Tavares played Ontario Junior A lacrosse for the Mississauga Tomahawks where in 1988 he was the winner of P.C.O. Trophy as top rookie in the OLA Series and was second in scoring. He was also second in scoring the following year. In Major and Sr. A play Tavares’ teams have won eight Mann Cups, 1992 & 1993 with the Brampton Excelsiors, 1994 through 1996 with the Six Nations Chiefs, 2002 with the Victoria Shamrocks, 2010 & 2012 with the Peterborough Lakers. In 1992, 1993, and 1996, Tavares won the Mike Kelley Memorial Trophy as most valuable player in Mann Cup competition. He ranks second in all-time Mann Cup Statistics with 53 Games played in which he totalled 93 G; 111 A; for 203 points with only 36 penalty minutes in the 10 series he played in. Tavares also won the Major Series Lacrosse scoring title eight times, and the MSL’s Most Valuable Player award three times. Tavares played his entire National Lacrosse League (NLL) career with the Buffalo Bandits, starting in their inaugural season in 1992. John is the NLL’s all-time leader in games played (306), goals (815), assists (934), and points (1,749). His 2,191 loose balls recovered is the second most all-time. He was MVP in 1994 2000, and 2001. He was elected to the NLL Hall of Fame in 2016. In international play with Team Canada, he was with the World Indoor Champions in 2003 and 2007. Since retiring as a player from the NLL in 2015, John has continued to inspire the next generation as head coach of the Six Nations Chiefs Mann cup winning team of 2003 and as the head coach and offensive coach with the Buffalo Bandits as well as minor lacrosse teams in Mississauga. John Tavares was awarded the Order of Sport, marking his induction into Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame in 2022.
