The Stealth started out as the Albany Attack, but since then they have become the second team to relocate with four different locations in the history of the National Lacrosse League.The Attack joined the NLL in 200 and played in Albany until 2003. In that time they had a coach of the year (Bob McMahon), goalie of the year (Rob Blasdell) and defender of the year (Jim Moss)
Albany made the playoffs once, in 2002. Herb Chorbajian was the owner of the team along with Walter Robb, the Albany River Rats owner. However, the attendance lacked in Albany and the team would move to San Jose, California
The San Jose Stealth began play in 2004, ten years before they will begin play in Vancouver. They played in California until 2009 as just the second Californian NLL team in the league’s history. After six seasons, they moved to Everett, Washington for the 2010 NLL season.
In Washington, the Stealth saw mixed success. They won an NLL title in 2010, their first season in Washington, when they defeated the Toronto Rock. They lost to Toronto the next season. In 2012, they were the only NLL team to miss the playoffs and last season they fell to the Rochester Knighthawks in the championship.
However, the Stealth struggled to draw more than 3,500 in attendance their entire existence in Washington. They ended up playing the championship game at the Langley Events Centre due to other commitments at their home arena, the Comcast Arena.
Now the LEC is where the Stealth will play, renamed the Vancouver Stealth. The last NLL team in British Columbia was the Vancouver Ravens who folded in 2004, and the NLL has wanted to return there ever since.
There remains nine teams in the league, and the NLL has added their fourth Canadian team and downgraded to a smaller arena. But will being in the lacrosse hotbed of Langley improve things for the Stealth?
