Albany Attack

Albany Attack

Team logo
Division Central
Played 2000–2003
Home arena Pepsi Arena
Based in Albany, New York
Colors Navy Blue, Columbia Blue, Silver, White
Division Championships 2002
Later San Jose Stealth
Washington Stealth
Vancouver Stealth

The Albany Attack was the name of a franchise which played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) from the 2000 season through the 2003 season. The Attack played in the former Pepsi Arena in Albany, New York (now known as the Times Union Center). After the 2003 season, the franchise was sold and moved to San Jose, California and renamed the San Jose Stealth. The current incarnation of the franchise is the Vancouver Stealth.

Awards and honors

Year Player Award
2002 Bob McMahon Coach of the Year
Rob Blasdell Goaltender of the Year
2003 Jim Moss Defensive Player of the Year

All time record

Season Division W-L Finish Home Road GF GA Coach Playoffs
2000   6-6 T-5th 4-2 2-4 169 160 Terry Sanderson Missed playoffs
2001   5-9 7th 3-4 2-5 152 169 Terry Sanderson Missed playoffs
2002 Central 14-2 1st 7-1 7-1 250 194 Bob McMahon Lost Championship
2003 Central 8-8 T-7th 4-4 4-4 198 191 Bob McMahon Missed playoffs
Total 4 seasons 33-25   18-11 15-14 769 714    

Playoff results

Season Game Visiting Home
2002 Semifinals Rochester 10 Albany 14
Championships Toronto 13 Albany 12

2002 highlights

A banner commemorating the 2001-02 season

The 2002 Albany Attack team was the most successful Attack team during the franchise's four years in Albany, NY. It is the only Attack team to have made the NLL playoffs. (Note: The San Jose Stealth made the NLL playoffs in their inaugural season, 2004, as well as the 2007 and 2008 seasons.) The team went 14-2 in the regular season winning the Central Division championship, and went 15-3 overall having lost to the Toronto Rock in the 2002 NLL Champion's Cup Game in Albany.

Attendance problems

For various reasons, the Albany Attack were plagued by poor attendance most of their existence with average attendances in the 3000–4000 range which was not enough for the franchise to be profitable.

On June 14, 2001, Albany Attack owner Herb Chorbajian, a banker with CharterOne Bank, and Albany River Rats owner Walter Robb announced an agreement in which Robb would purchase a minority equity share in the Albany Attack. Given both teams played in the Pepsi Arena, the purpose of the agreement was to establish marketing and promotional synergy.

Despite the agreement, the Albany Attack was still not profitable so, throughout the 2002 season, Herb Chorbajian considered selling the Albany Attack. However, the success of the playoffs encouraged him to keep the team for another season. Furthermore, in the summer of 2002, the Albany Attack Pack, the Official Fan Club of the Albany Attack, was created by several fans with hopes of improving attendance.

Bob McMahon (left) and Herb Chorbajian after the final Albany Attack game.
(Albany defeated the Vancouver Ravens in Albany on Saturday April 12, 2003.)

In the 2003 season, according to Albany Attack General Manager Michael DeRossi, season ticket sales did go up considerably over the previous season, but the marketing effort actually decreased. Furthermore, the Attack went only 2–6 in their first eight games, losing all four home games to that point. While the Attack did have a second half record of 6–2, they never recovered enough to return to the playoffs nor did they have sufficient attendance to be profitable.

Move to San Jose

With no significant improvement in attendance throughout the 2003 season, the Albany Attack were destined to be a financial loss for a fourth consecutive year. During that season, there were numerous rumors that Mr. Chorbajian was going to sell the franchise, in particular to a group from San Jose, California.

On June 9, 2003, the rumors were confirmed when an announcement was made that the Albany Attack franchise was sold and relocated to San Jose, CA where it was located until 2009. Mr. Chorbajian retained a share in the franchise. This may no longer be the case as the team has since been resold.

During the summer of 2003, the new owners had a "Name the Team Contest" and, on September 16, 2003, the winner, a high school sophomore from San Jose, elected to officially rename the team the San Jose Stealth.

On June 17, 2009, the Stealth announced it would be moving to Everett, Washington effective immediately. The newly renamed Washington Stealth played their home games at the Comcast Arena at Everett beginning in the 2010 season. Four years later, they relocated again to Vancouver, BC, becoming the Vancouver Stealth.

Jerseys of the Albany Attack franchise (1999-2003) of the National Lacrosse League. The dark jersey was traditionally the road jersey; the light jersey was traditionally the home jersey. The jerseys were manufactured by ProJoy.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, May 07, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.