2012 Philadelphia Wings season
# 2012 Philadelphia Wings season

The Philadelphia Wings are a lacrosse team based in Philadelphia playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2012 season was the 26th in franchise history.

In August, the Wings pulled off a blockbuster trade with the Edmonton Rush, sending star forward Athan Iannucci to the Rush along with Alex Turner, Brodie MacDonald, and three first round draft picks for two-time Transition Player of the Year Brodie Merrill, Dean Hill, Mike MacLellan, and two low draft picks. A month later, the look of the team changed even more dramatically, as the Wings landed superstar forward Dan Dawson in the Boston Blazers dispersal draft. The 2012 version of Boston's "big three" was completed when the Wings picked up star Stony Brook forward Kevin Crowley first overall in the entry draft.

The significant roster changes didn't help the Wings in their first game of the year, a 22-12 pounding at the hands of the Rochester Knighthawks. But the Wings settled down and won four of their next five games, and seven of ten to take the lead in the East division. The wheels fell off at the end of March, however, as the Wings lost an overtime game to the Colorado Mammoth, and then lost their next four. The losing streak included three games at home, and the Wings didn't score more than ten goals in any of their last four games.

They finished in third place in the East with a 7-9 record and made the playoffs. They traveled to Rochester to face the Knighthawks, who had beaten them three times already this season. In only their third playoff game since winning the Championship in 2001, the Wings came up a goal short, losing to the Knighthawks 14-13.

## Regular season

### Conference standings

Reference:

East Division :

| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Toronto Rock – xy | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 0.0 | 3–5 | 6–2 | 198 | 196 | +2 | 12.38 | 12.25 |
| 2 | Rochester Knighthawks – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 2.0 | 5–3 | 2–6 | 191 | 197 | −6 | 11.94 | 12.31 |
| 3 | Philadelphia Wings – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 2.0 | 3–5 | 4–4 | 176 | 207 | −31 | 11.00 | 12.94 |
| 4 | Buffalo Bandits – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 2.0 | 4–4 | 3–5 | 198 | 204 | −6 | 12.38 | 12.75 |

West Division :

| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Calgary Roughnecks – xyz | 16 | 12 | 4 | .750 | 0.0 | 5–3 | 7–1 | 216 | 170 | +46 | 13.50 | 10.62 |
| 2 | Colorado Mammoth – x | 16 | 11 | 5 | .688 | 1.0 | 5–3 | 6–2 | 217 | 201 | +16 | 13.56 | 12.56 |
| 3 | Minnesota Swarm – x | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 3.0 | 6–2 | 3–5 | 202 | 190 | +12 | 12.62 | 11.88 |
| 4 | Edmonton Rush – x | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | 6.0 | 4–4 | 2–6 | 167 | 175 | −8 | 10.44 | 10.94 |
| 5 | Washington Stealth | 16 | 4 | 12 | .250 | 8.0 | 2–6 | 2–6 | 179 | 204 | −25 | 11.19 | 12.75 |

x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games Played W: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowed Differential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game

## Game log

Reference:

| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | January 14, 2012 | Rochester Knighthawks | Wells Fargo Center | L 12–22 | | 8,813 | 0–1 |
| 2 | January 21, 2012 | Washington Stealth | Wells Fargo Center | W 10–9 | OT | 8,024 | 1–1 |
| 3 | January 27, 2012 | @ Buffalo Bandits | First Niagara Center | W 13–10 | | 14,492 | 2–1 |
| 4 | February 4, 2012 | Toronto Rock | Wells Fargo Center | L 6–15 | | 7,807 | 2–2 |
| 5 | February 12, 2012 | Buffalo Bandits | Wells Fargo Center | W 14–13 | | 8,119 | 3–2 |
| 6 | February 18, 2012 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | W 14–8 | | 10,360 | 4–2 |
| 7 | February 24, 2012 | @ Edmonton Rush | Rexall Place | L 10–12 | | 6,708 | 4–3 |
| 8 | March 3, 2012 | Rochester Knighthawks | Wells Fargo Center | L 8–11 | | 8,906 | 4–4 |
| 9 | March 9, 2012 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | W 12–10 | | 9,804 | 5–4 |
| 10 | March 17, 2012 | Edmonton Rush | Wells Fargo Center | W 15–14 | | 7,524 | 6–4 |
| 11 | March 23, 2012 | @ Colorado Mammoth | Pepsi Center | W 13–12 | | 14,876 | 7–4 |
| 12 | March 25, 2012 | Colorado Mammoth | Wells Fargo Center | L 15–16 | OT | 8,435 | 7–5 |
| 13 | April 6, 2012 | Minnesota Swarm | Wells Fargo Center | L 9–13 | | 8,070 | 7–6 |
| 14 | April 7, 2012 | @ Buffalo Bandits | First Niagara Center | L 7–17 | | 15,060 | 7–7 |
| 15 | April 21, 2012 | @ Minnesota Swarm | Xcel Energy Center | L 10–15 | | 9,357 | 7–8 |
| 16 | April 28, 2012 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | L 7–9 | | 8,912 | 7–9 |

### Playoffs

Reference:

| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Division Semifinal | May 4, 2012 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | L 13–14 | | 5,176 | 0–1 |

## Transactions

### Trades

| August 9, 2011 | To Philadelphia Wings Brodie Merrill Mike McLellan Dean Hill 41st overall pick, 2011 entry draft 4th round pick, 2013 entry draft | To Edmonton Rush Athan Iannucci Alex Turner Brodie McDonald 1st round pick, 2012 entry draft 1st round pick, 2013 entry draft 1st round pick, 2014 entry draft |
| - | - | - |

### Dispersal Draft

The Wings chose the following players in the Boston Blazers dispersal draft:

| Round | Overall | Player |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | Dan Dawson |
| 2 | 10 | John Orson |
| 3 | 19 | Nick Cotter |
| 4 | 28 | Brett Queener |

### Entry draft

The 2011 NLL Entry Draft took place on September 21, 2011. The Wings selected the following players:

| Round | Overall | Player | College/Club |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 1 | Kevin Crowley | Stony Brook University |
| 4 | 28 | Steve Fryer | Coquitlam, AB |
| 5 | 37 | Matt Stefurak | University of Delaware |
