John Tavares (lacrosse)

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]

• 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.

• 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)

Reference:^[9]

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.

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.

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.

• NLL records

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

• 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)