Ontario Raiders

Ontario Raiders
Team logo
Division	East
Played	1998
Home arena	Copps Coliseum
Based in	Hamilton, Ontario
Colors	Black, Gold, Red
Head coach	Les Bartley
General manager	John Mouradian
Owner	Chris Fritz
Later	Toronto Rock

The Ontario Raiders were a member of the National Lacrosse League during the 1998 NLL season. The franchise was originally founded as an expansion team in Hamilton, Ontario, and played their home games at Copps Coliseum. Former Buffalo Bandits coach Les Bartley was hired to coach the new team, and he lured former Bandit Jim Veltman to join him, becoming the Raiders' captain. The team finished a respectable 6-6 in their inaugural season, but missed the playoffs on a tie-breaker. Following the season, losses of $250,000 forced owner Chris Fritz to look for partners.^[1] Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment considered purchasing the team,^[1]^[2]^[3] but ultimately a group which included Bill Watters, the then Assistant General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Paul Beeston, former president of the Toronto Blue Jays, Tie Domi, player for the Maple Leafs, and Bobby Orr, former NHL player, bought it for $250,000 and promptly relocated the team to Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens where they rebranded it the Toronto Rock.^[4]^[5]

Awards & honors

Year	Player	Award
1998	Colin Doyle	Rookie of the Year

Famous players

Team Roster

No.	Position	Player
11	Def	Clark, Glenn
2	Def	Coyle, Pat
7	Fwd	Doyle, Colin
25	Fwd	Gill, Chris

No.	Position	Player
8	Fwd	Stroup, Dan
32	Fwd	Veltman, Jim
29	Goalie	Watson, Bob

All time Record

Season	Division	W-L	Finish	Home	Road	GF	GA	Coach	Playoffs
1998		6-6	5th	4-2	2-4	165	157	Les Bartley	Missed playoffs
Total	1 season	6-6		4-2	2-4	165	157

National Lacrosse League

East Division	Buffalo Bandits Georgia Swarm New England Black Wolves Rochester Knighthawks Toronto Rock

West Division	Calgary Roughnecks Colorado Mammoth Saskatchewan Rush Vancouver Stealth

Awards	Champion's Cup MVP Rookie of the Year Defensive Player of the Year Transition Player of the Year Goaltender of the Year Sportsmanship Award Les Bartley Award GM of the Year Executive of the Year Tom Borrelli Award Weekly Awards Monthly Awards

Articles	All-Star Game PLPA Family relations Hall of Fame Seasons Entry drafts Expansion drafts Dispersal drafts Team Capsules Former teams All-time Records Rosters

Related Articles: Box lacrosse Lacrosse Major League Lacrosse

Lacrosse

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Teams	Australia Canada Europe Iroquois Nationals United States National International

People	Players Goaltender (box lacrosse) Goaltender (field lacrosse) Coaches Players by nationality Major League Lacrosse players National Lacrosse League players Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductees National Lacrosse Hall of Fame inductees

Variants	Intercrosse Polocrosse

Category Commons WikiProject

References

1 2 Kernaghan, John (1998-08-20). "Raiders call it quits in Hamilton". Hamilton Spectator.
↑ Milton, Steve (1998-07-07). "Hamilton's pro lacrosse is going, going...". Hamilton Spectator.
↑ Kernaghan, John (1998-07-14). "Three-way toss up for Ontario Raiders". Hamilton Spectator.
↑ Brown, Josh (1998-12-04). "Watters, Beeston, Domi, Orr bring pro lacrosse to town". Toronto Star.
↑ Stevens, Neil (1998-12-24). "Rock will test Toronto's taste for pro lacrosse". Waterloo Region Record.

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