The team name is derived from the roughnecks who work drilling rigs in Alberta's oil and gas industry.

The National Lacrosse League announced on March 28, 2001, that it had awarded an expansion franchise to a group of four owners led by Brad Banister.

Within eight weeks of Banister contacting the league, Calgary was announced as the tenth franchise in the NLL at a cost of $500,000.

[4] Another loss to the Express followed five days later before the Roughnecks earned their first win in franchise history on December 2 with a 17–11 defeat on the road versus the Ottawa Rebel.

Before the season started Brad Banister promised the fans the playoffs and they were successful in achieving this goal.

Calgary won the Champion's Cup by beating the Bandits 14-11 in front of a home crowd of 19,289 in the Pengrowth Saddledome.

For the 2004-2005 season former Roughneck player and assistant coach Dave Bremner was hired as general manager.

Roughnecks' captain Kelusky took home the Most Valuable Player award as the East beat the West in an 11-10 overtime win.

They would go on to defeat the Colorado Mammoth and San Jose Stealth in the playoffs and then triumph over the New York Titans 12-10 in the Champion's Cup final to win their first NLL championship since 2004.

He had talks with the National Hockey League's (NHL) Calgary Flames, who indicated at the time they were not interested in the team.

In a press release, he made an impassioned plea for the city's business community to step forward and save the team.

[14] The Roughnecks defeated the Mammoth, and played the West final at home, but were eliminated by the Washington Stealth in an upset by a 10–8 score.

[16] As part of the deal, it was announced that Banister would assist in the team's transition period, and was replaced as general manager by former Calgary Herald writer and Flames employee Mike Board.

They then faced the Colorado Mammoth, who had similarly upset the defending champion Saskatchewan Rush and defeated them 8-4 in the West Final in Calgary in one of the lowest-scoring playoff games in NLL history.