Colorado Mammoth

Summary

The Colorado Mammoth are a professional box lacrosse team playing in the National Lacrosse League. The Mammoth have played at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado, since the 2003 season. They are owned by Stan Kroenke, who is also the owner of the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, and the Colorado Rapids of MLS.

Colorado Mammoth
SportBox lacrosse
Founded2003
LeagueNational Lacrosse League
ConferenceWestern
Team historyBaltimore Thunder (1987–1999)
Pittsburgh CrosseFire (2000)
Washington Power (2001–2002)
Based inDenver, Colorado
ArenaBall Arena
ColorsBurgundy and Black
   
OwnerStan Kroenke
Head coachPat Coyle
General managerBrad Self
League titles2 (2006, 2022)
Conference titles2 (2022, 2023)
Division titles3 (2003, 2004, 2007)
Local mediaAltitude Sports and Entertainment, KKFN
PLPA representativeDan Coates
Joey Cupido
Websitecoloradomammoth.com

The Mammoth franchise previously played as the Baltimore Thunder from 1987 to 1999, the Pittsburgh CrosseFire in 2000, and the Washington Power from 2001 to 2002. Up until the joining of the expansion team San Diego Seals, Colorado was the only non-Canadian team in the Western Division from 2014 to 2018. They have only missed the playoffs once since moving to Colorado.

In 2004 and from 2006 to 2008, the Mammoth lead the league in attendance. 2006 was the first year in the 20-year history of the NLL that the league had an attendance of more than one million fans in one season. The Mammoth had the honor of hosting fan number one million.[1] In 2008, the Mammoth average attendance per game was higher than Pepsi Center's other teams, the Colorado Avalanche (NHL) and the Denver Nuggets (NBA).[2]

2006 champions edit

In the 2006 season, the Mammoth went to the playoffs in the #2 seed in the Western Division. Round one was hosted in Colorado against rivals Calgary. The Mammoth won 18–17 in overtime. Brian Langtry scored the overtime goal. Round two (Western Division finals) was also hosted at Pepsi Center against the Arizona Sting. Rookie Dan Carey scored the winning goal as the Mammoth defeated the Sting 13–12. The championship game was held at HSBC Arena in Buffalo against the Bandits who held the league's best record and the incumbent league MVP, goaltender Steve Dietrich . The Mammoth won the Champion's Cup by a score of 16–9, with Gavin Prout being named Game MVP.

2022 champions edit

The Mammoth won the National Lacrosse League Cup beating the Buffalo Bandits 2 games to 1, with Dillon Ward being named the Finals MVP.[3]

Notable players edit

  • Gary Gait, who retired after the 2005 NLL season as the NLL's all-time scoring leader with 596 goals and 495 assists in 174 games (a record since surpassed by John Tavares). Gait also won the 2003 NLL MVP Award while with the Mammoth. On November 12, 2005, Gait was inducted into the NLL Hall of Fame, and on December 30, 2005, his number 22 jersey banner was hung from Pepsi Center rafters — the first NLL number ever to be retired and hung from any arena. Gait was the Mammoth head coach for the 2006 and 2007 seasons before stepping down in August 2007 to pursue other interests.[4]
  • Brian Langtry, who won the NLL Rookie of the Year Award in 2003, is well known for his all-out goal scoring attempts. Langtry retired after the 2011 season.[5]
  • Gord "Gee" Nash, who was the 2004 Goaltender of the Year.
  • Gavin Prout, a crowd favorite who consistently puts up high numbers. In 2006, Prout was named team captain. On October 31, 2009, to the outrage of many fans, Prout was traded to the Rochester Knighthawks, who in turn traded him to the Edmonton Rush on November 10. After a season and a half in Edmonton, Prout was traded back to the Mammoth in March 2011.[6]
  • John Grant Jr., who was the 2012 NLL MVP. Retired in 2017.
  • Joey Cupido, three time fan favorite award winner who was the 2015 and 2018 Transition Player of the Year.
  • Dillon Ward, winner of the 2017 Goaltender of the Year Award . He played an essential role during the team's 2022 championship run and he was awarded the 2022 Finals MVP award.

Awards and honors edit

Year Player Award
2003 Gary Gait Most Valuable Player
Brian Langtry Rookie of the Year
2004 Steve Govett Executive of the Year
Gord Nash Goaltender of the Year
Gary Gait Sportsmanship Award (tie with Peter Lough)
2005 Gary Gait Sportsmanship Award
2006 Gavin Prout Champion's Cup MVP
2012 Adam Jones Rookie of the Year
John Grant, Jr. Most Valuable Player
2015 Joey Cupido Transition Player of the Year
2017 Dillon Ward Goaltender of the Year
2018 Joey Cupido Transition Player of the Year
2022 Dillon Ward Champion's Cup MVP

NLL Hall of Fame members edit

Current roster edit

Active (21-man) roster Inactive roster Coaches
Goaltenders
  • 30   Tyler Carlson
  • 45   Dillon Ward
Defensemen
  • 13   Brett Craig
  • 37   Dan Coates (C)
  • 82   Joey Cupido (A)
  • 27   Scott Carnegie
  • 3   Tim Edwards
  • 14   Warren Jeffrey
  • 23   Jordan Gilles
  • 18   Robert Hope (A)
  • 86   John Lintz
  • 4   Josh Sullivan
Forwards
  • 67   Kyle Killen
  • 55   Dylan Kinnear
  • 16   Ryan Lee
  • 51   Eli McLaughlin
  • 2   Will Malcom
  • 20   Jacob Ruest
  • 17   Chris Wardle
  • 7   Tyler Digby


Practice Squad
  • 41   Erik Turner
  • 15   Ilija Gajic
  • 91   Jake McNabb
  • 71   Jeff Wittig
Holdout
  • 84   Dylan Molloy
Head Coach
  • Pat Coyle
Assistant Coaches
  • Andrew McBride
  • Shawn Williams

Legend
  • * Suspended list
  • (C) Captain
  • (A) Alternate captain

Roster updated 2018-01-02
NLL Transactions

All-time record edit

Season Division/Conference[a] W–L Finish Home Road GF GA Coach Playoffs
2003 Eastern 9–7 1st 6–2 3–5 226 223 Rod Jensen/Jamie Batley Lost Division Final
2004 Western 13–3 1st 7–1 6–2 223 173 Jamie Batley Lost Division Final
2005 Western 8–8 3rd 5–3 3–5 201 182 Jamie Batley Lost Division Semi-Final
2006 Western 10–6 2nd 6–2 4–4 200 172 Gary Gait Won Championship
2007 Western 12–4 1st 7–1 5–3 209 179 Gary Gait Lost Division Semi-Final
2008 Western 9–7 2nd 6–2 3–5 184 162 Bob McMahon Lost Division Semi-Final
2009 Western 7–9 4th 4–4 3–5 172 184 Bob McMahon Lost Division Semi-Final
2010 Western 4–12 5th 0–8 4–4 167 201 Bob McMahon/Steve Govett/Bob Hamley Did Not Qualify
2011 Western 5–11 4th 3–5 2–6 151 172 Bob Hamley Lost Division Semi-Final
2012 Western 11–5 2nd 5–3 6–2 217 201 Bob Hamley Lost Division Semi-Final
2013 Western 7–9 4th 3–5 4–4 185 202 Bob Hamley Lost Division Semi-Final
2014 Western 8–10 3rd 4–5 4–5 201 228 Bob Hamley/Pat Coyle/Chris Gill/Dan Stroup Lost Division Semi-Final
2015 Western 9–9 3rd 6–3 3–6 212 218 Pat Coyle/Chris Gill/Dan Stroup Lost Division Semi-Final
2016 Western 12–6 2nd 8–1 4–5 203 202 Pat Coyle/Chris Gill/Dan Stroup Lost Division Semi-Final
2017 Western 9–9 3rd 5–4 4–5 202 199 Pat Coyle/Chris Gill/Dan Stroup Lost Division Final
2018 Western 11–7 2nd 5–4 6–3 214 199 Pat Coyle Lost Division Semi-Final
2019 Western 6–12 4th 3–6 3–6 181 193 Pat Coyle Lost Division Final
2020 Western 7–6 2nd 4–2 3–4 128 125 Pat Coyle No playoffs held
2021 Western Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022 Western 10–8 3rd 7–2 3–6 196 198 Pat Coyle Won Championship
2023 Western 9–9 4th 7–2 2–7 190 208 Pat Coyle Lost Championship
Total 20 seasons 176-157 101-65 75–92 3,862 3,821
Playoff Totals 17 appearances 8-17 3–9 5–8 288 325 2 Championships

Playoff results edit

Season Game Visiting Home
2003 Quarterfinals Vancouver 12 Colorado 15
Semifinals Colorado 11 Toronto 15
2004 Division Finals Calgary 13 Colorado 11
2005 Division Semifinals Colorado 13 Arizona 16
2006 Division Semifinals Calgary 17 Colorado 18
Division Finals Arizona 12 Colorado 13
Championship Colorado 16 Buffalo 9
2007 Division Semifinals San Jose 15 Colorado 14 (OT)
2008 Division Semifinals Calgary 15 Colorado 13
2009 Division Semifinals Colorado 8 Calgary 15
2011 Division Semifinals Colorado 6 Calgary 10
2012 Division Semifinals Minnesota 14 Colorado 10
2013 Division Semifinals Colorado 10 Calgary 15
2014 Division Semifinals Colorado 15 Calgary 16 (OT)
2015 Division Semifinals Calgary 11 Colorado 6
2016 Division Semifinals Calgary 11 Colorado 10 (OT)
2017 Division Semifinals Colorado 13 Vancouver 12
Western Finals (Game 1) Saskatchewan 18 Colorado 9
Western Finals (Game 2) Colorado 10 Saskatchewan 11
2018 Division Semifinals Calgary 15 Colorado 12
2019 Division Semifinals Colorado 11 Saskatchewan 10 (OT)
Western Division Final Colorado 4 Calgary 8
2022 Western Conference Semifinals Colorado 16 Calgary 12
Western Conference Finals Game 1 Colorado 14 San Diego 12
Western Conference Finals Game 2 San Diego 11 Colorado 10
Western Conference Finals Game 3 Colorado 15 San Diego 13
NLL Finals Game 1 Colorado 14 Buffalo 15
NLL Finals Game 2 Buffalo 8 Colorado 11
NLL Finals Game 3 Colorado 10 Buffalo 8
2023 Western Conference Semifinals Colorado 13 San Diego 12
Western Conference Finals Game 1 Calgary 7 Colorado 8
Western Conference Finals Game 2 Colorado 12 Calgary 13
Western Conference Finals Game 3 Colorado 9 Calgary 7
NLL Finals Game 1 Colorado 12 Buffalo 13
NLL Finals Game 2 Buffalo 10 Colorado 16
NLL Finals Game 3 Colorado 4 Buffalo 13

Head coaching history edit

# Name Term Regular Season Playoffs
GC W L W% GC W L W%
1 Rod Jensen 2003 9 4 5 .444
2 Jamie Batley 20032005 39 26 13 .667 4 1 3 .250
3 Gary Gait 20062007 32 22 10 .688 4 3 1 .750
4 Bob McMahon 20082010 34 16 18 .471 2 0 2 .000
5 Steve Govett 2010 7 2 5 .286
6 Bob Hamley 20102014 66 29 37 .440 3 0 3 .000
7 Pat Coyle,
Chris Gill,
Dan Stroup
20152017 54 30 24 .556 5 1 4 .200
8 Pat Coyle 2018– 85 43 42 .506 17 10 7 .588
Source:[7]

See also edit

  • Colorado Mammoth seasons

Notes edit

  1. ^ Conference play began in the 2022 season

References edit

  1. ^ "NLL Welcomes Millionth Fan". NLL. April 28, 2006. Retrieved February 13, 2007.
  2. ^ Paton, James (March 21, 2008). "Mammoth sales". Rocky Mountain News. Archived from the original on December 12, 2008.
  3. ^ @nll (June 19, 2022). "Dillon Ward is your NLL Finals MVP 🏆 His 55 saves in game 3 are a new NLL Championship record" (Tweet). Retrieved June 19, 2022 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "Gait Steps Down as Mammoth Coach". NLL. August 22, 2007. Archived from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2007.
  5. ^ "Brian Langtry announces retirement". NLL. October 11, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  6. ^ "Prout traded back to Colorado". NLL. March 15, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  7. ^ "2017 NLL Media Guide" (PDF). National Lacrosse League. Retrieved November 27, 2017.

External links edit

  • Official Website
  • Colorado Mammoth news
Preceded by
None
Major Indoor Lacrosse League Champions
1987
Succeeded by
Preceded by National Lacrosse League Champions
2006
Succeeded by