Dane Dobbie has been one of the best indoor lacrosse players over the last decade, racking up more than 900 career points and being named NLL league MVP in 2019. He was a staple of the Calgary Roughnecks since 2007 before moving on to San Diego this past offseason.
This is Dane Dobbie’s player profile.
Dane Dobbie Player Profile
Dobbie was born on Dec. 1, 1986 in Elora, Ontario. He is a third-generation lacrosse player. His grandfather, Bob Dobbie, won two Mann Cups in the 1950s and was elected to the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. His father, Larry Dobbie, has been a part of Canadian lacrosse for decades.
Dobbie played Junior lacrosse for the Junior B Elora Mohawks for two years before playing for the Junior A Burnaby Lakers. Dobbie was drafted No. 4 overall by the Calgary Roughnecks in 2007 after he put up 52 points in the regular season and led Jr. A playoff scoring the previous season with 31 points in seven games for the Burnaby Lakers of the BC Jr. A league.
Dobbie struggled his rookie season, only playing in five games. Going straight from Junior A to the NLL was a big adjustment for him.
“[The biggest surprise was] probably speed,” Dobbie told the Daily Hive in 2018. “How fast the game actually was, and how much bigger the guys were and how talented they were.”
Like most Canadian lacrosse players, Dobbie also played in the Western Lacrosse Association from 2008-2013, mostly for the Coquitlam Adanacs. Dobbie finished his career with 431 points in 99 career games.
The Legend of Dane Dobbie
The legend of Dane Dobbie began during his second season in the NLL. He finished fourth on the team in points with 76, but it was in the playoffs where he really shined. He scored 17 points in three games, helping lead the Roughnecks to the NLL title in 2009.
Since 2009, Dobbie has been one of the NLL’s most prolific scorers, finishing in the top 15 all but three of those years (not including the COVID-shortened season in 2019-2020). He has also never scored fewer than 50 points in any of those seasons.
The 2018-2019 campaign was by far and away the best season of Dobbie’s illustrious career. He finished second in both goals and assists and set a career high with 115 points, which other than NLL legend John Tavares, is something only a handful of players have ever done.
That record-setting performance earned Dobbie MVP honors as he led the Calgary Roughnecks to another NLL championship in 2019. Even though he received the league’s highest individual honor, Dobbie maintained his team-first attitude.
“When it comes down to it, I think everything fell into place last year and we have to go out there and work,” he said to The Canadian Press in 2019. “It’s all based off of winning games, it’s not an individual sport.”
Joining the Seals
After scoring 889 points over 13 seasons in Calgary, Dobbie left the Roughnecks and signed with the San Diego Seals in the 2021 offseason in one of the biggest moves of the summer.
“I’m very excited for the opportunity to join the Seals organization,” Dobbie said in a press release. “I cannot wait to get down to San Diego and get to work.”
Dobbie has definitely put in the work so far this season – through three games, he leads the league in goals with 11 and is third in the NLL with 18 points. He certainly had a great homecoming in Calgary, scoring seven goals and notching his 900th career point in the contest.
At 34, Dobbie shows no signs of slowing down. The Seals brought Dobbie in for his scoring prowess, his playoff experience, and his veteran leadership. San Diego is hoping Dobbie can continue his playoff magic and lead the team to a championship, something the city of San Diego hasn’t had in a long time.
