Hamilton Nationals - Franchise History

Franchise History

The Nationals have 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 are staying 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.