Face-Off Weekend Features Six Games; TSN Game of The Week and ESPN Schedule Debuts

via NLL press release

PHILADELPHIA, December 2, 2022 – The National Lacrosse League (@NLL), the world’s largest and most successful professional lacrosse league, opens play with six contests on Face-Off Weekend beginning tonight with Philadelphia at Halifax (LIVE coverage at 6 p.m. ET on TSN1/4, ESPNews, ESPN+). The 22-week regular season continues through April 29, with the playoffs beginning the weekend of May 5-7.

Here are 10 things to know about the NLL as it enters the 2022-23 season:

• In August, the NLL announced Brett Frood as its fifth Commissioner since its 1997 relaunch. Frood joins the NLL from Stewart-Haas Racing, where he has served as President of the NASCAR team since its inception in 2008, leading all business initiatives for the championship-winning organization co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and industrialist Gene Haas.
• The 135-game 2022-23 schedule is the most in NLL history.
• All NLL regular season games will be carried on ESPN+, TSN.ca and the TSN app. The full schedule is available at https://www.nll.com/schedule/full-schedule/.
• The Las Vegas Desert Dogs, the NLL’s 15^th and newest franchise, open Week 2 at Panther City, and will play their inaugural home game on Friday, December 16, at Michelob ULTRA Arena. The game at Las Vegas will be televised on ESPN2 at 10:30pm ET. The Desert Dogs introduced Shawn Williams as Head Coach/GM last spring
• The Vancouver Warriors announced veteran NLL coach Troy Cordingley as its new Head Coach for 2022-23. Cordingley has previously led the Calgary Roughnecks, Toronto Rock and Buffalo Bandits.
• Brodie Merrill of the San Diego Seals (turned 41 on Nov. 5) is the oldest player in the league; Dan Dawson of the Toronto Rock, who entered the league in 2002 via the 2001 entry draft (6^th round, Columbus Landsharks) is the longest tenured player at 21 years.
• A November 21 trade sent Jeremy Thompson from Panther City to Georgia, reuniting Jeremy to play with younger brothers, Lyle and Miles, on the Swarm roster for 2022-23 (Their other brother, Jerome “Hiana” competes for Albany).
• Indigenous players continue to make significant contributions to NLL rosters with more than 30 players of native origin. In addition to the Thompson brothers, standouts include, Cody Jamieson, Randy Staats and Warren Hill of the Halifax Thunderbirds; Shayne Jackson and Brendan Bomberry of the Georgia Swarm; Tehoka Nanticoke of the Buffalo Bandits; Doug Jamieson of the Albany FireWolves; and Zed Williams of the Colorado Mammoth.
• The defending champion Colorado Mammoth will hoist their 2022 NLL Championship banner on Saturday, January 7, 2023, against the Calgary Roughnecks.
• Numerous players are nearing significant career milestones, highlighted by:

• Colorado Mammoth goaltender Dillon Ward needs six wins to pass Steve Dietrich for 10th all-time with 66.
• Georgia Swarm defenseman/transition player Jeremy Thompson needs five faceoff wins to become the fourth player in league history to reach 2000 in his career.
• New York Riptide forward Callum Crawford needs one assist to pass Shawn Williams for seventh on the all-time list with 709.
• Toronto Rock goaltender Nick Rose needs five wins to pass Aaron Bold for 6th all-time with 86.
• San Diego Seals forward Curtis Dickson needs two goals to pass Mark Steenhuis for eighth on the all-time list with 460 (pending Vancouver Warriors forward Shawn Evans, who also needs three to pass Steenhuis)

Schedule – Week 1 (All Times Eastern)

Tonight

Wings @ Thunderbirds, 6pm, TSN1/4, ESPNews, ESPN+

Tomorrow

Warriors @ Rock, 5pm, TSN1/4, ESPN+

FireWolves @ Buffalo, 7:30p.m., TSN.ca, TSN app, ESPN+

Seals @ Riptide, 7:30p.m., TSN.ca, TSN app, ESPN+

Knighthawks @ Swarm, 8:00 p.m., TSN.ca, TSN app, ESPN+

Mammoth @ Rush, 8:30 p.m., TSN.ca, TSN app, ESPN+

About the National Lacrosse League

The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is North America’s premier professional lacrosse league. Founded in 1986, the NLL ranks third in average attendance for pro indoor sports worldwide, behind only the NHL and NBA. The League is comprised of 15 franchises across the United States and Canada: Albany FireWolves, Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, Halifax Thunderbirds, Las Vegas Desert Dogs, New York Riptide, Panther City Lacrosse Club (TX), Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock, and Vancouver Warriors.

For the latest scores and developments in the National Lacrosse League, please visit: NLL.com and find the NLL on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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Media inquiries contact:

Ryan Ireland – rireland@nll.com