(See the Bandits recap here)

If you thought Buffalo losing turned heads, it only got wilder in the 2026 NLL Playoffs.

#8 Halifax Thunderbirds 10 – #1 Vancouver Warriors 7

After a 7-1 first half lead for the top seeded Warriors, the Thunderbirds meticulously chipped away at the deficit across the final 7 minutes of the third quarter. Powerplay goals from Clarke Petterson and Jason Knox and then a go ahead goal from Mike Robinson with 25 seconds left evened the game at 7. Into the fourth, Jake Withers caused a turnover and took it all the way to give the Thunderbirds the lead that they did not relinquish. 20 saves in the second half from Warren Hill ensured that the stunned Warriors would not come back, and for the first time since the unified standings came to be, the 8-seed defeated the 1-seed. Jason Knox’s 4 goals were of Halifax’s first 6; he added 2 assists and led the Thunderbirds. Clarke Petterson added 2 goals and 3 assists. For Vancouver, who was outshot 93-61, Keegan Bal led with 3 goals and 3 assists, all of course coming in the first half.

#7 San Diego Seals 13 – Colorado Mammoth 12 F/OT

While not as big of a hill to climb, after Will Malcom scored the game’s only powerplay goal to give the Mammoth an 11-7 lead with 2:41 left in the third, the Seals scored the next 5 goals to take a 12-11 lead. Dylan McIntosh scored 45 seconds after Wes Berg’s go-ahead goal to even things up at 12, and the game went on to overtime.

San Diego took possession to start the extra frame. They managed to get two resets with offensive rebounds to start the possession before Tre LeClaire drove to the net but had his shot blocked by Robert Hope. After Wes Berg picked up the loose ball in the corner, he sent a pass back to Leclaire in front of the net for a quick stick that beat Dillon Ward. The automatic replay review upheld the goal, and the Seals pulled off the 7v2 upset after the 8v1 upset the night before…but not without controversy.

The league announced on social media the Monday after the game that Leclaire’s foot stepped on the line of the crease after his blocked shot attempt. That would have made him the first player to receive a pass after the step. Now, while there has not been an explanation for why the officials did not act on this discovery during their review; perhaps they took Berg’s loose ball as the first touch after a player was in the crease or they missed the shot. Regardless, the crew did not officiate the rest of the playoffs. Regardless, the result stood and the Seals moved on.

San Diego got matching 3 goal 4 assist performances from Wes Berg and Zach Currier, the latter of whom also picked up 8 loose balls and caused 2 turnovers. Dylan Watson also had a hat trick and picked up an assist. Their defense held the Mammoth to 7 shots on goal in the final quarter after Chris Origlieri made 14 of his 33 saves in the third quarter.

For Colorado, Will Malcom had 2 goals and 7 assists, while Andrew Kew had 4 goals and 3 assists. Dillon Ward made 55 saves despite the loss. Since the game, the Mammoth were the first team to have a major offseason move, announcing that Eli McLaughlin will return to the Mammoth on a 3-year deal. The 32 old’s 2025 season was cut short after 12 games as he began his probation period in his training to become a BC firefighter. He had 23 goals and 23 assists in that shortened season. The two year’s prior, he eclipsed 40 goals in both, including a career-high 93 points in 2024.

#6 Toronto Rock 16 – #3 Saskatchewan Rush 13

There was one final upset for the road to end round 1, as the Rock came through with a 16-13 win in Saskatoon. The right side of the Rock’s offense provided the biggest spark, as Chris Boushy had 5 goals and an assist, while Josh Dawick had 3 goals and 3 assists. Their 16 goals was their second most on the season, with the high coming against Ottawa in a 17-10 win on January 31. Nick Rose made 32 of his 49 saves in the 2nd and 4th quarters. For the Rush, who will not return to the NLL Finals for a second straight season, Austin Shanks had 3 goals and 4 assists, while Robert Church had 3 goals and 3 assists.

Each of the 4 favorites entering the quarterfinals were out before the calendar flipped to May. Truly anything could happen next.

#6 Toronto Rock win the series 2-1 over the #7 San Diego Seals

In Game 1, the Rock scored 4 of the final 5 goals to start the round with a 14-12 win. This time, it was the trio of Challen Rogers, Sam English, and Mark Matthews picking up hat tricks in the win. In the back, Nick Rose made 44 saves in the win and also picked up 3 assists. For the Seals, Tre Leclaire had 3 goals and 4 assists, while Wes Berg had 7 assists.

Chris Origlieri made 14 saves in 21:40 of play in Game 1, but left with an injury that was later revealed to be a concussion. The injury continued into the rest of the series, as he was ruled out for Game 2. It would be Cameron Dunkerley making his first career playoff start with San Diego’s season on the line, and their stout defense came through in the most dominant of fashions. Dunkerley stopped 36 of the 42 shots he faced, and the offense got out to a 7-1 lead through 37 minutes on their way to an 11-6 win. Dylan Watson scored 4 goals, and Wes Berg had a goal and 5 assists to lead the Seals up front. Chris Boushy was the lone Rock forward to score twice with 2 goals and an assist. CJ Kirst had a goal and 2 assists. Nick Rose stopped 34 shots in 51:11, while Troy Holowchuk made 7 saves on 8 shots faced to finish the game as the Rock went to an aggressive empty net strategy halfway through the fourth.

The following week, the teams returned to Hamilton for Game 3. Toronto got out to a 4-0 lead through 9:26. San Diego would score the next 5 goals across the end of the first quarter and early second to take a halftime lead of 5-4. After Hugh Kelleher and Zach Currier exchanged goals, the Rock scored 5 times in the final 4:16 of the third quarter to go up 9-6 after 3. Sam English and Mark Matthews scored the next two to extend the run, and with some assistance from two goals from Owen Hiltz back-to-back, the pulled ahead and finished the series with a 14-8 win to advance to their first NLL Finals since 2015.

And it was the future of the team leading the way in the final game, as each of Sam English, CJ Kirst, Hugh Kelleher, and Owen Hiltz scored twice in the deciding game. English had 3 assists as well, while Kirst had 2. Nick Rose finished the game with 53 saves, his most in a playoff game.

For San Diego, Cameron Dunkerley had to start again and made 33 saves in the loss. Zach Currier had 3 goals and 3 assists, but other than 3 assists from Connor Robinson, the San Diego offense was shut down.

#8 Halifax Thunderbirds win series 2-1 over the #4 Georgia Swarm

An 8-1 run in the middle quarters erased Georgia’s 4-1 start to the game, as Jason Knox (4G 2A) and Clarke Petterson (2G 7A) dominated once again to push the Thunderbirds to another playoff win by a score of 12-7 in Game 1, and because of arena availability issues at Gas South Arena the next weekend (lots of high school and college graduations in Gwinett county in May), they would host Game 2 and a potential Game 3 in Halifax. Warren Hill made 35 saves in the win. Richie Connell was the lone multi-goal scorer for the Swarm in the loss. Shayne Jackson was the high point getter with a goal and 3 assists. Despite the loss, Brett Dobson made 53 saves.

A week later, the Swarm’s offense had their highest goal output since 2017 and 20+ goals for the third time ever in a playoff game in a 21-10 beat down of the Thunderbirds in Game 2. As an aside, the 2017 Swarm scored 21 goals in back-to-back weeks on April 1 against Colorado and April 7 against New England and then scored 20 again on April 22 in Buffalo. No wonder they won it all in 2017, eh?

Back to 2026, Shayne Jackson led with 3 goals and 7 assists. Lyle Thompson had 4 goals and 5 assists, Kaleb Benedict also had 9 points with 3 goals and 6 assists, and Nolan Byrne had 4 goals and an assist. On the side of the Thunderbirds, Clarke Petterson had 9 assists, Cody Jamieson had 2 goals and 5 assists, and Jason Knox had another 4 goals. It was the first time the Thunderbirds have given up over 20 since their move to Halifax. Going back to their Rochester years, the last time would have been February 11, 2017 against Saskatchewan; they did not give up 20 in a playoff game, however.

The chaos continued into Game 3 the night after. 15 minutes in, 13 goals had already been scored, with Halifax leading 7-6. The scoring began to subside in the second quarter with 2 goals apiece, as each Thunderbird goal was countered by one from the Swarm. Into the second half, the Thunderbirds defense came out of the locker room and locked in to pitch a quarter shutout, and goals from Clarke Petterson and Bo Bowhunter extended the lead to 11-8. Early in the fourth, the game was put on ice after Ben Trumble was given 5 and a game for a major penalty on an illegal body check. While Kason Tarbell scored shorthanded to cut the deficit to 2, Jason Knox and Brendan Bomberry scored on the 5 minute powerplay to extend the lead to 4. The Thunderbirds had an answer for two goals from Bryan Cole, and it was enough to pull out a 15-11 win to continue their Cinderella run.

After the Game 2 and first quarter of Game 3 stinker, Warren Hill locked in the rest of the way. He made 18 saves in his shutout in the third quarter. In front of him, the defense held the trailing Swarm to 7 shots on goal in the final quarter. He finished with 37 saves in the win. Once again, it was Clarke Petterson (2G 7A) and Jason Knox (3G 3A) leading the way for Halifax’s offense. Joining them this week atop the stat sheet were a 2 goal 3 assist game from Cody Jamieson, and in his first game since February 28, Randy Staats had a goal and 4 assists. It’s the first time the Thunderbirds made the NLL finals since their second last season in Rochester back in 2018.

For Georgia, Toron Eccleston replaced Nolan Byrne in the lineup and contributed with 3 goals and 2 assists. Shayne Jackson finished with the lead in points with 2 goals and 4 assists. Brett Dobson’s historic season came to a close with 43 saves.

NLL Finals

Game 1: #6 Toronto Rock 13 – #8 Halifax Thunderbirds 11

The Thunderbirds got out to a 9-4 lead in the first half before CJ Kirst finished the second and started the third with a natural hat trick to cut the deficit down to 2. Three more goals from the Rock into the fourth quarter gave the home team the lead with 12:56 left. While Cody Jamieson scored twice in the middle of the quarter to give Halifax the lead back, Owen Hiltz and Sam English erased it before they shut things down the rest of the way for a 13-11 win in Game 1. Again we head to the rookie report, where CJ Kirst had 4 goals and 2 assists, Sam English had 2 goals and 3 assists with 11 loose balls, and Owen Hiltz had 2 goals and 2 assists with 8 loose balls. Nick Rose made 38 saves which included a stretch of 24+ minutes where Halifax went scoreless.

While only with 4 points apiece, it was once again Jason Knox (3G 1A), Clarke Petterson (1G 3A), and Cody Jamieson (2G 2A) leading the Thunderbirds offense. Warren Hill made 46 saves.

Game 2: #6 Toronto Rock 12 – #8 Halifax Thunderbirds 7

While the Thunderbirds never led by more than 1 in Game 2, the script for the Rock was very similar on their way to their 12-7 win to clinch their first NLL championship since 2011 and 7th in franchise history.

Rookies scored the first 3 goals of the game. In fact, all 5 Rock rookies that played in the game scored a goal. Owen Hiltz had 3 goals and an assist, while each of Sam English (who was named MVP of the series), CJ Kirst, High Kelleher, and Lucas Hucal (the first goal of his careeer) all had a goal and an assist. Chris Boushy also had 3 goals and an assist, hoisting the trophy on the floor where his career took off across 3 seasons in Halifax. Alslo getting 4 points with a goal and 3 assists was Mark Matthews, who in his third season with the Rock won his 4th career finals. Then on the back end, Nick Rose, who at long last picked up his first championship in his second finals appearance, finished with 34 saves, including no more goals allowed in the final 28:32 of the game. In his 6 playoff games, he finished with an .808 save percentage and 10.25 goals against average.

Perhaps Toronto’s season was a lesson in perseverance in the National Lacrosse League. After everything went wrong in 2025, the core guys who missed time with injury were all back in 2026 joined by the energy boost provided by the trip of top picks in Sam English, CJ Kirst, and Owen Hiltz. Even going back further, 4 straight trips to the playoffs stopped short by the Buffalo dynasty had their demons erased (although I’m sure Bandits fans will say that they only won because the orange and black weren’t there to stop them) and culminated in finally getting over that hump. The likes of Rogers, Harris, Hostrawser, Kri, Jubenville, and of course Rose can never have the title of champion taken away from them. And they have Ty English joining the fold next season and a Top 4* pick in the draft.

For Halifax, Clarke Petterson was the lone Thunderbird to eclipse 4 points with 3 goals and an assist.

And with that, the 39th season of the National Lacrosse League is in the books. I guess before we wrap things up we can review the accolades.

• Brett Dobson walked away with the MVP and of course Goaltender of the Year after his historic line of a 7.86 GAA and .847 save percentage. His value to the Swarm in his 4th season (third as the full-time starter) helped them make their third straight playoffs and helped them leap to 4th in the standings in a season of turnover on the roster.
• Keegan Bal was an MVP finalist and walked away as the league’s Offensive Player of the Year with 124 points on 45 goals and 79 assists with 106 loose balls. As his Vancouver Warriors scored 200 goals on the season he had a point on 62% of them.
• Zach Currier won Transition Player of the Year. In his second season with the Seals, his rarely-off-the-floor style of play led to 22 goals, 35 assists, 200 loose balls, 23 caused turnovers, and 12 blocked shots. The league continues to add more players that can play both sides of the ball after the meta shifted over the years to O and D specialists, but Currier remains the gold standard for a transition player.
• Callum Jones was drafted with the thought that he would some day be the league’s best defender. In 2026, he picked up the hardware to go along with it. After missing half the season in 2025 with injury, the 27 year old played every game in 2026 and caused 32 turnovers. He blocked 11 shots, picked up 173 loose balls, and also added 3 goals and 8 assists to lead the Black Bears back end.
• CJ Kirst’s first NLL season saw him lead the diaper dandies in scoring with 71 points. His 34 goals were only eclipsed by 36 from Nolan Byrne. His 37 assists were tied with Braedon Saris. The #1 overall pick in 2025 was as advertised just as Brennan O’Neill was the year prior. Kirst even out produced O’Neill’s second season by 3 goals and an assist.
• With the combination of rookies joining the fray and a near total turnover on the offensive side of the ball, the battery of Brad Self and Pat Coyle brought home the GM of the Year and Les Bartley Award respectively.
• Ryan Keenan was the Sportsmanship Award Winner, while Luc Magnan was the Teammate of the Year. Jonas Haas of the Las Vegas Desert Dogs organization won Executive of the Year.
• And finally, the Tom Borrelli Award went to Graeme Perrow, whose nllstats.com site remains the go-to for historic league statistics.

With awards wrapped up, we can call it a year and check back in when the league calendar restarts on July1 right? Why are you asking about that asterisk next to the Rock having the 4th overall pick?

We go again…

We already know about the uncertainty of the Philadelphia Wings, whose owners, Comcast, relinquished control of the franchise at the end of the season, but it was publicized the week following the finals that the future of the Ottawa Black Bears is also in jeopardy. The Black Bears are owned by GF Sports and have shared operations with their roommates, the Ottawa Senators, the past two seasons after relocating to Canada’s capital from Long Island, when the New York Riptide were forced to relocate following the uncertainty of the future of Nassau Coliseum, which is actually still being used by the Long Island Nets of the NBA G-League because the demolition and casino replacement plans ended up falling through, as outlined by Nets Daily.

But alas, there is certainly more to come. Ottawa and Philadelphia own the first two overall picks in the draft, which means *Toronto could, if worst comes to fruition, jump up to as far up as the 2nd overall pick, owning Calgary’s first rounder as part of the package from Nick Rose’s cup of coffee following last year’s trade deadline. Rochester currently owns the third overall pick. Buffalo owns the 8th.

After hosting the UnBOXed series this past season, Edmonton remains in the rumor mill for a potential franchise destination, but a second team with uncertainty only makes it more complicated.

Also, while we’re here, another week has gone by and there have still been no retirement announcements from any Bandits, so that is another story to look out for as the calendar flips to June.

(Photo Credit: Ryan McCullough, Toronto Rock)