1997 National Lacrosse League
Gait Wants To Play In Syracuse
But an owner in the new National Lacrosse League puts the move in doubt.
The new National Lacrosse League has a debate brewing about where star
player Paul Gait will play.
Rochester owner Steve Donner, for whom Gait played in the now-defunct
Major Indoor Lacrosse League, claims he owns the rights to the
superstar. Gait thinks the NLL promised him a chance to play for
Syracuse and said he'd rather sit out a year than return to Rochester.
The dispute centers on the agreement between the NLL and Gait and his
twin brother, Gary Gait. Paul Gait said when he and his brother agreed
to a consultant/player deal with the NLL, the new league said they were
free to negotiate with any of its teams.
Donner has a different interpretation. He said the NLL promised that the
Gaits would not be forced to play for any team. But if Paul Gait wants
to leave Rochester or Gary Gait wants to leave his former MILL team in
Philadelphia, those changes are subject to both player and league
approval.
Donner said he wouldn't stand in the way of Paul Gait eventually playing
in Syracuse, but he wants him in Rochester when the NLL starts in
January. He said it would look bad if the NLL allows two players to pick
their destination without compensation for the teams that lost them.
The conflict arose when the NLL's seven owners met Wednesday in
Philadelphia. They discussed allowing the six teams that previously
competed in the MILL - Philadelphia, Rochester, Buffalo, New York,
Baltimore and Boston - to each protect 14 players. NLL expansion teams
Syracuse and Hamilton would then draft unprotected players.
Paul Gait and Dolgon agree that there must be a structure to player
movement in the NLL, but Gait said the reason he got involved with the
NLL was the understanding he could play in Syracuse.
Paul Gait, 30, a former Syracuse University All-American who still lives
here, said he's tired of traveling. During MILL stints in Detroit and
Philadelphia, he flew or made long drives to practices and games.
Donner said this issue may eventually have to be settled by the league,
although it's unclear if it would be in the hands of its commissioner or
league owners.
In other NLL news this week:
Dolgon said Syracuse season tickets - priced at $140, $125 and $115 -
will go on sale in September. Single-game tickets cost $22.50, $20 and
$17.50. Each team will play seven home games.
The league will start with eight teams, and add up to four in 1999.
Montreal, Miami and Ottawa are expansion candidates.
The six teams that played in the MILL will keep their nicknames from
that league. Syracuse and Hamilton will choose new nicknames. Dolgon
said Syracuse is down to two finalists, although he declined to reveal
them.
From: banditlax@aol.com (BanditLax)
Newsgroups: alt.sport.lacrosse
Subject: Les Bartley Leaves Bandits
Date: Wed Aug 13 23:54:45 1997
It's official, Les Bartley has taken the position as head coach of the
new National Lacrosse League's Hamilton franchise. The Bandits are now
in the hunt for a new coach. Among others, they are considering Marty
Cooper and Ted Sawicki, former assistant coaches under Bartley, and
Barry Powless, a former Bandit and the coach of the Rochester
Knighthawks for the past 3 seasons. The announcement appeared in the
Buffalo News today. Look for the entire article on my website tomorrow.
Saturday August 9, 1997
Date: Sat Aug 9 22:33:13 1997
From: bt829@cgicafe.com
Subject: Les Bartley article
To: bx306@FreeNet.carleton.ca
Newsgroups: alt.sport.lacrosse
Bartley, who coached the Buffalo Bandits to 3 Major Indoor Lacrosse
League (MILL) championships in the past 6 years will have to decide
weather to stay with Buffalo, or take up head coaching duties with the
new Hamilton, Ontario franchise in the National Lacrosse League (NLL).
The recent merger of the MILL and a new group of owners resulted in the
formation of the NLL, in which players and staff will work for
individual team owners. Under the MILL, players and staff worked for the
league. Daniel J. DiPofi, who heads up lacrosse operations for the
Buffalo Sabres, who now own the Bandits, says he met with Bartley last
week
"At this point, we're trying to do things like we've done in the past,
It's worked that way and we want to extend the success." .
Bartley lives and works in St.Catherines, Ont. The Hamilton, Ont. team
is owned by Chris Fritz, former CEO of the MILL. John Mouradian will be
employed in an executive post with Hamilton.
He was General Manager of the Buffalo Bandits from 1992-95 and helped
Bartley to build the team into a champion. "If
we're thinking about putting together a successful franchise in
Hamilton, which we are, then Les is the number one candidate. We grew up
together and enjoy working together."
Bartley is hoping to make his choice by the beginning of next week.
"I'm certainly not looking for a bidding war, I'm
looking at some other things, like what's best for me. Is it time to
move on? What's probably tearing my heart out the most is the thought of
not enjoying the great fans and players I've had in Buffalo, but I am
a Canadian and there's an opportunity to help build a new team. The
teams have thrown it back in my court, and its my decision. Something
has to sway me one way or another, a gut feeling"
DiPofi states that Bartley is his first choice to coach the Bandits as
well.
Former Buffalo Sabres employee Bruce Wawrzyniak, who had worked in the
Bandits organization, has left the Sabres to accept a position with the
National Lacrosse League. He won't have far to go to reach his new
office, though. The NLL headquarters is located in the Marine Midland
Arena, where the Sabres play.
Rochester Knighthawks head coach Barry Powless says he has not heard
from the new ownership of the Rochester franchise. Powless says he would
like to stay with the defending pro lacrosse champion Knighhaws, or go
with the new Syracuse team.
*********************************************************************
Personal comment
Bruce Wawrzyniak did an excellent job in public relations for both the
Sabres and Bandits, and will do well in his new position with the NLL.
We Bandits fans will all miss Les Bartley if he leaves, what other coach
has brought us 3 championships?
(actually, Buff Mcready (sp)
was Bandits head coach in 1992, Bartley was assistant coach, but had a
great deal to do with the team's success).
NEW FACE OF PRO LACROSSE
Buffalo, July 23· New name:
The National Lacrosse League. For the past 11 seasons, the Major Indoor
Lacrosse League has operated the country’s indoor lacrosse franchises.
Franchises: Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Hamilton (Ont.),
Philadelphia, New York, New England and Baltimore/Washington for
certain. Syracuse and Hamilton are new franchises, the former Boston
Blazers franchise is now New England, and the former Baltimore Thunder
is now the Baltimore/Washington franchise. The Bandits nickname will
remain; nicknames for the other teams will be announced soon.
Ownership: The Bandits will be owned and operated by the Buffalo
Sabres. Syracuse, Rochester, and New England will be owned and operated
by the American Hockey League franchises in their respective cities, New
England by the Providence (RI) Bruins. Philadelphia, Hamilton, and New
York will be run by the former MILL owners. They will also run the
Baltimore/Washington franchise until local ownership can be secured.
What’s different for the Bandits fans: Two more regular-season home
games (seven up from five); the chance to see more teams; best-of-three
championship series instead of a championship game. Season ticket
holders can expect an official notification from the Bandits in the
months ahead.
What’s left to do: Negotiations with the former MILL Players Association
to determine a pay scale. The collective bargaining agreement with the
MILL expired last June 1. It probably won’t be an easy process. More
owners means more money and the players want their piece of the pie.
Secure additional franchises, though not necessarily for the 1998
season. Miami, Tampa, Montreal and Ottawa are considered candidates.
The new markets are expected to be announced in the next 30 days…. Build
coaching staffs. In the past, coaches were employed by the MILL and
assigned to franchises. Now, they'll be employed by the individual
teams.
Set up a league office. Buffalo appears to be the preferred site….
Stock the new teams and establish "freeze" lists for the existing
franchises. There’s plenty to be done in the three months before
training camps begin.
Lacrosse Leagues Merge
NLL and MILL join forces. New league has at least eight teams, including
Syracuse.
What: The National Lacrosse League, a combination of teams from the old
Major Indoor Lacrosse League and the new NLL.
When: Starts play in January 1998
Teams: Syracuse, Buffalo, Rochester, Hamilton, New England, New York,
Philadelphia and Baltimore/Washington
Expansion: Miami, Tampa Bay, Ottawa and Montreal are all candidates to
join the league this season or next
League office: In Buffalo
Schedule: Hasn't been decided, but the regular season will be longer
than the MILL's 10 games and the playoffs also will be expanded
Rosters: Likely to be filled through some combination of territorial
rights and an expansion draft
By LINDSAY KRAMER
The two competing professional lacrosse leagues have decided it's better
to develop their sport together than to perhaps damage it by staying
apart.
The new National Lacrosse League and the 11-year-old Major Indoor
Lacrosse League have reached an agreement to join forces starting in
January 1998. A revamped National Lacrosse League will open with at
least eight teams, including three individually owned by the founders of
the MILL.
Each league maintained it could have succeeded independently of each
other. But the deal shifts their time and energy away from competing
against each other and puts it toward better expansion and marketing of
the sport.
Under the agreement, MILL president Russ Cline, CEO Chris Fritz and
executive vice president Bruce Lucker will own NLL teams in
Philadelphia, Hamilton and New York, respectively. The MILL also is
moving in its Washington/Baltimore franchise, although an owner still
needs to be found.
NLL investors Howard Dolgon, Steve Donner and Frank DuRoss will own
teams in Syracuse, Rochester and New England, respectively. Niagara
Frontier Hockey, which owns the Buffalo Sabres, also will own an NLL
team in Buffalo.
Expansion to Miami, Tampa Bay, Montreal and Ottawa is possible this
season or next.
Cline said the deal wasn't a case of the MILL surrendering, even though
that league gives up its name and power structure. He thinks the sport
needs a fresh start and believes the preservation of familiar teams is
more important than the name of the league.
"Everybody is a winner," Cline said. "We have confidence in these guys
(the NLL investors) and they have confidence in us. The thing that made
this possible was not a situation of need. It was a situation of what is
best financially and best for the interest of the sport."
Ronald L. Jaros, general counsel for the players union, has pushed for a
compromise. Although two leagues gives the players more leverage, he
thinks it also poses a divisive threat to the sport.
"On balance, it (a merger) is the better thing to have happen," Jaros
said. "I believe that what is good for the future of professional
lacrosse is what's good for the players."
As recently as two weeks ago, the leagues were skeptical of each other
and a compromise seemed unlikely. But Donner said there were two turning
points that brought them together.
The first was an initial meeting between Fritz and DuRoss July 9 in
Buffalo. Donner said that broke the ice in what had been a chilly
relationship between the leagues.
The second was a gathering of MILL and NLL officials July 16 and 17 in
Washington, D.C. Donner said the meeting started with both sides
stressing their independence.
Cline then said everyone wants to see a deal work, but that the NLL had
to give the MILL a chance to be a good partner. To do that, the NLL had
to offer a fair deal that showed it trusted the MILL. The NLL investors
then were given a chance to talk among themselves.
"We literally took a step back and thought about it," Donner said. "We
really felt it was sort of a defining moment."
Donner, DuRoss and Dolgon returned from their time alone with a cautious
but earnest attitude. The two sides took straw votes on several key
issues and discovered they agreed on more than they had thought.
"That was important that we established a level of comfort and
confidence with each other," Dolgon said. "Once that happened, it was
pretty easy sailing from then on in. When we sat down we realized ... we
all wanted a strong league."
The merger brings the strengths of both sides to bear on the sport as a
whole. Among the benefits are:
Stability and continuity. The MILL has more than a decade of experience
in running its league. Some of the NLL teams might keep their MILL
nicknames, providing a link to the old league.
There was the possibility of the MILL and the NLL competing in several
markets. That would have confused the sport's already spotty fan base
and strained the entertainment dollar.
"I think we both saw we had been spending a lot of time, energy and
money not only promoting lacrosse but working against each other,"
Donner said.
Increased sponsorship. Donner said the MILL is bringing national
sponsorship deals that could be worth $500,000 to the new league.
A bigger footprint. The NLL had hoped to start with six to 10 teams.
Now, it will debut with eight to 12. That will permit an expanded
schedule and playoffs.
Fewer expansion risks. Donner said had the NLL started alone, it could
have brought in some other cities that may be better off waiting a year
to start.
"We can center in on taking the pressure off some of these markets," he
said. "It allows them to come in more prepared with a better chance of
success. All this may have been done more in haste if we were rushing
from city to city trying to get them to join one league instead of
another."
Better connections. Dolgon, Donner and DuRoss all operate American
Hockey League teams and have several pro sports contacts. Donner said
his group has talked with the NBA's Detroit Pistons and Miami Heat and
the NHL's Tampa Bay Lightning, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators,
Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs and New York Rangers about
owning NLL teams in their markets.
Increased television exposure. It's sure to be greater than that of the
MILL. The MILL produced a weekly highlights package for ESPN. The NLL
wants live game coverage, even if it has to buy air time.
"I want to see a kid watching a team play in Dallas, Texas, and say,
"That's where I want to play when I grow up,"' said Paul Gait, a former
MILL star who has signed a player/consultant contract with the NLL.
"That opens a lot of doors at the amateur and youth level for a lot of
growth."
Familiarity and confidence at the top of the sport. Donner and the
Buffalo Sabres formerly operated MILL teams. Dolgon and the MILL met
last summer to talk about putting a franchise from that league here.
There are several more issues for the league to hammer out. It needs to
negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with its players, pick a
commissioner and work out its schedule, among many other tasks.
Despite the sometimes divergent views of its new owners, the NLL thinks
it can wade through these issues smoothly. It will require a
three-fourths vote of approval among owners for league matters to be
passed. This will preclude a standoff that breaks down strictly along
old MILL and NLL lines.
"I can honestly say that was one of our fears," Donner said. "We found
we were much more agreeable with each other than I thought we'd be. I do
believe the egos are quickly disappearing."
Gait doesn't think there will be any lingering bad feelings.
"Business is business," he said. "They'll get along if they have to.
They're all smart people. They'll make sure egos won't get in the way
from this point on."
Lacrosse Leagues Unite
MILL and NLL will merge next season
Rochester: (July 23, 1997) -- Professional indoor lacrosse took a giant
step forward Tuesday when officials of the established Major Indoor
Lacrosse League and the fledgling National Lacrosse League agreed to
unite.
The merger was consummated during meetings in Washington, D.C., that
spanned almost a week. It guarantees that the Rochester Knighthawks will
keep their nickname, logo, uniform colors and the majority of the
players who helped the team win the 1997 MILL championship.
"In reality what has happened is we have a new entity formed from two
visions, and it will provide the best version of the game yet," said
Steve Donner, Knighthawks owner and co-founder of the NLL. "I'd say
right now that I think all parties are pretty happy."
Chris Fritz, one of three former MILL owners (Russ Cline and Bruce
Lucker are the others) confirmed Donner's feeling.
"I'm very excited," Fritz said. "A lot of times you have to step back
before you go forward. If you look at it, the people who were involved
with us are still there. The format is different and I think it creates
a better opportunity for us.
"We were having a hard time breaking out of our six-team shell. Now,
it's sort of reborn. It's been a lot of hard work, and it seemed like
were stuck in quicksand. Now we feel like we have feathers on our feet.
The intensity in our office is upbeat, it's a refreshing thought."
Donner said eight teams are ready to begin operations, and two more will
likely be added in the next month. If there are 10 teams, Donner said
breaking the league into two divisions is a strong possibility.
Six of the eight teams are existing MILL franchises -- the Knighthawks,
Buffalo Bandits, Philadelphia Wings, Boston Blazers, New York Saints and
Baltimore Thunder. New teams will play in Syracuse and Hamilton,
Ontario. The Baltimore team may move to Washington, D.C., or possibly
play home games in each of the two neighboring cities.
It is also expected that Canadian cities Ottawa and Montreal will be
awarded franchises.
All teams will be locally owned and operated and will be responsible for
their own budgets, including salaries. Each team will appoint a governor
to represent the franchise in all league matters, and each team will
have an equal vote. The team owners are as follows: Rochester (Donner),
Syracuse (Howard Dolgon), Philadelphia (Cline), New York (Lucker),
Buffalo (the Buffalo Sabres), Boston (Frank DuRoss) and Hamilton
(Fritz). Donner is still trying to finalize the ownership of the
Baltimore/Washington team.
Donner said the league will play no less than 12 games and no more than
16 in 1998, and the playoff format will be revised.
In the past, four of the six MILL teams made the playoffs, and home
games were decided by best average home attendance during the regular
season. In the NLL, on-field record will determine who hosts post season
games.
Also, there will be a multiple-game championship finals series, and
playing series in earlier playoff rounds is being discussed.
In the coming weeks, the team owners will continue putting together a
league charter and name a full-time commissioner.
One of the key issues that needs to be resolved is how to divide the
player pool. Rosters for teams in Boston, New York, Philadelphia and
Baltimore/Washington will remain mostly intact. However, with the
broader base of talent in this area, stocking the other teams could be
tricky.
For example, Rochester's 1997 roster was comprised of nine players who
lived in Ontario, Canada, and seven players who lived in Syracuse.
The nine in Ontario could opt to play for teams much closer to home like
Hamilton and Buffalo, and the seven from Syracuse may want to stay home
and play for the Syracuse team.
Donner said that Rochester fans shouldn't worry about 1998 because it is
expected that a rule will be instituted to allow teams like Rochester
and Buffalo to protect a certain number of players. The rest would be
put into an expansion draft to help stock the teams in Syracuse,
Hamilton and the other two potential teams in Ottawa and Montreal.
"The goal of the league is to have the basic rosters intact for next
year," Donner said. "We're trying to come to a decision in our proposal
to the Players Association to how many players we can protect."
New National Lacrosse League Announced -Owners, Markets Set For
Inaugural 1998 season-
BUFFALO,NY (July 22)-A unified,stronger, and bigger proffesional indoor
lacrosse league- featuring more teams, more markets and an expanded
schedule- will begin play in January 1998.
The new entity, known as the National Lacrosse League, has finalized
deals to have teams in Baltimore\Washington D.C, Buffalo, Hamilton Ont.,
New England, Long Island NY, Philadelphia, Rochester, Syracuse with an
additional two to four markets expected to be announced within the next
30 days.
Each of the league's team will be independently owned and operated, with
the League's headquarters based in Buffalo. Individuals\entities
heading up team ownership groups include: Russ Cline (Philadelphia),
Howard Dolgon (Syracuse), Steve Donner (Rochester), Frank DuRoss (New
England), Chris Fritz (Hamilton, Ont), Bruce Lucker (New York), and
Niagara Frontier Hockey L.P (Buffalo).
Cline was one of the founders and owners of the Major Indoor Lacrosse
league (MILL); Dolgon is the principal owner of the Syracuse Crunch of
the American Hockey League (AHL); Donner is the owner of the Rochester
Americans of the AHL; Fritz was one of the founders and co-owners of the
MILL; Lucker was a partner in the MILL; and Niagara Hockey L.P is the
owner of the Buffalo Sabres of the National Hockey League.
Several weeks of constructive conversations between all parties resulted
in the official formation of the new National Lacrosse League. More
pertinent news information about the new league will be released
shortly.
Optimism Strong For Lacrosse Merger
The MILL and the NLL need to complete a deal soon if at all.
Two days of meetings between the rival pro lacrosse leagues have drawn
them closer to a merger that could be finalized by the end of the month,
officials on one side of the bargaining table said Thursday.
The leaders of the new National Lacrosse League and the 11-year-old
Major Indoor Lacrosse League met Wednesday and Thursday in Washington,
D.C. Both sides repeated to each other that they can exist
independently, NLL investor Steve Donner said. But although participants
didn't reveal details, the optimism for a deal that each side took into
the meetings remained strong.
"I think we had very positive meetings on all fronts," said Frank
DuRoss, one of the NLL's investors. "We're not there yet. We have some
work to do. The good news is I think the philosophies of the two groups
are coming closer together instead of going farther apart."
DuRoss said the leagues might meet again next week. Each league would
have a lot of work to do before it starts playing in January. They must
decide within the next several days whether to remain separate or try a
merger.
"The fact of the matter is we need to move on either together or
separately within a two-week period," DuRoss said. "I feel that things
are positive and I feel we'll be moving forward together."
MILL officials could not be reached for comment Thursday. But NLL
investor Howard Dolgon said the competitors share the same view of the
success of their negotiations.
"Let's just say that I think in the opinion of everyone involved, the
talks have been very positive and hopefully in the near future we will
have details to release," Dolgon said. "I think all of us are anxious to
get this finalized and have as strong an entity as we can have."
Meanwhile, the players association, which is pushing for a compromise,
has set aside its business while the leagues settle their issues. The
MILL's contract with the union expired in June. The MILL and the union
were scheduled to meet this weekend, but both sides agreed to postpone
the talks until the pro lacrosse picture clears up.
"Now that these guys are interfacing with some greater depth, they have
a greater appreciation that the separate entities would not do well
competing against each other," said Ronald L. Jaros, general counsel to
the players association.
The NLL and the MILL seemed destined to be acrimonious rivals as
recently as last week. The NLL has announced teams in Syracuse
Rochester, Buffalo and the New England area. The league signed MILL
stars Gary and Paul Gait to player-consultant contracts and convinced
the Buffalo Sabres to boot a MILL team out of its Marine Midland Arena
in favor of an NLL franchise.
The MILL responded by announcing expansion to Hamilton, Ont., and
insisting it would continue to operate teams in Rochester and Buffalo.
That league awarded a team to Syracuse, but that is contingent upon the
ownership group finding a place to play.
But the leagues met to talk about a merger for the first time July 9 and
have swapped scenarios since then.
August 31, 1997
Timothy Evans (bt829@webtv.net) writes:
The Buffalo Bandits are expected to name five time Mann Cup championship
Les Wakeling to replace Les Bartley as head coach. Bartley is leaving
the Bandits to coach the new Hamilton franchise.
Kurt Silcott, Bandits director of lacrosse operations, plans to name
Marty Cooper as general manager/assistant coach, with Ted Sawicki being
names as associate coach.
Les Wakeling coached the Six Nations Chiefs to the last three
consecutive Mann Cup titles, and took the Brampton Excelsiors to the
two championships before that, in 1992 and 93. This year, however, the
Chiefs lost players to the newly created Niagara Falls Gamblers, and
were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Bandits all time leading scorer John Tavares says that Wakelings
strenght as a coach is "getting the most from each and every player".
Tavares also considers Wakeling a friend, and says Wakelings presence as
head coach will make it more appealing to return to the Bandits.
The Newly formed Naional Lacrosse League will soon be announcing how
many players each team can put on its protected list.
Marty Cooper has been an assistant coach with the Bandits since 1994,
Tew Sawicki has coached the Bandits Goaltenders for the past two years.
During Les Bartley's tenure in Buffalo, the Bandits won three
championships, one with Bartley as assistant coach,two with him as head
coach.