Minnesota Swarm
are a box lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League. The team plays at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota
The teams previous owners (Minnesota Sports & Entertainment) who also own the NHL's Minnesota Wild purchased the rights to the inactive Montreal Express team on August 10, 2004. The name Swarm was selected over Thrill, Rush and Bullheads.
On July 16, 2008, John J. Arlotta and his son Andy Arlotta were officially announced as the team's new owners. [1]
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MINNESOTA SWARM TICKETS
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History
The Minnesota Swarm played their first exhibition game on December 10, 2004 against the
Colorado Mammoth. The team drew over 14,000 fans — a record for an NLL preseason game, though most of the tickets were free. The Swarm's first regular season game was in
Rochester against the Knighthawks on January 1, 2005, in which the Swarm won 12-11.
Craig Conn scored the first goal in franchise history. Their first home regular season game was January 21, 2005 against the
Buffalo Bandits. The coach of the team for the first season was Mike Simpson and the general manager was
Marty O'Neill.
Forward Craig Conn and defenseman
Ryan Cousins were named reserves for the East Division All-Star Team at the 2005
NLL All Star Game.
Ryder Bateman ranked tied for second among NLL rookies in goals and third in scoring. The team finished the season with a 5-11 record. In August 2005, Adam Mueller was named as the head coach of the team.
The Swarm made the NLL playoffs after the
2006 season with an 8-8 record. In July 2006 Adam Mueller resigned as coach and was replaced on August 1 by Duane Jacobs. In
2007 the Swarm improved to a 9-7 record, again making the playoffs. General Manager
Marty O'Neill was named
NLL GM of the Year.
[2]
thumb visiting the Minnesota Swarm in the
Xcel Energy CenterIn Week 7 of the
2008 NLL season, the Swarm established a league record by running up a 12-0 lead before the
New York Titans broke their scoreless streak in the third quarter of the contest.
[3] For the third year in a row, the Swarm improved their record over the previous season, finishing with a 10-6 record. They lost to the
New York Titans in the division semi-finals, but GM Marty O'Neill was once again named NLL GM of the Year,
[4] becoming the only multiple winner of this award.
Awards & honors
| Year
| Player
| Award
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| 2009
| John J. Arlotta
| Executive of the Year [5]
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| 2008
| Marty O'Neill
| GM of the Year |
| Tom Garrity
| Executive of the Year [6]
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| Ryan Cousins
| Defensive Player of the Year [7]
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| Craig Point
| Rookie of the Year [8]
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| 2007
| Marty O'Neill
| GM of the Year |
| Ryan Cousins
| Defensive Player of the Year [9]
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Roster
All time Record
| Season
| Division
| W-L
| Finish
| Home
| Road
| GF
| GA
| Coach
| Playoffs
|
| 2005
| Eastern
| 5-11
| 5th
| 2-6
| 3-5
| 188
| 231
| Mike Simpson
| Missed playoffs
|
| 2006
| Eastern
| 8-8
| 4th
| 3-5
| 5-3
| 158
| 171
| Adam Mueller
| Lost in division semifinals
|
| 2007
| Eastern
| 9-7
| 3rd
| 4-4
| 5-3
| 200
| 207
| Duane Jacobs
| Lost in division semifinals
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| 2008
| Eastern
| 10-6
| 1st
| 6-2
| 4-4
| 199
| 176
| Duane Jacobs
| Lost in division semifinals
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| 2009
| Western
| 6-10
| 5th
| 2-6
| 4-4
| 174
| 198
| Duane Jacobs
| Missed playoffs
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| Total
| 5 seasons
| 38-42
|
| 17-23
| 21-19
| 919
| 983
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| Playoff Totals
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| 0-3
|
| 0-1
| 0-2
| 26
| 36
|
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Playoff Results
| Season
| Game
| Visiting
| Home
|
| 2006
| Division Semifinal
| Minnesota 10
| Buffalo 11
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| 2007
| Division Semifinal
| Minnesota 8
| Buffalo 14
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| 2008
| Division Semifinal
| New York 11
| Minnesota 8
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Publicity
As a promotional stunt for the 2007 season opener, local sports newscaster
Eric Perkins signed a one-game contract to play for the Swarm. Commercials were aired on NBC showing Perkins at a news conference taunting the Chicago Shamrox. He did end up getting 8 seconds of playing time in the 11-10 loss. In 2008, The Swarm announced that they would be retiring Perkins' number 66.
[10] [11]
References
- Swarm Introduce New Ownership
- Marty O'Neill Named GM of the Year
- Title Unavailable
- Marty O'Neill Named GM of the Year
- John J. Arlotta Named Executive of the Year
- Tom Garrity Named Executive of the Year
- Cousins Named Edge Defensive Player of the Year
- Point Named Rookie of the Year
- Cousins named Defensive Player of the Year
- Title Unavailable
- Title Unavailable