John Tavares (lacrosse)

This article is about the lacrosse player. For his nephew, the professional hockey player, see John Tavares.

John Tavares

Tavares with the Buffalo Bandits in 2015
Born	(1968-09-04) September 4, 1968 (age 56) Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	175 pounds (79 kg)
Shoots	Left
Position	Forward
NLL team	Buffalo Bandits
CLA teams	Peterborough Lakers Brampton Excelsiors Six Nations Chiefs Victoria Shamrocks
Pro career	1992–2015
Coach	Buffalo Bandits (Assistant) (2016-2019;) Head Coach (2019-Present)
Career highlights
NLL all-time leader: games played (308), goals (815), assists (934), and points (1,749) NLL MVP (1994, 2000, 2001)
NLL Hall of Fame, 2016

John Tavares (born September 4, 1968, in Toronto, Ontario) is a Canadian former professional box lacrosse player and current head coach of the Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and Six Nations Chiefs of the Major Series Lacrosse League. He is the NLL's all-time leading scorer and also a mathematics teacher at Philip Pocock Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. He attended D'Youville University in Buffalo, New York.

Tavares played his entire National Lacrosse League (NLL) career with the Buffalo Bandits, starting in their inaugural season in 1992. He was acquired from the Detroit Turbos in exchange for Brian Nikula in October 1991. Tavares was also the Professional Lacrosse Players' Association representative for the Bandits.

Tavares is the NLL's all-time leader in games played (306), goals (815), assists (934), and points (1,749). ^[1] His 2,191 loose balls recovered is the second most all-time.

Tavares is the uncle of John Tavares, the alternate captain and star forward of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Tavares is currently the head coach of the MSL's Six Nations Chiefs, winning the 2023 MANN cup.

John Tavares was awarded the Order of Sport, marking his induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame on May 12, 2022. ^[2]

National Lacrosse League

On Saturday February 18, 2006, the Buffalo Bandits defeated the Minnesota Swarm by a score of 14–9 in front of 12,458 fans at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. In that game, John Tavares tied the NLL Career Points (goals + assists) record at 1,091 points held by Gary Gait, who had retired after the 2005 season. ^[3]

On Saturday March 4, 2006, 10,961 fans witnessed history. On that night, the Buffalo Bandits played their 7th regular season game again hosting the Minnesota Swarm, and Tavares scored two points in an 11–8 loss. The first was his 1,092nd career point, the record-breaker, which was an assist to Mark Steenhuis who scored a power-play goal at 11:57 in the second period. (The second point, Point 1,093, was also an assist to Steenhuis in the third period.) Play was stopped, and Tavares was given the game ball. ^{[4] [5] [6]}

On Saturday January 20, 2008, Tavares scored his 597th career goal (against goalie Matt Vinc) in a win over the New York Titans, passing Gary Gait and becoming the NLL's all-time leader in goals scored. ^[7] May 17, 2008 Tavares won his fourth championship and first since 1996. The Bandits beat the Portland Lumberjax in the championship game with the help of two Tavares goals.

During the 2009 NLL season, he was named to the All-Star Game. ^[8]

Career totals including playoffs

• Games Played: 344
• Career Goals: 899
• Career Assists: 1,050
• Career Points: 1,949
• Loose Balls: 2,464
• Tavares was the first player in NLL history to have 500 goals and 500 assists.

Points milestones

• No. 1: Jan. 4, 1992, assist to Rich Kilgour vs. New York in first game.
• 100: March 20, 1993, goal vs. Detroit's Paul Mootz in 16th game.
• 200: Jan. 20, 1996, goal vs. Baltimore's J.J. Pearl in 34th game.
• 300: Feb. 7, 1997, assist to Darris Kilgour vs. Baltimore in 47th game.
• 400: Jan. 8, 1999, goal vs. Philadelphia's Dallas Eliuk in 62nd game.
• 500: Feb. 18, 2000, goal vs. Rochester's Pat O'Toole in 78th game.
• 600: Feb. 10, 2001, goal vs. Washington's Devin Dalep in 91st game.
• 700: Feb. 1, 2002, assist to Chris Driscoll vs. Montreal in 107th game.
• 800: Feb. 8, 2003, assist to Mike Accursi vs. Toronto in 122nd game.
• 900: Feb. 14, 2004, goal vs. Anaheim's Matt Disher in 139th game.
• 1,000: Feb. 19, 2005, assist to Delby Powless vs. Rochester in 154th game.
• 1,091: Feb. 18, 2006, assist to Cory Bomberry vs. Minnesota in 169th game. (Ties Gary Gait's then-existing NLL Career Points Record)
• 1,092: March 4, 2006, assist to Mark Steenhuis vs. Minnesota in 170th game. (New NLL Career Points Record)
• 1,600: March 17, 2012, goal vs. Minnesota in 259th game.
• 1,949: May 8, 2015, assist to Dhane Smith vs. Rochester in (Division Semifinal) game 349. (final tally)

Statistics

Reference: ^[9]

John Tavares		Regular Season									Playoffs
Season	Team	GP	G	A	Pts	LB	PIM	Pts/GP	LB/GP	PIM/GP	GP	G	A	Pts	LB	PIM	Pts/GP	LB/GP	PIM/GP
1992	Buffalo Bandits	8	21	22	43	66	26	5.38	8.25	3.25	3	12	12	24	29	8	8.00	9.67	2.67
1993	Buffalo Bandits	8	35	23	58	93	28	7.25	11.63	3.50	2	4	3	7	6	2	3.50	3.00	1.00
1994	Buffalo Bandits	8	27	20	47	74	14	5.88	9.25	1.75	2	6	8	14	19	9	7.00	9.50	4.50
1995	Buffalo Bandits	8	24	21	45	66	21	5.63	8.25	2.63	1	2	1	3	6	0	3.00	6.00	0.00
1996	Buffalo Bandits	10	41	40	81	102	4	8.10	10.20	0.40	2	4	7	11	20	2	5.50	10.00	1.00
1997	Buffalo Bandits	10	37	29	66	104	18	6.60	10.40	1.80	2	7	9	16	30	0	8.00	15.00	0.00
1998	Buffalo Bandits	9	31	25	56	80	8	6.22	8.89	0.89	1	2	5	7	9	0	7.00	9.00	0.00
1999	Buffalo Bandits	12	33	34	67	112	35	5.58	9.33	2.92	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2000	Buffalo Bandits	12	34	49	83	123	10	6.92	10.25	0.83	1	2	1	3	18	0	3.00	18.00	0.00
2001	Buffalo Bandits	14	51	64	115	159	14	8.21	11.36	1.00	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2002	Buffalo Bandits	16	42	46	88	145	12	5.50	9.06	0.75	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2003	Buffalo Bandits	16	49	58	107	155	25	6.69	9.69	1.56	2	5	8	13	16	0	6.50	8.00	0.00
2004	Buffalo Bandits	16	49	44	93	118	25	5.81	7.38	1.56	3	7	13	20	21	4	6.67	7.00	1.33
2005	Buffalo Bandits	16	43	59	102	126	9	6.38	7.88	0.56	1	2	3	5	9	0	5.00	9.00	0.00
2006	Buffalo Bandits	16	32	53	85	95	12	5.31	5.94	0.75	3	7	4	11	13	0	3.67	4.33	0.00
2007	Buffalo Bandits	15	42	61	103	77	6	6.87	5.13	0.40	2	5	5	10	12	2	5.00	6.00	1.00
2008	Buffalo Bandits	16	29	58	87	91	23	5.44	5.69	1.44	3	5	14	19	22	0	6.33	7.33	0.00
2009	Buffalo Bandits	16	51	43	94	98	6	5.88	6.13	0.38	2	2	6	8	10	0	4.00	5.00	0.00
2010	Buffalo Bandits	10	21	28	49	57	22	4.90	5.70	2.20	1	0	2	2	5	0	2.00	5.00	0.00
2011	Buffalo Bandits	16	32	46	78	59	10	4.88	3.69	0.63	1	3	4	7	3	0	7.00	3.00	0.00
2012	Buffalo Bandits	16	41	39	80	53	8	5.00	3.31	0.50	1	2	1	3	3	0	3.00	3.00	0.00
2013	Buffalo Bandits	12	14	25	39	38	6	3.25	3.17	0.50	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
2014	Buffalo Bandits	16	24	27	51	78	31	3.19	4.88	1.94	3	7	5	12	17	0	4.00	5.67	0.00
2015	Buffalo Bandits	9	12	20	32	22	6	3.56	2.44	0.67	1	0	5	5	5	0	5.00	5.00	0.00
		305	815	934	1,749	2,191	379	5.73	7.18	1.24	37	84	116	200	273	27	5.41	7.38	0.73
Career Total:		342	899	1,050	1,949	2,464	406	5.70	7.20	1.19

GP–Games played; G–Goals; A–Assists; Pts–Points; LB–Loose balls; PIM–Penalty minutes; Pts/GP–Points per games played; LB/GP–Loose balls per games played; PIM/GP–Penalty minutes per games played.

Canadian Lacrosse Association

Tavares' teams have won seven Mann Cups, 1992 and 1993 with the Brampton Excelsiors, 1994 through 1996 with the Six Nations Chiefs, 2002 with the Victoria Shamrocks, and 2012 with the Peterborough Lakers. In 1992, 1993, and 1996, Tavares won the Mike Kelley Memorial Trophy as most valuable player in the Mann Cup competition. ^[10] Tavares also won the Major Series Lacrosse scoring title eight times, and the MSL's Most Valuable Player award three times. ^[11] Tavares played Ontario Junior A lacrosse for the Mississauga Tomahawks.

Statistics

				Regular Season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1983	Mississauga Tomahawks	OLA Jr B		1	4	0	4	0		2	0	0	0	4
1984	Mississauga Tomahawks	OLA Jr B		-	-	-	-	-		2	7	4	11	0
1985	Mississauga Tomahawks	OLA Jr B		4	7	2	9	9		10	17	15	32	4
1986	Mississauga Tomahawks	OLA Jr B		17	132	44	176	14		15	71	28	99	16
1987	Mississauga Tomahawks	OLA Jr B		23	128	56	184	25		11	42	23	65	12
1987	Bay Area Bengals	OLA Jr A		1	3	2	5	0		-	-	-	-	-
1988	Mississauga Tomahawks	OLA Jr A		23	77	72	149	36		-	-	-	-	-
1989	Mississauga Tomahawks	OLA Jr A		24	70	61	131	35		-	-	-	-	-
1989	Orangeville Northmen	MSL		1	2	2	4	0		-	-	-	-	-
1990	Vancouver Burrards	WLA		16	32	28	60	30		15	20	23	43	35
1991	Vancouver Burrards	WLA		24	46	48	94	80		4	5	6	11	14
1992	Brampton Excelsiors	MSL		16	44	46	90	47		13	30	26	56	25
1993	Brampton Excelsiors	MSL		16	53	40	93	39		13	34	29	63	22
1994	Six Nations Chiefs	MSL		13	44	45	89	42		18	42	46	88	32
1995	Six Nations Chiefs	MSL		20	55	53	108	50		14	31	36	67	20
1996	Six Nations Chiefs	MSL		24	69	71	140	45		14	39	24	63	38
1997	Six Nations Chiefs	MSL		20	46	57	103	27		4	9	5	14	8
1998	Akwesasne Thunder	MSL		16	33	48	81	27		-	-	-	-	-
1999	Akwesasne Thunder	MSL		18	36	43	79	25		16	26	29	55	28
2000	Akwesasne Thunder	MSL		16	45	66	111	45		-	-	-	-	-
2001	Akwesasne Thunder	MSL		14	26	52	78	10		-	-	-	-	-
2001	Victoria Shamrocks	WLA		8	20	32	52	6		11	25	27	52	13
2002	Victoria Shamrocks	WLA		7	9	23	32	15		17	34	39	73	6
2003	Victoria Shamrocks	WLA		8	14	22	36	11		14	27	26	53	21
2004	Akwesasne Thunder	MSL		18	38	51	89	7		3	5	4	9	0
2005	Akwesasne Thunder	MSL		17	31	55	86	8		3	7	0	7	4
2006	St. Regis Indians	MSL		13	16	40	56	11		3	2	7	9	0
2007	St. Regis Indians	MSL		10	10	25	35	2		10	7	21	28	9
2008	St. Regis Indians	MSL		17	34	59	93	6		9	17	24	41	4
2009	St. Regis Indians	MSL		12	16	29	45	2		9	14	22	36	7
2010	Peterborough Lakers	MSL		11	20	20	40	4		18	24	30	54	4
2011	Peterborough Lakers	MSL		18	20	41	61	2		11	7	20	27	4
2012	Peterborough Lakers	MSL		12	12	22	34	2		17	17	38	55	4
Junior B				45	271	102	373	48		40	127	70	197	36
Junior A Totals				48	150	135	285	71		-	-	-	-	-
Senior A Totals				365	771	1018	1789	543		236	422	482	904	301

International play

Medal record
Indoor lacrosse
Representing   Canada
World Championships
	2003 Toronto
	2007 Halifax

John Tavares represented Canada internationally. He played for his home country in the 2003 ^[13] and in the 2007 ^[14] World Championships, winning the gold medal in both.

See also

• NLL records

References

1. "NLL legend John Tavares retires after 24 seasons". Inside Lacrosse. September 2, 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
2. "Canada's Sports Hall of Fame adds new inductees for 2022". cbc.ca. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 16 May 2022.
3. "Bandits Beat Swarm 14–9, Tavares Ties Record". NLL.com. February 18, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
4. "Tavares Breaks Points Record, Bandits Fall". NLL.com. March 7, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
5. Wheeler, Brian; Zita McKenna (March 4, 2006). "Tavares Breaks Scoring Record". Bandits.com. Archived from the original on September 28, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
6. "Tavares breaks NLL scoring record". TSN.com. March 4, 2006. Retrieved 2007-05-28.
7. "Tavares Breaks Goal Scoring Record". NLL.com. January 19, 2008. Archived from the original on January 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
8. "All-Star reserves announced". NLL.com. February 19, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
9. "Player National Lacrosse League". NLL.com. Retrieved March 9, 2020.
10. "Historical Stats of the Mann Cup". Bible-of-Lacrosse.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2007-08-15.
11. "Player Profiles: John Tavares Stats". Bible-of-Lacrosse.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-13. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
13. "World Indoor Lacrosse Championship rosters". Outsider's Guide. 15 May 2003. Archived from the original on August 8, 2008.
14. "2007 World Indoor Lacrosse Championship Canada roster" (PDF). World Indoor Lacrosse. 25 June 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 20, 2007.

Further reading

• Jacob, Richard L. (2017). John Tavares Soul to the Goal. Sustain Progress, LLC. p. 92. ISBN   9780692868324.

External links

• JOHN TAVARES NAMED TO 2012 NLL ALL-PRO TEAM (from 2012)
• TAVARES LOOKS BACK ON ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL SEASON (from 2011)
• Professional Lacrosse Players Association John Tavares Interview (from 1999)

Preceded by Gary Gait	MILL Championship game MVP 1992, 1993	Succeeded by Paul Gait
Preceded by none	MILL MVP 1994	Succeeded by Gary Gait
Preceded by Gary Gait	NLL MVP 2000, 2001	Succeeded by Paul Gait