BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The National Lacrosse League announced its "Face Off Weekend" is set for December 3 and 4.
The 35th season of the NLL will feature a new two-Conference format, extended playoffs and will be the inaugural season of Panther City Lacrosse Club.
The NLL now consists of 14 teams that will be aligned into two conferences, East and West.
East
Albany FireWolves
Buffalo Bandits
Georgia Swarm
Halifax Thunderbirds
New York Riptide
Philadelphia Wings
Rochester
Knighthawks
Toronto Rock
West
Calgary Roughnecks
Colorado Mammoth
Panther City Lacrosse Club
San Diego Seals
Saskatchewan Rush
Vancouver Warriors
With the news two-conference format, the top four teams in the East and the top three teams in the West will advance to the playoffs. The eighth and final playoff spot will go to the team with the better record between the fifth place team in the East and the fourth place in the West. The first round of the playoffs will be single elimination and the second round and Finals will be best-of-three series.
The season will begin on on Friday, December 3, when Colorado visits San Diego. The Buffalo Bandits will begin their season on Saturday, December 4, at home against Calgary.
“It’s very exciting to announce Face Off Weekend and returning to play,” said NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz. “Face Off Weekend will mark a long-anticipated return to play for the NLL in a very big way with a new TSN Game of the Week partnership featuring 20+ games on linear television and the remaining match-ups streamed on TSN digital platforms.”
The entire NLL schedule will be released in the coming weeks.
