After five years in the Major Lacrosse League as the first Canadian team, the Hamilton Nationals are moving to Florida. Florida has been a hot bed of lacrosse as of late and has been testing area for the MLL in the last several season with success. The Florida Launch will take part in the 2014 MLL Season with a majority of the Nationals current roster.
The Toronto Nationals began operation in 2009 playing out of BMO Field in downtown Toronto. The Nationals captured the Stienfeld Cup in 2009 in their inaugural season. With poor attendance in 2009, the team changed venue locations to Lamport Stadium, just a few kms from BMO Field. The team struggled in 2010 and did not qualify for the playoffs.
In 2011, the Toronto Nationals moved to Hamilton, with the continuation of the Nationals team name. The Nationals would now play out of Ron Joyce Stadium at McMaster University. The team advanced to the MLL Championship weekend, losing in the final to the Boston Cannons by a score of 10-9.
After seeing success in 2011, the Nationals were expecting to compete for the MLL Championship once again. However, after an 0-3 start due to several star players playing the in the NLL playoffs and other commitments, they wouldn’t be able to find chemistry and only managed two wins in final nine games of the season , missing the playoffs for the second time in four years.
In 2013, the Hamilton Nationals had a very strong campaign with a 9-5 record and advancing to the MLL Championship weekend. The Nationals lost a heart breaking 13-12 contest to the Chesapeake Bayhawks in the semi-finals. Hamilton saw their number one leading scorer Kevin Crowley honoured with being named 2013 Warrior MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards.
The Toronto/Hamilton Nationals finished their five year tenure in the MLL with a 30-34 in 64 games.
There are reports that the Nationals will look to return to the MLL in 2015 with the completion of Tim Horton’s Stadium; home of the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger Cats.
