Buffalo Bandits

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Buffalo Bandits
Buffalo Bandits logo.svg
SportLacrosse
Founded1991
LeagueNational Lacrosse League
DivisionNorth
Based inBuffalo, New York
ArenaKeyBank Center
ColorsOrange, Black, white, purple
OwnerPegula Sports and Entertainment
Head coachJohn Tavares
General managerSteve Dietrich
Championships(4) 1992, 1993, 1996, 2008
Division titles(11) 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996,1997, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2016, 2019
Local mediaWWKB, WGR, WGWE
Websitewww.bandits.com

The Buffalo Bandits are a professional box lacrosse team in the North Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). They play at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, then in its successor the NLL since 1998.

The Bandits are owned by Hockey Western New York LLC, a division of Pegula Sports and Entertainment led by Terry Pegula who also owns the Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bills.

History[]

The Bandits played their first season in 1992. They played home games at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium sharing with the Buffalo Sabres until its closure in 1996.

The Bandits became the first expansion franchise in MILL/NLL history[1][2] to win a championship in its first season. The Bandits repeated as champions in their second season (compiling the league's only perfect season to date that year), lost the Championship game their third season and captured their third Championship in 1996, their fifth season. It was not until 1999, their eighth season, that the Bandits did not make the playoffs.

Since their 1996 Championship-winning season, the Bandits returned to the NLL Championship game on three separate occasions (1997, 2004, 2006) only to lose each time (including twice at home). It wouldn't be until 2008 that the Bandits would win their elusive fourth Championship, a 14-13 triumph over Portland.

As of 2018, Buffalo is the longest tenured team in the NLL, in terms of continuous years in their home city, at 27 seasons. (They are not the longest tenured franchise; the New England Black Wolves operate on the franchise of the Philadelphia Wings and the Colorado Mammoth were originally the Baltimore Thunder with previous stops as the Pittsburgh Crossefire in 2000 and Washington Power in 2001 & 2002.)

Awards and honors[]

During the 2009 season, Mark Steenhuis set two league records for most assists (13) and points (17) in a single game. He was also selected to his fifth all-star game, second consecutive as a starter.
Year Player Award
1992 Derek Keenan Rookie of the Year
John Tavares Championship Game MVP
1993 John Tavares Championship Game MVP
1994 John Tavares Most Valuable Player
1996 Pat O'Toole Championship Game MVP
2000 John Tavares Most Valuable Player
2001 John Tavares Most Valuable Player
2003 Darris Kilgour Coach of the Year
Kurt Silcott GM of the Year
2005 Steve Dietrich Goaltender of the Year[3]
2006 Steve Dietrich Goaltender of the Year[4]
Most Valuable Player[5]
2007 Dave Zygaj Executive of the Year[6]
2008 Mark Steenhuis Transition Player of the Year[7]
Champion's Cup MVP
2009
Billy Dee Smith Defenesive Player of the Year
Ken Montour Goaltender of the Year
2016 Steve Dietrich GM of the Year
Dhane Smith Most Valuable Player
2018 Craig England Teammate of the Year
2019 Matt Vinc Goaltender of the Year
John Tavares/Rich Kilgour Coach of the Year
Steve Dietrich GM of the Year

NLL Hall of Fame members[]

NLL records[]

Single-game record holders[]

  • Most assists in a single game - Mark Steenhuis (13 assists, February 14, 2009)
  • Most points in a single game - Mark Steenhuis (17 points, February 14, 2009)

Season record holders[]

  • Most points in a single season - Dhane Smith (137 points, 2016)
  • Most goals in a single season - Dhane Smith (72 goals, 2016)

All-time record holders[]

  • Most goals in a career - John Tavares (724 goals, 1991–2015)
  • Most assists in a career - John Tavares (823 assists, 1991–2015)
  • Most points in a career - John Tavares (1,547 points, 1991–2015)
  • Most saves in a career - Matt Vinc (8,299 saves 2005-Present)
  • Most wins in a career - Matt Vinc (119 wins 2005-Present)
  • Most minutes played - Matt Vinc (12,627:54 2005-Present) [8]

NLL All-Star Game[]

* - voted as starter

Current roster[]

Buffalo Bandits roster
Active (21-man) roster Inactive roster Coaches
Goaltenders
Defensemen
  •  7 Canada Bryce Sweeting
  • 12 Canada Mitch de Snoo
  • 19 Canada Matthew Bennett
  • 20 Canada Nick Weiss
  • 21 Canada Justin Martin
  • 23 Canada Steve Priolo (C)
  • 25 Canada Matt Spanger
  • 94 Canada Ryan Wagner
Forwards
  • 22 Canada Josh Byrne
  • 45 Canada Corey Small
  • 78 Canada Jordan Durston
  • 91 Canada Thomas Hoggarth
  • 92 Canada Dhane Smith
  • 95 Canada Chase Fraser
Transition
  •  4 Canada Ian MacKay
  •  8 Canada Kevin Brownell
  • 37 Canada Ethan O’Connor
  • 81 Canada Matt Gilray
Practice Squad
  •    Canada Dallas Bridle
  • 71 Canada Zach Herreweyers
  •    Republic of Ireland Devlin Shanahan
Injured Reserve
Head Coach
Assistant Coaches

Equipment Manager

  • Ted Cordingley
Legend
  • * Suspended list
  • (C) Captain
  • (A) Alternate captain

Roster updated 2019-01-06
NLL Transactions

All-time record[]

Season Division W–L Finish Home Road GF GA Coach Playoffs
1992 National 5–3 2nd 2–2 3–1 161 125 Bob McCready / Les Bartley Champions
1993 National 8–0 1st 4–0 4–0 143 108 Les Bartley Champions
1994 National 6–2 1st 3–1 3–1 121 99 Les Bartley Lost final
1995 3–5 4th 2–2 1–3 109 108 Les Bartley Lost semi-final
1996 8–2 1st 3–2 5–0 173 127 Les Bartley Champions
1997 6–4 3rd 3–2 3–2 158 153 Les Bartley Lost final
1998 6–6 4th 4–2 2–4 166 171 Les Wakeling Lost semi-final
1999 4–8 6th 1–5 3–3 158 177 Les Wakeling Did not qualify
2000 8–4 2nd 5–1 3–3 202 194 Ted Sawicki Lost semi-final
2001 8–6 5th 4–3 4–3 248 218 Ted Sawicki Did not qualify
2002 Central 8–8 4th 4–4 4–4 210 215 Ted Sawicki / Frank Neilson Did not qualify
2003 Central 12–4 2nd 8–0 4–4 231 188 Darris Kilgour Lost division final
2004 Eastern 8–8 3rd 4–4 4–4 205 198 Darris Kilgour Lost final
2005 Eastern 11–5 2nd 5–3 6–2 217 183 Darris Kilgour Lost division semi-final
2006 Eastern 11–5 1st 6–2 5–3 193 167 Darris Kilgour Lost final
2007 Eastern 10–6 2nd 6–2 4–4 207 188 Darris Kilgour Lost division final
2008 Eastern 10–6 1st 7–2 3–4 203 174 Darris Kilgour Champions
2009 Eastern 10–6 2nd 5–3 5–3 223 170 Darris Kilgour Lost division final
2010 Eastern 8–8 3rd 4–4 4–4 169 170 Darris Kilgour Lost division semi-final
2011 Eastern 10–6 1st 4–4 6–2 169 159 Darris Kilgour Lost division final
2012 Eastern 7–9 4th 4–4 3–5 198 204 Darris Kilgour Lost division semi-final
2013 Eastern 6–10 4th 2–6 4–4 171 211 Darris Kilgour Did not qualify
2014 Eastern 8–10 3rd 6–3 2–7 190 200 Troy Cordingley Lost division final
2015 Eastern 11–7 3rd 7–2 4–5 236 208 Troy Cordingley Lost division semi-final
2016 Eastern 13–5 1st 8–1 5–4 251 214 Troy Cordingley Lost Final
2017 Eastern 6–12 5th 3–6 3–6 226 251 Troy Cordingley Did not qualify
2018 Eastern 8–10 5th 4–5 4–5 232 240 Troy Cordingley Did not qualify
2019 Eastern 14-4 1st 7-2 7-2 244 186 John Tavares, Rich Kilgour Lost Finals
2020 North 7-4 T-2nd 4-2 3-2 130 118 John Tavares No Playoffs Held
Total 29 seasons 240-173   129-79 111–94 5,544 5,124    
Playoff Totals 22 Appearances 26-21   20–8 6–13 605 562   4 championships

All-time team-by-team records[]

(active NLL franchises only)

    Home   Road   Overall
Team GP W L PCT GP W L PCT GP W L PCT
Calgary Roughnecks 3 2 1 .667 8 4 4 .500 11 6 5 .545
Colorado Mammoth 9 5 4 .555 5 1 4 .200 14 6 8 .428
as Washington Power 2 1 1 .500 2 2 0 1.000 4 3 1 .750
as Pittsburgh CrosseFire 0 0 0 — 1 0 1 .000 1 0 1 .000
as Baltimore Thunder 8 6 2 .750 5 4 1 .800 13 10 3 .769
Saskatchewan Rush 1 0 1 .000 1 1 0 1.000 2 1 1 .500
as Edmonton Rush 2 1 1 .500 4 1 3 .250 6 2 4 .333
Georgia Swarm 3 0 3 .000 3 2 1 .667 6 2 4 .333
as Minnesota Swarm 14 12 2 .857 11 7 4 .636 25 19 6 .760
New England Black Wolves 5 3 2 .600 5 2 3 .400 10 5 5 .500
as Philadelphia Wings 27 15 12 .555 24 11 13 .458 51 26 25 .509
Rochester Knighthawks 29 15 14 .517 33 11 22 .333 62 26 36 .419
Toronto Rock 27 12 15 .444 24 11 13 .440 51 23 28 .451
as Ontario Raiders 1 1 0 1.000 1 0 1 .000 2 1 1 .500
Vancouver Stealth 3 3 0 1.000 4 3 1 .750 7 6 1 .857
as Washington Stealth 2 0 2 .000 3 2 1 .667 5 2 3 .400
as San Jose Stealth 1 1 0 1.000 1 1 0 1.000 2 2 0 1.000
as Albany Attack 4 3 1 .750 4 3 1 .750 8 6 2 .750
Total 141 80 61 .567 139 66 73 .475 280 146 134 .521

Playoff results[]

Season Game Visiting Home
1992 Division Semifinal Boston Blazers 16 Buffalo Bandits 22
Division Final Buffalo Bandits 19 Detroit Turbos 16
Championship Buffalo Bandits 11 Philadelphia Wings 10 (OT)
1993 Division Final Boston Blazers 10 Buffalo Bandits 12
Championship Philadelphia Wings 12 Buffalo Bandits 13
1994 Division Final Detroit Turbos 10 Buffalo Bandits 16
Championship Philadelphia Wings 26 Buffalo Bandits 15
1995 Semifinals Philadelphia Wings 19 Buffalo Bandits 16
1996 Semifinals Rochester Knighthawks 10 Buffalo Bandits 18
Championship Philadelphia Wings 10 Buffalo Bandits 15
1997 Semifinals New York Saints 10 Buffalo Bandits 19
Championship Rochester Knighthawks 15 Buffalo Bandits 12
1998 Semifinals Buffalo Bandits 12 Philadelphia Wings 17
2000 Semifinals Rochester Knighthawks 15 Buffalo Bandits 11
2003 Quarterfinals Calgary Roughnecks 9 Buffalo Bandits 16
Semifinals Buffalo Bandits 13 Rochester Knighthawks 16
2004 Division Semifinal Buffalo Bandits 13 Rochester Knighthawks 9
Division Final Buffalo Bandits 19 Toronto Rock 10
Championship Buffalo Bandits 11 Calgary Roughnecks 14
2005 Division Semifinal Rochester Knighthawks 17 Buffalo Bandits 16
2006 Division Semifinal Buffalo Bandits 11 Minnesota Swarm 10
Division Final Buffalo Bandits 15 Rochester Knighthawks 10
Championship Colorado Mammoth 16 Buffalo Bandits 9
2007 Division Semifinal Minnesota Swarm 8 Buffalo Bandits 14
Division Final Buffalo Bandits 13 Rochester Knighthawks 14 (OT)
2008 Division Semifinal Philadelphia Wings 12 Buffalo Bandits 14
Division Final New York Titans 12 Buffalo Bandits 19
Championship Portland LumberJax 13 Buffalo Bandits 14
2009 Division Semifinal Boston Blazers 8 Buffalo Bandits 11
Division Final Buffalo Bandits 3 New York Titans 9
2010 Division Semifinal Buffalo Bandits 11 Toronto Rock 13
2011 Division Semifinal Boston Blazers 10 Buffalo Bandits 11
Division Final Buffalo Bandits 11 Toronto Rock 12
2012 Division Semifinal Buffalo Bandits 6 Toronto Rock 7
2014 Division Semifinal Buffalo Bandits 15 Toronto Rock 13
Division Final 1 Rochester Knighthawks 8 Buffalo Bandits 12
Division Final 2 Buffalo Bandits 8 Rochester Knighthawks 13
Division Final 3 Buffalo Bandits 1 Rochester Knighthawks 2
2015 Division Semifinal Buffalo Bandits 11 Rochester Knighthawks 14
2016 Division Final 1 Buffalo Bandits 15 New England Black Wolves 10
Division Final 2 New England Black Wolves 15 Buffalo Bandits 20
Championship 1 Buffalo Bandits 9 Saskatchewan Rush 11
Championship 2 Saskatchewan Rush 11 Buffalo Bandits 10
2019 Division Semifinal New England Black Wolves 6 Buffalo Bandits 13
Division Final Toronto Rock 8 Buffalo Bandits 12
Championship 1 Calgary Roughnecks 10 Buffalo Bandits 7
Championship 2 Buffalo Bandits 13 Calgary Roughnecks 14

All-time team-by-team playoff records[]

(Active NLL franchises only)

    Home   Road   Overall
Team GP W L PCT GP W L PCT GP W L PCT
Calgary Roughnecks 1 1 0 1.000 1 0 1 .000 2 1 1 .500
Colorado Mammoth 1 0 1 .000 0 0 0 — 1 0 1 .000
Georgia Swarm 2 2 0 1.000 0 0 0 — 2 2 0 1.000
New England Black Wolves 6 4 2 .667 3 2 1 .667 9 6 3 .667
Rochester Knighthawks 6 3 3 .500 6 1 5 .167 12 4 8 .333
Saskatchewan Rush 1 0 1 .000 1 0 1 .000 2 0 2 .000
Toronto Rock 1 0 1 .000 4 2 2 .500 5 2 3 .400
Total 18 10 8 .556 15 5 10 .333 33 15 18 .455

Head coaching history[]

# Name Term Regular Season Playoffs
GC W L W% GC W L W%
1 Bob McCready 1992 3 0 3 .000 — — — —
2 Les Bartley 1992–1997 49 36 13 .735 12 9 3 .750
3 Les Wakeling 1998–1999 24 10 14 .417 1 0 1 .000
4 Ted Sawicki 2000–2002 35 21 14 .600 1 0 1 .000
5 Frank Neilson 2002 7 3 4 .429 — — — —
6 Darris Kilgour 2003–2013 176 103 73 .585 20 11 9 .550
7 Troy Cordingley 2014–2018 90 46 44 .511 9 4 5 .444
8 John Tavares,
Rich Kilgour[9]		 2019 18 14 4 .778 3 2 1 .666
9 John Tavares 2020- — — — — — — — —

Draft history[]

NLL Entry Draft[]

First Round Selections

NLL Dispersal Draft[]

  • 2002 from Montreal Express: Aime Caines (6th overall); Kelly Sullivan (18th overall)
  • 2003 from Ottawa Rebel: Jason Clark (9th overall); Marc Landriault (20th overall); Mike Hamilton (31st overall)
  • 2004 from Vancouver Ravens: Curt Malawsky (9th overall); Declined to pick (18th overall)
  • 2005 from Anaheim Storm: Traded to Arizona (9th overall)
  • 2007 from Arizona Sting & Boston Blazers: Craig Conn, Arizona (10th overall); Brian Croswell, Boston (15th overall); Joe Smith, Arizona (34th overall)
  • 2008 from Arizona Sting: Greg Hinman (13th overall)
  • 2008 from Chicago Shamrox: Cody Jacobs (12th overall); Cory Stringer (21st overall)
  • 2009 from Portland LumberJax: Jamison Koesterer (9th overall)
  • 2010 from Orlando Titians: Jesse Guerin (16th overall) & Matt Brown (26th overall)
  • 2011 from Boston Blazers: Kevin Buchanan (6th overall) & Damon Edwards (15th overall)

NLL Expansion Draft[]

  • 1999 to Albany Attack: Troy Cordingley (3rd overall)
  • 2001 to Calgary Roughnecks, New Jersey Storm, Vancouver Ravens & Columbus Landsharks:[10] Rich Catton, Vancouver (3rd overall); Phil Wetherup, Columbus (4th overall); Andy Duden, Columbus (10th overall); Peter Talmo, New Jersey (21st overall)
  • 2004 to Minnesota Swarm: Jason Clark (N/A overall)
  • 2005 to Portland Lumberjax & Edmonton Rush: Mike Hominuck, Portland (1st overall); Thomas Montour, Portland (13th overall)
  • 2006 to Chicago Shamrox & New York Titans: Bryan Kazarian, Chicago (13th overall); Jon Harasym, Portland (15th overall)
  • 2007 to Boston Blazers: Brendan Thenhaus (7th overall)
  • 2008 to Boston Blazers: Kyle Laverty (4th overall)
  • 2018 to San Diego Seals & Philadelphia Wings: Vaughn Harris (15th overall); Davide DiRuscio (17th overall)
  • 2019 to Rochester Knighthawks & New York Riptide: Shawn Evans (1st overall); Jordan Durston (2nd overall)
  • 2020 to Panther City Lacrosse Club: Liam Patten (8th overall)

Retired numbers[]

The Bandits have four retired numbers, three of which are represented at the Arena in the rafters with the Championship banners.[11]

  • 34 Thomas Gardner, western New York youth lacrosse organizer, March 20, 1999
  • 43 Darris Kilgour, F, March 25, 2001
  • 16 Rich Kilgour, D, April 16, 2011
  • 11 John Tavares, F, March 11, 2016

Equipment Manager - John Craig, February 2, 2012 (retired by the Bandits and given a ceremony)

Game broadcasts[]

Buffalo Bandits games can be heard on Buffalo's Entercom stations, either WGR 550 AM or WWKB 1520 AM, with a simulcast on WGWE-FM 105.9, the Seneca nation's radio station in Little Valley. John Gurtler, former play-by-play man for the Buffalo Sabres, handles announcing duties, while former Bandit Randy Mearns handles color commentary. Home games are streamed live on NLL.com.

Footnotes and references[]

  1. ^ The Baltimore Thunder won the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League championship in the first year of their existence as well (1987), but that was the first year the league existed.
  2. ^ The Toronto Rock won a championship in its first season in Toronto (1999), but the franchise had already played one year in Hamilton as the Ontario Raiders.
  3. ^ "Dietrich Named Aquis Goaltender of the Year". NLL.com. May 4, 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
  4. ^ "Steve Dietrich Named RBK Goaltender of the Year". NLL website. May 3, 2006. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  5. ^ "Dietrich Wins 2006 Jet Blue MVP Award". NLL website. May 11, 2006. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  6. ^ "Dave Zygaj Named NLL Executive of the Year". NLL.com. May 7, 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  7. ^ "Steenhuis Named Top Transition Player". NLL.com. May 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
  8. ^ "Matt Vinc". NLL. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  9. ^ http://www.bandits.com/article/BANDITS%20ANNOUNCE%20CHANGES%20TO%20COACHING%20STAFF
  10. ^ Acquired the first overall pick and selected Chris Langdale from Toronto
  11. ^ "2017 Media Guide" (PDF). Buffalo Bandits. Retrieved 5 December 2017.

See also[]

External links[]

Preceded by Major Indoor Lacrosse League Champions
1992, 1993 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Major Indoor Lacrosse League Champions
1996 		Succeeded by
Preceded by National Lacrosse League Champions
2008 		Succeeded by
Retrieved from ""