1996 MILL season
League	Major Indoor Lacrosse League
Sport	Indoor lacrosse
Duration	December 30, 1995 - April 12, 1996
Number of games	10
Number of teams	7
TV partner(s)	ESPN and ESPN2
Regular season
League champions	Buffalo Bandits
Runners-up	Philadelphia Wings
Season MVP	Gary Gait ( Philadelphia Wings)
Top scorer	John Tavares ( Buffalo Bandits)
Champion's Cup
Champions	Buffalo Bandits
Runners-up	Philadelphia Wings
Finals MVP	Pat O'Toole (Buffalo)
MILL seasons
← 1995 season 1997 season →

The 1996 season is the 10th season of the league that began on December 30, 1995, and concluded with the championship game on April 12, 1996.

Team movement

The Charlotte Cobras played their only season in 1996, in the process achieving the only winless season in the history of the league.

Regular season

Reference: ^[1]

P	Team	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Home	Road	GF	GA	Diff	GF/GP	GA/GP
1	Buffalo Bandits – xyz	10	8	2	.800	0.0	3–2	5–0	173	127	+46	17.30	12.70
2	Philadelphia Wings – x	10	8	2	.800	0.0	4–1	4–1	165	114	+51	16.50	11.40
3	Boston Blazers – x	10	6	4	.600	2.0	4–1	2–3	146	114	+32	14.60	11.40
4	Rochester Knighthawks – x	10	6	4	.600	2.0	4–1	2–3	148	137	+11	14.80	13.70
5	Baltimore Thunder	10	4	6	.400	4.0	3–2	1–4	144	163	−19	14.40	16.30
6	New York Saints	10	3	7	.300	5.0	2–3	1–4	124	144	−20	12.40	14.40
7	Charlotte Cobras	10	0	10	.000	8.0	0–5	0–5	85	186	−101	8.50	18.60

x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games Played
W: Wins; L: Losses; GB:  Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowed
Differential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game

All Star Game

No All-Star Game was played in 1996.

Playoffs

	Semifinals					Championship
	4	Rochester	10
	1	Buffalo	18
						2	Philadelphia	10
						1	Buffalo	15
	3	Boston	8
	2	Philadelphia	10

Awards

Award	Winner	Team
MVP Award	Gary Gait	Philadelphia
Rookie of the Year Award	Darren Fridge	Boston
Championship Game MVP	Pat O'Toole	Buffalo

Weekly awards

Each week, a player is awarded "Player of the Week" honours.

Week	Player of the Week
1	J.J. Pearl
2	Steve Dietrich
3	Gary Gait
4	Tom Phair
5	Darren Fridge
6	Andy Piazza
7	John Tavares
8	Eric Seremet
9	Dallas Eliuk
10	John Tavares
11	John Tavares
12	Steve Dietrich
13	Charlie Blanchard
14	Kevin Bilger

Monthly awards

An award is also given out monthly for the best overall player.

Month	Player of the Month
Jan	Gary Gait
Feb	John Tavares
Mar	John Tavares

All-Pro Teams

First Team:

• Gary Gait, Philadelphia
• Paul Gait, Rochester
• Tom Marechek, Philadelphia
• John Tavares, Buffalo
• Jim Veltman, Buffalo
• Dallas Eliuk, Philadelphia (goalie)

Second Team:

• Chris Bates, Charlotte
• Thomas Carmean, Boston
• Chris Driscoll, Rochester
• Kevin Finneran, Philadelphia
• Duane Jacobs, Rochester
• Steve Dietrich, Rochester (goalie)

Statistics leaders

Bold numbers indicate new single-season records. Italics indicate tied single-season records.

Stat	Player	Team	Number
Goals	Gary Gait	Philadelphia	43
Assists	Jim Veltman	Buffalo	40
Points	John Tavares	Buffalo	81
Penalty Minutes	Tom Phair	Buffalo	53
Shots on Goal	Gary Gait	Philadelphia	126
Loose Balls	Jim Veltman	Buffalo	125
Save Pct	Pat O'Toole	Buffalo	76.3

Attendance

Regular Season

Home Team	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance [2]
Buffalo Bandits	5	14,883	74,419
Philadelphia Wings	5	14,644	73,222
Boston Blazers	5	8,358	41,792
New York Saints	5	7,916	39,579
Rochester Knighthawks	5	7,376	36,881
Baltimore Thunder	5	4,987	24,934
Charlotte Cobras	5	2,760	13,802
League	35	7,991	279,695

Playoffs

Home Team	Home Games	Average Attendance	Total Attendance [2]
Buffalo Bandits	2	15,333	30,665
Philadelphia Wings	1	12,092	12,092
League	3	14,252	42,757

See also

• 1996 in sports

References

• 1996 Archive at the Outsider's Guide to the NLL