Location: Pechanga Arena (San Diego, CA)
Final: Albany 14-12 over San Diego
Game 2: Sunday, May 5, 2024 (3pm ET)
Location: MVP Arena (Albany, NY)
Final: Albany 13-10 over San Diego
Nick Weiss, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Michael Hetzel)
NLL Finals
Buffalo wins best-of-three series 2-0
Game 1: Friday, May 17, 2024 (7pm ET)
Location: MVP Arena (Albany, NY)
Final: Buffalo 12-8 over Albany
Game 2: Saturday, May 18, 2024 (7:30pm ET)
Location: KeyBank Center (Buffalo, NY)
Final: Buffalo 15-13 over Albany
Calgary Roughnecks, 2019 NLL Cup Champions (Photo: Candice Ward)
NLL Cup History
Champions
Best-of-three series from 2014
1987: Baltimore over Washington (11-10)
1988: New Jersey over Washington (17-16)
1989: Philadelphia over New York (11-10)
1990: Philadelphia over New England (17-7)
1991: Detroit over Baltimore (14-12)
1992: Buffalo over Philadelphia (11-10) OT
1993: Buffalo over Philadelphia (13-12)
1994: Philadelphia over Buffalo (26-15)
1995: Philadelphia over Rochester (15-14) OT
1996: Buffalo over Philadelphia (15-10)
1997: Rochester over Buffalo (15-12)
1998: Philadelphia over Baltimore (2-0)
1999: Toronto over Rochester (13-10)
2000: Toronto over Rochester (14-13)
2001: Philadelphia over Toronto (9-8)
2002: Toronto over Albany (13-12)
2003: Toronto over Rochester (8-6)
2004: Calgary over Buffalo (14-11)
2005: Toronto over Arizona (19-13)
2006: Colorado over Buffalo (16-9)
2007: Rochester over Arizona (13-11)
2008: Buffalo over Portland (14-13)
2009: Calgary over New York (12-10)
2010: Washington over Toronto (15-11)
2011: Toronto over Washington (8-7)
2012: Rochester over Edmonton (9-6)
2013: Rochester over Washington (11-10)
2014: Rochester over Calgary (2-1)
2015: Edmonton over Toronto (2-0)
2016: Saskatchewan over Buffalo (2-0)
2017: Georgia over Saskatchewan (2-0)
2018: Saskatchewan over Rochester (2-1)
2019: Calgary over Buffalo (2-0)
2022: Colorado over Buffalo (2-1)
2023: Buffalo over Colorado (2-1)
2024: Buffalo over Albany (2-0)
Lyle Thompson, 2017 NLL Finals MVP (Photo: Josh Schaefer)
Finals MVP
1987: Buzz Sheain, Baltimore
1988: Larry Quinn & Jeff Goldberg, New Jersey
1989: John Tucker, Philadelphia
1990: Brad Kotz, Philadelphia
1991: Gary Gait, Detroit
1992: John Tavares, Buffalo
1993: John Tavares, Buffalo
1994: Paul Gait, Philadelphia
1995: Gary Gait, Philadelphia
1996: Pat O’Toole, Buffalo
1997: Steve Dietrich, Rochester
1998: Dallas Eliuk, Philadelphia
1999: Colin Doyle, Toronto
2000: Dan Stroup, Toronto
2001: Dallas Eliuk, Philadelphia
2002: Colin Doyle, Toronto
2003: Bob Watson, Toronto
2004: Curtis Palidwor, Calgary
2005: Colin Doyle, Toronto
2006: Gavin Prout, Colorado
2007: John Grant, Rochester
2008: Mark Steenhuis, Buffalo
2009: Josh Sanderson, Calgary
2010: Lewis Ratcliff, Washington
2011: Bob Watson, Toronto
2012: Cody Jamieson, Rochester
2013: Cody Jamieson, Rochester
2014: Dan Dawson, Rochester
2015: Mark Matthews, Edmonton
2016: Aaron Bold, Saskatchewan
2017: Lyle Thompson, Georgia
2018: Jeff Shattler, Saskatchewan
2019: Dane Dobbie, Calgary
2022: Dillon Ward, Colorado
2023: Dhane Smith, Buffalo
2024: Josh Byrne, Buffalo
Chase Fraser, 2023 NLL Cup Finals Game 3 (Photo: Michael Hetzel)
Playoff Attendance: Over 15K
Top 10 highest all-time attendance during playoffs
1989: New York at Philadelphia (16,042) NLL Finals
1992: Boston at Buffalo (15,603) NLL Quarterfinals
1993: Boston at Buffalo (16,325) NLL Semifinals
1993: Philadelphia at Buffalo (16,325) NLL Finals
1994: Detroit at Buffalo (15,836) NLL Semifinals
1994: Philadelphia at Buffalo (16,284) NLL Finals
1996: Philadelphia at Buffalo (16,230) NLL Finals
1997: Rochester at Buffalo (18,055) NLL Finals
1999: Rochester at Toronto (15,691) NLL Finals
2001: Philadelphia at Toronto (19,409) NLL Finals
2002: Vancouver at Colorado (17,129) NLL Quarterfinals
2002: Colorado at Toronto (16,733) NLL Semifinals
2004: Buffalo at Calgary (19,289) NLL Finals
2005: Rochester at Toronto (17,289) NLL Semifinals
2005: Arizona at Toronto (19,432) NLL Finals
2006: Colorado at Buffalo (16,104) NLL Finals
2007: San Jose at Colorado (16,309) West Semifinals
2008: Calgary at Colorado (15,554) West Semifinals
2008: Portland at Buffalo (18,690) NLL Finals
2014: Rochester at Calgary (16,541) NLL Finals Game 1
2015: Calgary at Colorado (16,027) West Semifinals
2016: Calgary at Saskatchewan (15,192) West Finals Game 2
2016: Buffalo at Saskatchewan (15,182) NLL Finals Game 2
2019: Calgary at Buffalo (15,747) NLL Finals Game 1
2019: Buffalo at Calgary (17,038) NLL Finals Game 2
2022: Colorado at Buffalo (19,060) NLL Finals Game 3
2023: Colorado at Buffalo (18,296) NLL Finals Game 3