The Boston Blazers were an

indoor lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's official ...

team in 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 ...

(NLL). The Blazers were based in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, and began play in the

2009 NLL season The 2009 National Lacrosse League season, the 23rd in the history of the NLL, began January 3, 2009 in Buffalo, Portland, and Sunrise, Florida, and concluded with the Calgary Roughnecks defeating the New York Titans 12—10 in the Champion's C ...

. The team was owned by

Tim Armstrong Timothy Ross Armstrong (born November 25, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer. Known for his distinctive voice, he is the singer/guitarist for the punk rock band Rancid and hip hop/punk rock supergroup Transplants. ...

, the former President of Advertising and Commerce for

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

. who is currently CEO of AOL. NLL veteran Tom Ryan was the team's head coach until being dismissed on December 23, 2010. Ryan was replaced on December 28, 2010 by former

Toronto Rock The Toronto Rock are a professional box lacrosse franchise based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the North Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team was the first Canadian franchise in the NLL. Oakville resident ...

assistant coach Matt Sawyer. On April 7, 2008, the Blazers named veteran New England marketing executive Doug Reffue to the position of team president. The team was not associated with the former Boston Blazers, who played in the MILL (predecessor to the NLL) from 1992 to

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

. However, the name was chosen "in part due to the popularity and nostalgia associated with the former Boston Blazers franchise". On August 30, 2011, the team announced that it would be temporarily suspend operations for the 2012 season as they sought a new home facility for the 2013 season. However the team has yet to resume operations by 2022.

History

The Blazers were originally scheduled to begin play in the 2008 NLL season. On July 31, 2007 the league held an

expansion draft An expansion draft, in professional sports, occurs when a sports league decides to create one or more new expansion teams or franchises. This occurs mainly in North American sports. One of the ways of stocking the new team or teams is an expansio ...

and the Blazers selected a number of players. In preparation for the season, the team also made a number of trades. On October 16, 2007, the NLL announced that the 2008 season had been cancelled due to the failure of the league and the

Professional Lacrosse Players' Association 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 ...

to reach a new

collective bargaining agreement A collective agreement, collective labour agreement (CLA) or collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is a written contract negotiated through collective bargaining for employees by one or more trade unions with the management of a company (or with an ...

. However, the negotiations continued, and on October 25, the league announced that a new seven-year agreement had been reached, and that the season would be played. A new schedule was announced on November 2, 2007, but only included 12 of the expected 14 teams; the Blazers and the

Arizona Sting The Arizona Sting was a member of the National Lacrosse League from 2004 to 2007. They played at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, from 2001 to 2003 as the Columbus Landsharks. On August 28, 2003, it was announced that the team was relocating to ...

had been removed. The reasons that the Blazers and Sting opted out of the season were not given, just that it was "due to a number of business issues", and that both teams would return in 2009. A

dispersal draft A dispersal draft is a process in professional sports for assigning players to a new team when their current team ceases to exist or is merged with another team. Like most other sports drafts, most dispersal drafts are conducted in North America. ...

was held on November 5, 2007.

Inaugural season

The

was the Boston Blazers' first season playing in the league. In order to field a team for the season, the Blazers participated in the three separate drafts: the Arizona Sting

, the

on July 24, and the entry draft in September. On June 30, in the Arizona Sting dispersal draft, the Blazers selected

Dan Dawson Dan Dawson (born December 11, 1981) is a Canadian professional lacrosse player for the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League, Brampton Excelsiors (MSL) of Major Series Lacrosse, and is currently a free agent in Major League Lacrosse. Daws ...

first overall and forward Peter Veltman with the first pick of the second round. On July 24 the team picked 12 additional players for their roster in the 2008 expansion draft, including goaltender

Mike Poulin Mike Poulin (born December 17, 1985 in Kitchener, Ontario) is a professional lacrosse goaltender wearing #30 for the Georgia Swarm in the National Lacrosse League. He formerly played for thCalgary Roughnecks the Toronto Rock and the Boston Bla ...

with the first overall selection. Shortly after the draft concluded, the Blazers traded

Cam Bergman Cam Bergman (born January 14, 1983 in Coquitlam, British Columbia) was a Canadian lacrosse player who played for the Edmonton Rush in the National Lacrosse League. He was drafted by the Anaheim Storm in then 2003 National Lacrosse League Entry Dr ...

back to the

Edmonton Rush The Edmonton Rush were a professional lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) that played from 2006 NLL season to 2015. The team announced on July 20, 2015, that they would be relocating to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, for the 2016 se ...

for F

Brenden Thenhaus Brenden Thenhaus (born August 5, 1986) is a Canadian lacrosse player for the Toronto Rock in the National Lacrosse League. Professional career Thenhaus began his National Lacrosse League career with the Buffalo Bandits in the 2007 NLL season. H ...

and G

Kurtis Wagar Kurtis Wagar (born November 5, 1985) is a retired professional lacrosse goaltender, who spent 9 years in the National Lacrosse League. He began his amateur career with the St. Catharines Athletics of the Ontario Junior A Lacrosse League, played co ...

. On July 29, the Blazers and Rochester Knighthawks swapped defenders, with Kyle Laverty going to Rochester in exchange for

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, ...

alum

Jack Reid Jack Reid (born 1925) was a Canadian watercolour artist. Born in Toronto, Reid was self-taught, beginning as a graphic artist until becoming a full-time painter in 1970. He taught workshops and demonstrations and toured worldwide began in 197 ...

. On July 30, the Blazers, San Jose Stealth, and Calgary Roughnecks completed a 3-way trade that sent Tom Johnson, Travis Gillespie, and Boston's 3rd-round pick in the 2009 NLL Entry Draft to San Jose, Devan Wray to Calgary, and forward

Sean Morris Sean Paul Morris (born September 10, 1983, in Marshfield, Massachusetts) is a professional lacrosse player with the Boston Cannons of the Major League Lacrosse, and the Boston Blazers in the National Lacrosse League. He founded Laxachusetts, ...

(another UMass alum and Marshfield, MA native), defenseman Steve Panarelli, Calgary's 3rd-round pick in the 2009 NLL Entry Draft, and San Jose's 2nd-round pick in the 2010 NLL Entry Draft to Boston. Only weeks before the season began, the

Chicago Shamrox The Chicago Shamrox were an American professional lacrosse team that played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) in the 2007 and 2008 NLL seasons. Home matches were played at the Sears Centre in northwest suburban Hoffman Estates, Illinois. The t ...

suspended operations, and another dispersal draft was held. The Blazers had the first overall pick, and chose former Goaltender of the Year Anthony Cosmo.

Final roster

All time Record

Playoff Results

Box lacrosse Box lacrosse, also known as boxla, box, or indoor lacrosse, is an indoor version of lacrosse played mostly in North America. The game originated in Canada in the 1930s, where it is more popular than field lacrosse. Lacrosse is Canada's officia ...

Lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

* Boston Blazers (1992-1997) *

New England Blazers The New England Blazers were a member of the Major Indoor Lacrosse League (MILL) from 1989 to 1991. They were based in Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Nam ...

* Boston Cannons

Awards and honors

Draft history

NLL Entry Draft

First Round Selections * 2007:

Craig Point Craig Point (born January 19, 1986), is an Iroquois lacrosse player who currently plays for the Rochester Knighthawks of the National Lacrosse League and the Six Nations Chiefs of Major Series Lacrosse. He was born in Ohsweken, Ontario, and comes ...

(3rd overall), Matt Lyons (11th overall) *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Daryl Veltman Daryl Veltman (born September 25, 1985) is a Canadian professional lacrosse player. He is currently a member of the New England Black Wolves in the National Lacrosse League. High School/College career Veltman attended the Connecticut college-prep ...

(1st overall) * 2009: Max Seibald (8th overall) * 2010:

Kyle Rubisch Kyle Rubisch (born August 29, 1988) is a professional lacrosse player for the Saskatchewan Rush in the National Lacrosse League. College and Club career Rubisch is a graduate from Dowling College. During his tenure there, he was named to the 2010 ...

(2nd overall),

David Brock David Brock (born July 23, 1962) is an American liberal political consultant, author, and commentator who founded the media watchdog group Media Matters for America. He has been described by ''Time'' as "one of the most influential operatives ...

(7th overall) * 2011: None

External links

NLL Official WebsiteTeam Announcement Press Release at NLL.com

References

{{Defunct NLL Defunct National Lacrosse League teams Lacrosse teams in Boston Lacrosse clubs established in 2007 Sports clubs disestablished in 2012 2007 establishments in Massachusetts 2012 disestablishments in Massachusetts