League MLL Owner(s) Arrow Express Sports Head coach David Huntley Founded 2009 | General manager Jody Gage | |
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Colours Black, orange, white, purple Profiles | ||
The Hamilton Nationals were a Major League Lacrosse (MLL) professional men's field lacrosse team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They began play in the 2009 season in Toronto, Ontario as the Toronto Nationals, becoming the first-ever Canadian team in MLL history. In 2009, they played their home games at BMO Field, which is also home to Major League Soccer's Toronto FC but moved to the smaller Lamport Stadium for the 2010 season. On February 3, 2011, the Nationals announced that they were relocating to Hamilton, Ontario, and would play their home games at Ron Joyce Stadium on the campus of McMaster University. On 21 November 2013, MLL announced that the team would not participate in the 2014 season, with most of the players being transferred to the expansion Florida Launch.
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The Hamilton Nationals' identity represented both the Canadian and Iroquois communities. The team's logo incorporated the Canadian maple leaf and the Iroquois Five Nations belt pattern taken from each respective flag. Additionally, the Nationals continuously signed Iroquois players.
Franchise history
The Nationals had their roots in the MLL's charter franchise the Rochester Rattlers. Before the 2009 season, part of the Rattlers' roster was transferred to the new Nationals' team; however, the name, colours, and history stayed behind in Rochester to be potentially used by a future MLL team. In November 2010, it was reported that the Chicago Machine had moved to Rochester, NY and resumed operation of the Rattlers franchise.
The Nationals started play in the MLL on May 15, 2009 and won against Washington Bayhawks 17–16. They won their first home game over the Chicago Machine 15–11. The Nationals qualified for the playoffs as the second seed with a 7–5 record and the best offense in MLL with 184 goals for. The Nationals played their first playoff game against the Long Island Lizards at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland. Toronto won their semi-final matchup 14–13 thanks to a strong game by Merrick Thomson scoring 4 goals. Toronto (at the time) went on to face the Denver Outlaws in the Steinfeld Cup Final. The Nationals were tied with the Outlaws 9–9 with over a minute to go in the game. Nationals head coach Dave Huntley called a time-out to draw out a strategy. With 45 seconds left to go, Joe Walters passed to Shawn Williams and Williams scored the winning goal to give the Toronto Nationals their first championship victory 10–9 over the Denver Outlaws. Merrick Thomson was named Playoff MVP and Brodie Merrill won the Major League Lacrosse Defensive player of the Year Award.
On February 3, 2011, the Nationals announced that they would be moving to Hamilton and would be known as the Hamilton Nationals. It was also announced that Arrow Express Sports would take sole ownership of the team and the team would play their home games at Ron Joyce Stadium on the campus of McMaster University. Jody Gage was announced as the new general manager for the team, while Regy Thorpe was named the new head coach.
On 21 November 2013, the MLL announced that the team would not participate in the 2014 season, with most of the players being transferred to the expansion Florida Launch. The team was expected to attempt to rejoin the league for the 2015 season once construction of the new Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton is completed, much like the Rochester Rattlers did for the 2011 season, but failed to do so. No information on a return for the team has been reported.