Indoor lacrosse returning to Garden

It took a decade, but Boston and indoor lacrosse have finally been reunited.

Yesterday at TD Banknorth Garden, the National Lacrosse League awarded Boston its 14th franchise, which will begin play in January. It will be the second time an NLL team has played in Boston, as the Blazers called the old and new Gardens home from 1992-97.

"We have a lot of fans in New England and it's been a long time to get back," said league commissioner Jim Jennings. "But we're excited for these fans to have a team to call their own."

The ownership group is led by Tim Armstrong, president of advertising and commerce for Google, and includes his brother John. A former lacrosse player at Connecticut College, Tim Armstrong will entrust head coaching duties to former Blazer Tom Ryan, who was an All-America attacker for Bowdoin College before beginning his NLL career in Boston in 1995.

"I apologize to the fans in New York who thought they'd go to the championship without going through Boston," Tim Armstrong joked. The New York Titans began play this year and split their games between the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island and Madison Square Garden.

Ryan, head coach of the United States indoor lacrosse team and a 2001 NLL champion with the Philadelphia Wings, seemed resolute in bringing a talented inaugural team to Boston, saying he was looking for players who are "good people" and "believe in what [they're] fighting for." He also is happy to be working for the Armstrong brothers.

"I've known these guys for quite a few years since college," the 36-year-old Ryan said. "It's fun to reunite with old friends and come together in that sense. Come January, I feel strongly that we'll have assembled a team that Boston fans will be proud to be a part of."

Fans can enter a contest to name the team at bostonindoorlacrosse.com.