Before the 1998 season, the Major Indoor Lacrosse League was renamed to be the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United States and five in Canada. The N ...

, in the process increasing the length of the regular season from ten to twelve games. The first season as the NLL and the 12th season overall, began on January 3, 1998, and concluded with the second championship game on April 28. The championship was decided by a best-two-of-three series, with the Philadelphia Wings defeating the

Baltimore Thunder The Baltimore Thunder were a member of the National Lacrosse League from 1987 until 1999. They were based in Baltimore, Maryland, and won the first Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League (later the National Lacrosse League) championship in 1987. After th ...

16-12 in the first game and 17-12 in the second.

Team movement

The 1998 season featured the debut of two new teams, and the removal of one. The Boston Blazers folded after nine seasons in Boston and

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

, while the

Ontario Raiders The Ontario Raiders were a member of the National Lacrosse League during the 1998 NLL season. The franchise was founded as an expansion team in Hamilton, Ontario, and played their home games at Copps Coliseum. Former Buffalo Bandits coach Les B ...

and Syracuse Smash began play.

Regular season

All Star Game

No All-Star Game was played in 1998.

Playoffs

*Game 1: Baltimore 12 @ Philadelphia 16
Game 2: Philadelphia 17 @ Baltimore 12

Awards

Weekly awards

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

Monthly awards

Awards are also given out monthly for the best overall player and best rookie. The 1998 season was the first season that the Rookie of the Month award was given out.

Statistics leaders

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

References

1998 Archive at the Outsider's Guide to the NLL (via the Internet Archive)
{{DEFAULTSORT:1998 Nll Season 98 NLL