2017–18 NBL Canada season

The 2017–18 NBL Canada season is the seventh season of the National Basketball League of Canada (NBLC). The regular season ran November 18, 2017 to April 2, 2018.

2017–18 NBL Canada season
League	National Basketball League of Canada
Sport	Basketball
Duration	November 18, 2017 – April 2, 2018
Number of games	40
Number of teams	10
Total attendance	400,811 (2,004 per game)
Draft
Top draft pick	?
Picked by	?
Regular Season
Top seed	Halifax Hurricanes
Season MVP	?
Top scorer	?
Playoffs
Atlantic champions	Halifax Hurricanes
Central champions	London Lightning
Finals
Champions	London Lightning
Runners-up	Halifax Hurricanes
Finals MVP	Garrett Williamson

League changes

After two years as league commissioner, Dave Magley left the league to found North American Premier Basketball. He was replaced on an interim basis by London Lightning owner and league president Vito Frijia.

After years of league ownership, the Moncton Miracles were folded to make way for an expansion team under new ownership called the Moncton Magic.^[1] The league also awarded expansion franchises in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador,^[2] and Sudbury, Ontario. However, the Sudbury ownership group delayed their launch in the league until 2019.^[3] The Orangeville A's folded in the Central Division, leaving the league with six teams in the Atlantic region and four in the Central. As a result, the new St. John's Edge were scheduled to play in the Central Division.^[4]

Offseason coaching changes

• The Cape Breton Highlanders hired longtime NBLC head coach Rob Spon away from the Saint John Riptide, replacing their fired inaugural head coach Dean Murray and the interim Ben Resner.
• The Island Storm hired Tim Kendrick to replace longtime Storm head coach, Joe Salerno.
• The London Lightning hired Keith Vassell, former Niagara College head coach and the interim head coach of the Niagara River Lions the previous season. During the 2017 playoffs, then-Lightning head coach Kyle Julius notified ownership he would not return for the following season.
• The Moncton Magic hired Joe Salerno as its inaugural head coach. Salerno had coached the previous season for the Island Storm.
• The Niagara River Lions hired Joe Raso as its permanent head coach after Grâce Lokole stepped down during the previous season and Keith Vassell coached the rest of the season.
• The Saint John Riptide hired Nelson Terroba to replace Rob Spon.
• The St. John's Edge hired Jeff Dunlap as its inaugural head coach.

Midseason coaching changes

• The KW Titans released Serge Langis on 25 February 2018 after a 5–22 record, and replaced him with former Titans' player Cavell Johnson.^[5]

Teams

2017-18 National Basketball League of Canada
Division	Team	City	Arena	Capacity
Atlantic	Cape Breton Highlanders	Sydney, Nova Scotia	Centre 200	5,000
	Halifax Hurricanes	Halifax, Nova Scotia	Scotiabank Centre	10,500
	Island Storm	Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island	Eastlink Centre	4,000
	Moncton Magic	Moncton, New Brunswick	Moncton Coliseum	6,554
	Saint John Riptide	Saint John, New Brunswick	Harbour Station	6,603
Central	KW Titans	Kitchener, Ontario	Kitchener Memorial Auditorium	7,312
	London Lightning	London, Ontario	Budweiser Gardens	9,000
	Niagara River Lions	St. Catharines, Ontario	Meridian Centre	4,030
	St. John's Edge	St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador	Mile One Centre	6,750
	Windsor Express	Windsor, Ontario	WFCU Centre	6,500

Map of teams

Highlanders

Hurricanes

Storm

Magic

Riptide

Titans

Lightning

River Lions

Edge

Express

Atlantic Division Central Division

Regular season

Standings as of 2 April 2018:^[6]

Atlantic Division	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Div
z — Halifax Hurricanes	40	28	12	.700	—	21–8
x — Moncton Magic	40	23	17	.575	5	16–13
x — Saint John Riptide	40	20	20	.500	8	15–16
x — Island Storm	40	19	21	.475	9	15–16
Cape Breton Highlanders	40	13	27	.325	15	9–23

Central Division	GP	W	L	PCT	GB	Div
c — London Lightning	40	27	13	.675	—	23–8
x — St. John's Edge	40	25	15	.625	2	20–11
x — Windsor Express	40	20	20	.500	7	16–14
x — Niagara River Lions	40	17	23	.425	10	11–19
KW Titans	40	8	32	.200	19	6–23

Notes

• z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs
• c – Clinched home court advantage for the division playoffs
• x – Clinched playoff spot

Attendance

As of games played 2 April 2018

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	London Lightning	84,081	8,236	1,534	4,204	−19.3%†
2	St. John's Edge1	68,028	4,803	1,821	3,401	n/a†
3	Niagara River Lions	41,085	3,941	1,582	2,054	+17.2%†
4	Halifax Hurricanes	39,164	3,667	1,032	1,958	+1.7%†
5	Saint John Riptide	37,670	5,392	1,245	1,884	+1.5%†
6	Island Storm	37,503	3,111	1,454	1,875	−3.1%†
7	Cape Breton Highlanders	27,078	4,236	950	1,354	−8.2%†
8	KW Titans	25,289	2,768	563	1,264	−3.1%†
9	Moncton Magic	21,418	2,186	562	1,071	−30.0%†
10	Windsor Express	19,495	1,451	804	975	−5.7%†
	League total	400,811	8,236	562	2,004	+9.4%†

Source:
Notes:
1: New team.

Playoffs

Division Semifinals

Division Finals

NBL Canada Finals

A1

Halifax

3

A4

Island

1

A1

Halifax

4

Atlantic Division

A2

Moncton

1

A2

Moncton

3

A3

Saint John

2

A1

Halifax

3

C1

London

4

C1

London

3

C4

Niagara

1

C1

London

4

Central Division

C2

St. John's

2

C2

St. John's

3

C3

Windsor

0

Bold Series winner
Italic Team with home-court advantage

Draft

The 2017–18 NBL Canada Draft and Combine was held on October 20–22. The St. John's Edge selected Aaron Williams first.^[7]

Rnd.	Pick	Player	Nationality	Team	School / club team
1	1	Aaron Williams	United States	St. John's Edge	Chicago State
1	2	Zachary Valliere	United States	Island Storm	Fitchburg State
1	3	Duke Mondy	United States	Cape Breton Highlanders	Oakland
1	4	Steven Toyloy	United States	Moncton Magic	Cincinnati
1	5	Matthew Hart	United States	Niagara River Lions	George Washington
1	6	Torrence Dyck	United States	Island Storm	Daemen College
1	7	Scottie McRae	United States	Windsor Express	Albany
1	8	Cleon Roberts	United States	Saint John Riptide	La Salle
1	9	Andrew Hayles	United States	Windsor Express	Alabama State
1	10	Shawn Amiker	United States	Halifax Hurricanes	Youngstown State
1	11	Bright Mensah	United States	London Lightning	William Paterson
2	12	Zach Gordon	United States	St. John's Edge	Cal Poly
2	13	Jean-Rony Cadot	Bahamas	Windsor Express	TCU
2	14	Damarcus Harrison	United States	Cape Breton Highlanders	Clemson
2	15	Willie Connor	United States	KW Titans	Buffalo
2	16	Robert Ukawuba	United States	Windsor Express	NJIT
2	17	Georges Serresse	Canada	KW Titans	Laurentian
2	18	Kyle Steward	United States	Saint John Riptide	UMKC
2	19	James Johnson	United States	Windsor Express	Culver–Stockton
2	20	Daryl Hunter	United States	Halifax Hurricanes
2	21	Boyd Vassell	Canada	London Lightning	St. Mary's

Awards

Player of the Week award

For games in week ending	Atlantic Division		Central Division
	Player	Team	Player	Team
November 27, 2017	Gabe Freeman	Saint John Riptide	Carl English	St. John's Edge
December 3, 2017	Franklin Session	Island Storm	Charles Hinkle	St. John's Edge
December 10, 2017	CJ Washington	Halifax Hurricanes	Sam Muldrow	Niagara River Lions
December 17, 2017	Terry Thomas	Moncton Magic	Charles Hinkle (2)	St. John's Edge
December 24, 2017	Duke Mondy	Cape Breton Highlanders	Ryan Anderson	London Lightning
December 31, 2017	Antoine Mason	Halifax Hurricanes	Royce White	London Lightning
January 7, 2018	Malcolm Miller	Saint John Riptide	Mo Bolden	London Lightning
January 14, 2018	Gabe Freeman (2)	Saint John Riptide	Royce White (2)	London Lightning
January 21, 2018	Bruce Massey	Cape Breton Highlanders	Guillaume Boucard	Niagara River Lions
January 28, 2018	Corey Allmond	Moncton Magic	Logan Stutz	Windsor Express
February 4, 2018	Billy White	Halifax Hurricanes	Derek Hall	KW Titans
February 11, 2018	Terry Thomas (2)	Moncton Magic	Chad Frazier	Windsor Express
February 18, 2018	Billy White (2)	Halifax Hurricanes	Ryan Anderson (2)	London Lightning
February 25, 2018	Mike Poole	Halifax Hurricanes	Shaquille Keith	Windsor Express
March 4, 2018	Franklin Session (2)	Island Storm	Carl English (2)	St. John's Edge
March 11, 2018	Corey Allmond (2)	Moncton Magic	Kris Joseph	Niagara River Lions
March 18, 2018	Du'Vaughn Maxwell	Island Storm	Jaylon Tate	Niagara River Lions
March 25, 2018	Antoine Mason (2)	Halifax Hurricanes	Logan Stutz (2)	Windsor Express
April 2, 2018	Malcolm Miller (2)	Saint John Riptide	Garrett Williamson	London Lightning

Coach of the Month award

Month	Player	Team
December	Jeff Dunlap	St. John's Edge
January	Keith Vassell	London Lightning
February	Mike Leslie	Halifax Hurricanes
March	Mike Leslie (2)	Halifax Hurricanes

End-of-season awards

Source:^[8]

• Most Valuable Player: Carl English, St. John's Edge
• Canadian Player of the Year: Carl English, St. John's Edge
• Newcomer of the Year: Franklin Session, Island Storm
• Defensive Player of the Year: Du'Vaughn Maxwell, Island Storm
• Rookie of the Year: Jaylon Tate, Niagara River Lions
• Sixth Man of the Year: Ta'Quan Zimmerman, Halifax Hurricanes
• Coach of the Year: Mike Leslie, Halifax Hurricanes