The National Lacrosse League, the largest and most successful professional lacrosse property in the world, announced today the two-conference alignment and expanded playoff format for the 2021-22 season, which is set to begin Friday, Dec. 3 and Saturday, Dec. 4 with six games across North America as part of Face Off Weekend.
The Knighthawks, who embark on their second season in the NLL in 2021-22, will be part of the eight-team East Conference and will be joined by the Albany FireWolves, Buffalo Bandits, Georgia Swarm, Halifax Thunderbirds, New York Riptide, Philadelphia Wings and Toronto Rock. The six remaining teams – Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Panther City Lacrosse Club, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush and Vancouver Warriors – will make up the West Conference.
The new alignment means a revised playoff format, with the top four teams in the East and top three in the West advancing to the playoffs. The eighth playoff slot will go to the team with the better record between the fifth place in the East and fourth place in the West, per NLL tiebreaker rules. The first round will be single elimination, while the second round and Finals will each be best-of-three series.
Face Off weekend features six games across North America, including the Knighthawks visiting the New York Riptide on Saturday, Dec. 4 for a season-opening matchup at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. Rochester defeated the Riptide 13-12 in the only previous matchup between the two teams back on Feb. 29, 2020.
The 2021-22 season officially gets underway on Friday, Dec. 3 when Colorado visits San Diego while other games include Calgary visiting Buffalo, Philadelphia visiting Georgia, Saskatchewan visiting Halifax and Albany taking on Toronto in its new home in Hamilton, Ontario.
Rochester’s complete 2021-22 regular-season schedule, including any potential national broadcasts, will be announced in the coming weeks. All 14 active NLL teams will play an 18-game scheduled followed by the postseason and the league championship series.
About the National Lacrosse League
The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is North America’s premier professional lacrosse league. Founded in 1986, the NLL ranks third in average attendance for pro indoor sports worldwide, behind only the NHL and NBA. The League is comprised of 15 franchises across the United States and Canada: Albany FireWolves, Buffalo Bandits, Calgary Roughnecks, Colorado Mammoth, Georgia Swarm, Halifax Thunderbirds, Las Vegas NLL, New York Riptide, Panther City Lacrosse Club (TX), Philadelphia Wings, Rochester Knighthawks, San Diego Seals, Saskatchewan Rush, Toronto Rock, and Vancouver Warriors. For more information, visit NLL.com and find @NLL on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For more information visit NLL.com.