2014 Springfield Lasers season
| 2014 Springfield Lasers season | |
|---|---|
| Western Conference Champions | |
| Conference | 2nd Western |
| Record | |
| 2014 record | 7 wins, 7 losses |
| Home record | 5 wins, 2 losses |
| Road record | 2 wins, 5 losses |
| Games won–lost | 270–239 |
| Team Info | |
| Owner(s) | Springfield-Greene County Park Board represented by John Cooper |
| President/CEO | Bob Belote |
| General Manager | Paul Nahon |
| Coach | John-Laffnie de Jager |
| Stadium |
Mediacom Stadium at Cooper Tennis Complex (capacity: 2,500) |
The 2014 Springfield Lasers season was the 19th season of the franchise in World TeamTennis (WTT).
The Lasers won their second consecutive Western Conference championship and met the Washington Kastles in the WTT Championship Match in a rematch of the 2013 Final. For the second straight year, the Lasers fell to the Kastles who won their fourth consecutive King Trophy.
On November 21, 2013, the Lasers announced that they had traded Andy Roddick in exchange for financial consideration to the Austin Aces following the relocation of that franchise from Orange County. Roddick, a resident of Austin, Texas, had expressed a desire to play in his hometown and had invested in the league. Although the WTT press release mentioned that the Lasers and Aces would also swap positions in the Marquee Player Draft (improving the Lasers' draft position), this was not reflected when the league later reported the results of that draft.
On February 1, 2014, WTT announced that the Lasers would move to the Eastern Conference, and the New York Sportimes who had relocated and become the San Diego Aviators would move to the Western Conference. Just days later, the Las Vegas Neon was contracted by the league after which WTT decided to keep the Lasers in the Western Conference.
With the Lasers winning the Western Conference championship in 2013, they had the next to last pick in each round of both WTT drafts. Prior to the marquee player draft, the Lasers acquired the rights to James Blake from the Boston Lobsters for undisclosed consideration. The Lasers then selected Blake as a protected player in the first round and passed on making a second-round pick. In the roster player draft, the Lasers protected Alisa Kleybanova in the first round and then traded their third-round pick and financial consideration to the Washington Kastles for the Kastles' first-round pick which they used to select Anna-Lena Grönefeld whom had been left unprotected by the San Diego Aviators. In the second round, the Lasers protected Jean-Julien Rojer. The Lasers traded up again in the third round. They sent their fourth round pick and financial consideration to the Aviators for San Diego's third round pick which they used to select 2009 WTT Male Rookie of the Year Michael Russell who was not subject to protection by any team.
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