calgaryroughnecks.com: History

ROUGHNECKS AMONG LEAGUE ELITE

The Calgary Roughnecks have been in the National Lacrosse League for only seven years, but in that short time have established themselves as one of the NLL’s premier organizations.

The club has made the playoffs four times, won the West Division title and in 2004 hoisted the ultimate symbol of boxla supremacy, the Champion’s Cup. In last season’s playoffs, the Riggers lost a heart-breaker in overtime to the eventual champions, the Colorado Mammoth.

Though many teams in the NLL are owned by large conglomerates, including several National Hockey League clubs, the Roughnecks remain one of the few ‘mom and pop’ operations.

Okotoks businessman Brad Banister has been principal owner and president from the club’s inception and is considered to be the architect of the Roughnecks rapid rise to fame in the world of lacrosse.

In the early years, he also acted as of General Manager and was responsible for attracting the signatures of such stars as Tracey Kelusky, Kaleb Toth, Lewis Ratcliff and Taylor Wray.

These four, along with rugged defenders Craig Gelsvik and Rob Kirkby, have all been selected to the NLL’s All-Star game over the past three years.

The organization’s determination to improve each year can be summed up by the fact that only Head Coach Chris Hall and local hero Kaleb Toth remain from the squad which played the club’s first ever game in November, 2001.