Major Indoor Lacrosse League (1989-1997)
Tombstone
Born: 1989 – MILL expansion franchise
Re-Branded: 1992 (Boston Blazers)
Folded: November 18, 19971SCOREBOARD; TRANSACTIONS. The Inquirer (Philadelphia, PA). November 19, 1997
First Game: January 14, 1989 (L 19-8 @ Philadelphia Wings)
Last Game: March 29, 1997 (L 13 -8 @ New York Saints)
MILL Championships: None
Arenas
1989-1991: Worcester Centrum
Opened: 1982
1992-1995: Boston Garden
Opened: 1928
Demolished: 1998
1996-1997: FleetCenter
Opened: 1995
Marketing
Team Colors: Green, Orange & Black21990 Major Indoor Lacrosse League Program
Ownership
Owners:
- 1989-1997: Major Indoor Lacrosse League (Russ Cline & Chris Fritz)
- 1997: Frank DuRoss & Ed Anderson
Origins in Worcester
The New England Blazers were an expansion entry in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League during the winter of 1989. The club played in the central Massachusetts city of Worcester and churned out a rugged product of box (indoor) lacrosse – heavy on two-way play, scoring and fighting.
The Blazers had a rough debut in 1989. The team finished tied for last place in the six-team MILL with a 1-7 record and went win-less at home at the Centrum.
The team rebounded to enjoy its best season in 1990. The Blazers finished first in the regular season with a 6-2 and earned a playoff bye directly to the league championship game. An announced crowd of 11,479 fans packed the Centrum for the title game against the defending champion Philadelphia Wings on April 13, 1990. But the Blazers put on their weakest effort of the season and fell to the Wings 17-9.
Move To Boston Garden
The Blazers moved to Boston in 1992 and played four seasons at the old Boston Garden before the historic building closed down in 1995. The team moved into the Garden’s replacement, the 17,000-seat FleetCenter, in the winter of 1996.
Since its formation in 1987, the league was organized as a single-entity structure. All of the clubs, and there were never more than seven of them in any given season, were controlled by the league’s Kansas City-based co-founders and promoters Russ Cline and Chris Fritz. Players earned around $250 to $400 per game with zero perks. (When the Wings beat the Blazers in the 1990 championship game, the Philadelphians earned a bonus of just $200 per man). Profitable clubs in Buffalo and Philadelphia underwrote money losers like Boston. Cline would tell The Philadelphia Daily News in November 1997 that the Blazers lost $250,000 – $300,000 during the club’s final campaign in 1997.
Labor Strife & Demise
Changes were afoot by the summer of 1997. Labor strife loomed with players looking for better pay and benefits. A new group of investors header by Steve Donner, owner of the Rochester Americans minor league hockey team, formed to start a rival box lacrosse circuit. Donner’s National Lacrosse League would offer individually owned and operated franchises. After an acrimonious summer, the MILL gave in and agreed to merge with the upstart NLL owners. The new league was known as the National Lacrosse League, but adopted the historical record of the MILL as its own.
The new league abandoned the single-entity model. MILL founders Russ Cline & Chris Fritz became NLL franchise owners. Frank DuRoss and Ed Anderson, owners of the American Hockey League’s Providence Bruins, purchased the Blazers franchise. The team took part in the NLL’s player draft in September 1997. Then things went sideways.
The new league still had to hammer out a collective bargaining agreement with its players. Most of the teams and players were carryovers from the MILL and they were looking forward to increased pay and increased professionalism in the NLL. The new deal, agreed to in November 1997, would raise player pay from an average of $400 per game in the final season of the MILL to a range of $500 to $1,100 per game in 1998. But after seeing the terms of the new labor agreement, new Blazers owners Frank DuRoss and Ed Anderson had second thoughts and pulled out of the league 45 days before opening night. Officially the franchise was suspended with some vague hopes voiced that it would return after a year off. That never occurred and DuRoss eventually forfeited his NLL franchise rights without ever putting a team on the carpet.
Revival
The NLL expanded back to Boston in 2007. The new franchise revived the old Blazers nickname, but dropped the original club’s green, orange and white color scheme in favor of red & black. The new Blazers lasted for three seasons from 2009 to 2011 before going out of business.
Blazers Video
The Blazers host the Philadelphia Wings at the old Boston Garden. 1993 season.
Links
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One Response
Hello, my name is Diane O’Neill, I am the sister of Dan O’Neill he was a goalie with the New Engand Blazers. he is in need of help and so I am sending you this go fund me address to let you all know what is going on with your former team mate. htt://gofund.me/ef9d69e7
thank you for any help