The flight of the Black Birds finally came to an end Tuesday when the National Lacrosse League announced that it had removed the Vancouver Ravens from the 2005 schedule and that it will release a revised schedule in the coming days.

The death blow: Pacific Coliseum ceased lease negotiations with the Ravens yesterday, and with General Motors Place no longer an option, the team had simply run out of possible home arenas.

Last Tuesday, the NLL's Board of Governors gave Ravens governor Tom Mayenknecht until today to finish getting the team's business in order, including financing and a satisfactory lease.

Mayenknecht believed he had that lease, with Pacific Coliseum, and he apparently had reached an agreement in principle with the arena.

The Ravens' shuttering ends a long and painful battle to stay aloft.

Mayenknecht's original partner, David Stadnyk, was gone even before the Ravens played their first game, and replacement investor (and former NHLer) Paul Reinhart infamously walked away from the team on the eve of a February 2003 game at Toronto.

Mayenknecht, who had since sold his remaining stake to Reinhart, then returned to the scene and kept the Ravens limping along until new ownership appeared last spring -- Partners Group 1, led by Atlanta-based businessman Raj Kalra.

Kalra's money and his interest in the Ravens evaporated quickly by late summer, forcing the crisis which ultimately brought down the team.

All the while, Mayenknecht struggled to pay the bills. General manager Dave Evans had been working for free for the past year, former coach Paul Dal Monte reportedly is owed $80,000 (Canadian) in back pay, and a bounced check allowed former first-overall draft pick Mark Miyashita to be granted unrestricted free agency.

"Being put consistently behind the eight ball made it very difficult for us," said Mayenknecht. "When you're fighting fires it makes it very difficult to do what you need to do to build a product long term."

No word on whether Mayenknecht, who sold his house this fall to keep the Ravens alive a little longer, will attempt to resurrect the team for 2006.

In the meantime, there will be a dispersal draft Wednesday evening at 6:00 PM Eastern, held by conference call.

The remaining ten clubs will draft in reverse order of finish last season, with expansion Minnesota selecting ahead of Anaheim, Arizona, Philadelphia, Rochester, Toronto, San Jose, Colorado, Buffalo and Calgary in each of the two rounds.

As in past dispersal drafts, teams may pass on making a selection, but for every player a team drafts, it must release another player, who immediately becomes an unrestricted free agent. Any Raven who is not drafted also will become a free agent.

Five players (Pat Coyle, Chris Gill, Dwight Maetche, Andy Ogilvie, and Dan Stroup) are unrestricted free agents whose rights most recently were held by the Ravens but who did not sign a contract for the coming season. They are not eligible to be drafted.

Ogilvie, however, had been designated as a franchise player by the Ravens, so just as in Ted Dowling's case two years ago (when the Montreal Express suspended operations), whichever team signs Ogilvie will forfeit its next-available first-round pick in a subsequent league draft.

If Ogilvie hooks on with a new team prior to the dispersal draft, the forfeited pick comes from that draft. Otherwise, it comes in a future entry draft.

The following players are subject to the dispersal draft:

Ansley, Luke
Bell, Joe
Berthiume, D’Arcy
Catton, Rich
Conn, Craig
Daly, Randy
Dwane, Matt
Glaves, Rory
Hackel, Jamie
Hanson, Jeff
Hawksbee, Ian
Heavenor, Tyler
Levesque, Matt
Malawsky, Curt
McKay, Chris
Morgan, Peter
Murray, Bruce
Olson, Kevin
Palmer, Graham
Patterson, Nick
Sedgwick, Cam
Smith, Aaron
Sundher, Jordan
Talbot, Noah
Venittelli, Mike
Whitley, Scott
Williams, Rob