The Albany Attack was the name of a franchise which played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) from the 2000 season through the 2003 season. The Attack played in the former Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York (now known as the Times Union Center ). After the 2003 season, the franchise was sold and moved to San Jose, California and renamed the San Jose Stealth . The current incarnation of the franchise, now owned by Canucks Sports & Entertainment , is the Vancouver Warriors .
17-613: The 2002 (called then the 2001–2002) Albany Attack team was the most successful Attack team during the franchise's four years in Albany, New York. It is the only Attack team to have made the NLL playoffs. (Note: The San Jose Stealth made the NLL playoffs in their inaugural season, 2004 , as well as the 2007 and 2008 seasons.) The team went 14–2 in the regular season winning the Central Division championship, and went 15–3 overall having lost to
34-548: A minority equity share in the Albany Attack. Given both teams played in the Pepsi Arena , the purpose of the agreement was to establish marketing and promotional synergy. [4] Despite the agreement, the Albany Attack was still not profitable so, throughout the 2002 season, Herb Chorbajian considered selling the Albany Attack. However, the success of the playoffs encouraged him to keep the team for another season. Furthermore, in
51-461: The 2010 season . [7] Four years later, they relocated again to Vancouver , BC , becoming the Vancouver Stealth . 2002 NLL season The 2002 National Lacrosse League season is the 16th season in the NLL. The season began on November 16, 2001 and concluded with the championship game on April 13, 2002, so, during that season, it was known as the 2001-2002 season as can be seen in
68-524: The Albany Attack 's 2001-2002 Central Division Championship banner . The Toronto Rock defeated the Albany Attack 13–12 to win their third championship in four seasons. Colin Doyle was named championship game MVP for the second time. Only one year after the season was lengthened to 14 games, 2002 saw it extended again, this time to 16 games. 2002 was a year of expansion for the NLL, particularly north of
85-462: The Attack did have a second half record of 6–2, they never recovered enough to return to the playoffs nor did they have sufficient attendance to be profitable. With no significant improvement in attendance throughout the 2003 season, the Albany Attack were destined to be a financial loss for a fourth consecutive year. During that season, there were numerous rumors that Mr. Chorbajian was going to sell
102-669: The Road; GF : Goals scored; GA : Goals allowed Differential : Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP : Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP : Average number of goals allowed per game The 2002 All-Star Game was held on April 21 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut , where the North team (all of the Canadian teams plus Rochester) beat
119-568: The South 14–10. The MVP was Toronto's Steve Toll , who scored three goals. At the time, this also marked Paul Gait 's final professional lacrosse game, as he retired after this season. However, Gait was convinced by his brother Gary to come out of retirement during the 2005 season , and played four games for the Colorado Mammoth before retiring once again. In 2002, the NLL expanded its weekly player awards from one to four. There are now awards for
136-811: The Storm until the franchise folded after the 2005 season. For the first time in league history, a team changed arenas midseason, as the Ottawa Rebel left the Corel Centre for the smaller Ottawa Civic Centre . There were two home games left in the season at the time of the move. Reference: x : Clinched playoff berth; c : Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y : Clinched division; z : Clinched best regular season record; GP : Games Played W : Wins; L : Losses; GB : Games back ; PCT : Win percentage; Home : Record at Home; Road : Record on
153-510: The Toronto Rock in the 2002 NLL Champion's Cup Game in Albany. For various reasons, the Albany Attack were plagued by poor attendance most of their existence with average attendances in the 3000–4000 range which was not enough for the franchise to be profitable. On June 14, 2001, Albany Attack owner Herb Chorbajian, a banker with CharterOne Bank, and Albany River Rats owner Walter Robb announced an agreement in which Robb would purchase
170-576: The best overall player, best offensive player, best defensive player, and best rookie. Awards are also given out monthly for the best overall player and best rookie. Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. Italics indicate tied single-season records. New Jersey Storm The New Jersey Storm were a member of the National Lacrosse League , based in East Rutherford, New Jersey . They played from 2002 to 2003 playing at
187-527: The border. No less than four teams were added, three of them Canadian: the New Jersey Storm , Montreal Express , Vancouver Ravens , and Calgary Roughnecks all made their NLL debuts. The expansion caused the NLL to return to a divisional format for the first time since 1994 . The teams were split into the Eastern, Central, and Northern divisions; the winners of each division would make the playoffs, as well as
SECTION 10
#1732852868068204-409: The franchise, in particular to a group from San Jose, California . On June 9, 2003, the rumors were confirmed when an announcement was made that the Albany Attack franchise was sold and relocated to San Jose, California [5] where it was located until 2009. Mr. Chorbajian retained a share in the franchise. This may no longer be the case as the team has since been resold. During the summer of 2003,
221-409: The home of New Jersey Storm owner Jayson Williams . Williams was later arrested and charged with manslaughter. Williams was acquitted of most charges, but was to be retried for reckless manslaughter. However, the case was delayed several times. On Monday, January 11, 2010, Williams pleaded guilty to aggravated assault in the case, and was sentenced on February 23, 2010. Williams would remain owner of
238-629: The new owners had a "Name the Team Contest" and, on September 16, 2003, the winner, a high school sophomore from San Jose, elected to officially rename [6] the team the San Jose Stealth . On June 17, 2009, the Stealth announced it would be moving to Everett, Washington effective immediately. The newly renamed Washington Stealth played their home games at the Comcast Arena at Everett beginning in
255-591: The summer of 2002, the Albany Attack Pack, the Official Fan Club of the Albany Attack, was created by several fans with hopes of improving attendance. In the 2003 season, according to Albany Attack General Manager Michael DeRossi, season ticket sales did go up considerably over the previous season, but the marketing effort actually decreased. Furthermore, the Attack went only 2–6 in their first eight games, losing all four home games to that point. While
272-525: The then Continental Airlines Arena. The team was an expansion team that was purchased for by an equity investment ownership group led former NBA All-Star Jayson Williams and Hiza Gay. After the 2003 NLL season the team was sold and relocated to Anaheim, California , becoming the Anaheim Storm under a new ownership group. The NLL returned to the New York Metro area in 2007 with the inaugural season of
289-514: The top three ranked non-division-winners. The Eastern division consisted of Washington, Philadelphia, New York, and New Jersey, the Central division had Albany, Rochester, Montreal, Buffalo, and Columbus, while the remaining Canadian teams (Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver, and Calgary) were in the Northern division. Early in the morning of February 14, limousine driver Costas Christofi was found shot to death at
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