With the completion of the 2014 National Lacrosse League regular season, the NLL Playoffs are set to begin this weekend on Saturday, May 3 with two first-round single-elimination postseason matchups. The Buffalo Bandits visit the Toronto Rock at Air Canada Centre for the NLL East Division Semifinal at 7 p.m. (EST) while the Calgary Roughnecks host the Colorado Mammoth at Scotiabank Saddledome for the West Division Semifinal at 9 p.m. (EST). The Edmonton Rush (16-2) clinched a first-round bye as West Division regular season champs along with home field advantage throughout the playoffs as the top overall seed in the league. The East Division regular season champion Rochester Knighthawks (14-4), two-time defending NLL champs in contention for a league-record third-straight title, also earned a bye from the single-elimination round.
New to the postseason format, the Division Finals and Champion’s Cup Finals both expand to a two-game series from the previous single-game elimination setup. Rochester and Edmonton will play the winners of the Division Semifinal games in the East and West Divisions respectively.
The two Division Semifinal winners will host Game One of the Division Finals during the weekend of May 9-11. Edmonton hosts Game Two of the West Division Finals on Friday, May 16 at 10 p.m. ET while Rochester hosts Game Two of the East Division Finals on Saturday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
East Division Finals: Game Two
TBD at Rochester Knighthawks (14-4)
East #2/3 at East #1
Saturday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m. ET at Blue Cross Arena
West Division Finals: Game Two
TBD at Edmonton Rush (16-2)
West #2/3 at West #1
Friday, May 16 at 10 p.m. ET at Rexall Place
Teams who win both games shall win the two-game series. In the event of a series split with both teams winning one game, a 10-minute tiebreaker game will be played immediately following the conclusion of Game Two to determine the winner of the playoff series.
The Champion’s Cup Finals will start the weekend of May 23-25 with Game One hosted by the lower-seeded team. Game Two of the Champion’s Cup Finals will be hosted by the higher (best) seed on the weekend of May 30-June 1.
Final East Division Regular Season Standings
1) y- Rochester Knighthawks (14-4)
2) x- Toronto Rock (9-9)
3) x- Buffalo Bandits (8-10)
4) Philadelphia Wings (6-12)
5) Minnesota Swarm (4-14)
Final West Division Regular Season Standings
1) z- Edmonton Rush (16-2)
2) x- Calgary Roughnecks (12-6)
3) x- Colorado Mammoth (8-10)
4) Vancouver Stealth (4-14)
z- clinched top overall seed
y- clinched division
x- clinched playoff berth
Final NLL Overall Seeding
1) Edmonton Rush (16-2)
2) Rochester Knighthawks (14-4)
3) Calgary Roughnecks (12-6)
4) Toronto Rock (9-9)
5) Buffalo Bandits (8-10)
6) Colorado Mammoth (8-10)
7) Philadelphia Wings (6-12)
8 ) Vancouver Stealth (4-14)
9) Minnesota Swarm (4-14)
Playoffs Calendar
Saturday, May 3: East & West Division Semifinal
Weekend of May 9-11: East & West Division Finals Game One
Friday, May 16: West Division Finals Game Two at Edmonton
Saturday, May 17: East Division Finals Game Two at Rochester
Weekend of May 23-25: Champion’s Cup Finals Game One
Weekend of May 30-June 1: Champion’s Cup Finals Game Two
