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1997 Major Indoor Lacrosse League season

{{Infobox sports season

| title =1997 MILL season

| league =Major Indoor Lacrosse League

| sport =Indoor lacrosse

| logo =

| pixels =

| no_of_teams =6

| no_of_games =10

| duration =January 4, 1997 - April 12, 1997

| season =Regular season

| MVP =Gary Gait (Baltimore Thunder)

| MVP_link =National Lacrosse League MVP Award

| top_scorer =Gary Gait (Baltimore Thunder)

| top_scorer_link =1997 MILL season

| league_champs =Philadelphia Wings

| second_place =New York Saints

| finals =Champion's Cup

| finals_link =Champion's Cup

| finals_champ =Rochester Knighthawks

| finals_runner-up =Buffalo Bandits

| finals_MVP =Steve Dietrich (Rochester)

| finals_MVP_link =Champion's Cup#Most Valuable Players

| seasonslistnames = MILL/NLL

| prevseason_link = 1996 Major Indoor Lacrosse League season

| prevseason_year = 1996 season

| nextseason_link = 1998 NLL season

| nextseason_year = 1998 season

| TV = ESPN and ESPN2

}}

The 1997 season is the 11th season of the league and, is the last as the MILL, began on January 4, 1997, and concluded with the championship game on April 12. The league was renamed to the National Lacrosse League after this season.

Team movement

The Charlotte Cobras, who debuted in the 1996 Major Indoor Lacrosse League season, folded after only a single winless season.

{{Clear}}

=Teams=

{{CSS crop

|Location=right

|Description=10px Major Indoor Lacrosse League Teams

|bSize=980

|cWidth=450

|cHeight=250

|oLeft=425

|oTop=270

|Content=

{{Location map+ | USA Northeast

| width = 1150

| caption =

| places =

{{Location map~ | USA Northeast

| lat_deg = 39.28

| lon_deg = -76.62

| mark = Black pog.svg

| label_size = 80

| position = bottom

| label = Thunder}}

{{Location map~ | USA Northeast

| lat_deg = 42.37

| lon_deg = -71.06

| mark = Black pog.svg

| label_size = 80

| position = left

| label = Blazers}}

{{Location map~ | USA Northeast

| lat_deg = 42.88

| lon_deg = -78.88

| mark = Black pog.svg

| label_size = 80

| position = right

| label = Bandits}}

{{Location map~ | USA Northeast

| lat_deg = 40.72

| lon_deg = -73.59

| mark = Black pog.svg

| label_size = 80

| position = bottom

| label = Saints}}

{{Location map~ | USA Northeast

| lat_deg = 39.90

| lon_deg = -75.17

| mark = Black pog.svg

| label_size = 80

| position = left

| label = Wings}}

{{Location map~ | USA Northeast

| lat_deg = 43.15

| lon_deg = -77.61

| mark = Black pog.svg

| label_size = 80

| position = right

| label = Knighthawks}}

}}

}}

class="wikitable" style="width:auto"
bgcolor="#0000FF" align="center" colspan="6"|1997 Major Indoor Lacrosse League
| TeamCityArenaCapacity
Baltimore Thunder

| Baltimore, Maryland

| Baltimore Arena

| 10,582

Boston Blazers

| Boston, Massachusetts

| FleetCenter

| 17,850

Buffalo Bandits

| Buffalo, New York

| Marine Midland Arena

| 18,595

New York Saints

| Uniondale, New York

| Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum

| 16,297

Philadelphia Wings

| Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

| CoreStates Center

| 19,463

Rochester Knighthawks

| Rochester, New York

| Rochester Community War Memorial

| 10,662

Regular season

{{1997 MILL standings}}

All Star Game

No All-Star Game was played in 1997.

Playoffs

{{4TeamBracket | RD1= Semifinals

| RD2= Championship

| RD1-seed1=2

| RD1-team1=New York

| RD1-score1=10

| RD1-seed2=3

| RD1-team2=Buffalo

| RD1-score2=19

| RD1-seed3=4

| RD1-team3=Rochester

| RD1-score3=15

| RD1-seed4=1

| RD1-team4=Philadelphia

| RD1-score4=13

| RD2-seed1=4

| RD2-team1=Rochester

| RD2-score1=15

| RD2-seed2=3

| RD2-team2=Buffalo

| RD2-score2=12

}}

Awards

class="wikitable"

!Award

!Winner

!Team

MVP Award

|Gary Gait

|Philadelphia

Rookie of the Year Award

|Jeff Wilfong

|Boston

Championship Game MVP

|Steve Dietrich

|Rochester

=Weekly awards=

Each week, a player is awarded "Player of the Week" honours.

class="wikitable"

! Week !! Player of the Week

1

| Paul Gait

2

| Roy Colsey

3

| Sal LoCascio

4

| Paul Gait

5

| Paul Gait

6

| John Tavares

7

| Derek Collins

8

| Thomas Carmean

9

| Matt Panetta

10

| Tom Marechek

11

| Ted Dowling

12

| Dallas Eliuk

=Monthly awards=

An award is also given out monthly for the best overall player.

class="wikitable"

! Month !! Player of the Month

Jan

| Paul Gait

Feb

| Derek Collins

Mar

| Tom Marechek

=All-Pro Teams=

First Team:

Second Team:

Statistics leaders

Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. Italics indicate tied single-season records.

class="wikitable"

!Stat!!Player!!Team!!Number

GoalsGary GaitPhiladelphiaalign="center"|40
AssistsGary GaitPhiladelphiaalign="center"|32
PointsGary GaitPhiladelphiaalign="center"|72
Penalty MinutesTom PhairBuffaloalign="center"|58
Shots on GoalPaul GaitRochesteralign="center"|131
Loose BallsJohn TavaresBuffaloalign="center"|104

Attendance

=Regular Season=

class="wikitable sortable"

|+

Home TeamHome GamesAverage AttendanceTotal Attendance{{cite web|url=http://nllstats.com/allgames?season=1997|title=1997 Season|work=nllstats.com|access-date=16 June 2023}}
Buffalo Bandits

|5

|17,533

|87,665

Philadelphia Wings

|5

|13,875

|69,336

New York Saints

|5

|7,268

|36,338

Rochester Knighthawks

|5

|6,570

|32,852

Boston Blazers

|5

|6,149

|30,743

Baltimore Thunder

|5

|5,018

|25,091

class="sortbottom"

|League

|30

|9,401

|282,025

=Playoffs=

class="wikitable sortable"

|+

Home TeamHome GamesAverage AttendanceTotal Attendance
Buffalo Bandits

|2

|15,085

|30,170

Philadelphia Wings

|1

|9,372

|9,372

class="sortbottom"

|League

|3

|13,181

|39,542

See also

References

  • {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060904173907/http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/arch970000.htm 1997 Archive at the Outsider's Guide to the NLL]}}

{{Reflist}}

{{NLL seasons}}

{{NLL}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:1997 Major Indoor Lacrosse League Season}}

MILL

Category:Major Indoor Lacrosse League seasons

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