The New England Black Wolves were a professional

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 official ...

team based in

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the New England town, town of Montville, Connecticut, Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a Administrative divisions of Connecticut#Village, neighborhood, section of town, village in southeastern Montville, at the ...

. They were members of the East Division of 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, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...

and began play in the winter of 2014–2015 at the

Mohegan Sun Arena The Mohegan Sun Arena is a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, located inside the Mohegan Sun casino resort. The arena facility features of configurable exhibition space and a clear span. It was built by the Perini Buil ...

in Uncasville. The team was partially owned by the

Mohegan Tribe of Indians of Connecticut The Mohegan are an Algonquian Native American tribe historically based in present-day Connecticut. Today the majority of the people are associated with the Mohegan Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe living on a reservation in the easte ...

, partially owned by Ted Goldthorpe, and partially owned by Brad Brewster. The Black Wolves relocated from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, where they were known as the Philadelphia Wings from 1987 to 2014 and won 6 championships. On February 22, 2021, the team was reported to have been sold and was relocated to Albany, New York, to play out of the

MVP Arena The MVP Arena (originally Knickerbocker Arena, and then the Pepsi Arena and Times Union Center) is an indoor arena located in Albany, New York. It is configurable and can accommodate from 6,000 to 17,500 people, with a maximum seating capacity ...

as the

Albany FireWolves The Albany FireWolves are a professional box lacrosse team based in Albany, New York. They are members of the East Division of the National Lacrosse League that began play in the 2021-22 season at the MVP Arena. The team is owned by a group heade ...

.Times Union Center gets National Lacrosse League franchise
Mark Singelais, Albany Times-Union, February 22nd, 2021

History

The Black Wolves won their first game at home on January 2, 2015 against the

Buffalo Bandits The Buffalo Bandits are a professional box lacrosse team in the East Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). They play at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, t ...

in front of just under 6,000 fans. Kyle Buchanan scored the first ever goal for the Black Wolves in New England's 12-8 win. The team would finish with a record of 4-14 in its inaugural season. With a new coach behind the bench, the Black Wolves would bounce back and have a much improved 2016 season, which led them to a 10-8 record and playoff run that ended to the Bandits in the East Division final. The Black Wolves' third year was not as successful as their second, as they fell to a 8-10 record and lost in the East Division semi-final. The Black Wolves continued to struggle in the regular season and playoffs, as in 2018 and 2019 they finished with a 9-9 record and a first round exit in the playoffs in each of those seasons. 2020 appeared to be a different season for the Black Wolves with the emergence of Doug Jamieson as a legitimate starting goalie and forward Callum Crawford. Having an MVP caliber season, the Black Wolves seemed poised for a deep playoff run and potentially a championship. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the NLL cancelled the rest of the season. After struggling with attendance at the end of the season, it was announced that the New England Black Wolves franchise would move to Albany and rebrand as the

. The franchise finished with one main notable achievement as a team and it was being declared the East Division Champions in 2020 after the stoppage of the season.

Final roster

All-time record

Playoff results

Draft history

NLL Entry Draft

First Round Selections *

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: Mark Cockerton (4th overall), Quinn Powless (8th overall) *

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

: Dan Lintner (8th overall) *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

: Seth Oakes (8th overall) *

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

: Colton Watkinson (7th overall), Anthony Joaquim (8th overall), JP Kealey (10th overall) *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

: None *

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

: Andrew Kew (3rd overall), Zach Goodrich (17th overall) *

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

: None

Head coaching history

''Note: This list does not include head coaches from the Philadelphia Wings.''

References

External links

New England Black Wolves official website

National Lacrosse League official website
{{Connecticut Sports Defunct National Lacrosse League teams Sports in Uncasville, Connecticut Lacrosse clubs established in 2014 Lacrosse teams in Connecticut 2014 establishments in Connecticut