Buffalo Bandits

Buffalo Bandits
SportBox lacrosse
Founded1992
LeagueNational Lacrosse League
LocationBuffalo, New York
ArenaKeyBank Center
ColorsOrange, Purple, Black, White
       
OwnerTerry Pegula
Head coachJohn Tavares
General managerSteve Dietrich
League titles6 (1992, 1993, 1996, 2008, 2023, 2024)
Conference titles2 (2022, 2023)
Division titles8 (1993, 1994, 1996, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2016, 2019)
Local mediaWNLO, WWKB, WGR
Retired numbers4 (11, 16, 34, 43)
Websitebandits.com

The Buffalo Bandits are a professional box lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at KeyBank Center. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, then in its successor the NLL since 1998 . Among teams in the NLL the Bandits are the second oldest team in the league behind the Albany FireWolves (which were founded in 1987 as the original Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) franchise), the oldest franchise that was not relocated, and one of most successful teams in the league sharing the record for most league titles at 6 with the Toronto Rock and the original Philadelphia Wings franchise.

The Bandits are owned by Hockey Western New York LLC, led by Terry Pegula who also owns the Rochester Americans, Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bills.

History

The Colorado Mammoth visit the Buffalo Bandits in Game 3 of the 2022 NLL Cup Finals

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 to win a championship in its first season.[1] 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.

After 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 would not be until 2008 that the Bandits would win their elusive fourth championship, a 14–13 triumph over Portland. The Bandits would lose the finals three more times before securing their fifth championship in 2023. The Bandits won their fifth title against the Colorado Mammoth winning the third and final game of the three game series 13–4.[2] The following year, the Bandits repeated as champions, winning their sixth title in a sweep of the Albany FireWolves. This ties them with Toronto for most league championships, which that their dominance against Toronto in the postseason has fueled the rivalry while also preventing Toronto from several championship appearances.

As of 2024, Buffalo is the longest tenured team in the NLL, in terms of continuous years in their home city, at 33 seasons.[3]

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[4]
2006 Steve Dietrich Goaltender of the Year[5]
Most Valuable Player[6]
2007 Dave Zygaj Executive of the Year[7]
2008 Mark Steenhuis Transition Player of the Year[8]
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
2022 Matt Vinc Goaltender of the Year
Steve Dietrich GM of the Year
Dhane Smith Most Valuable Player
2023 Dhane Smith NLL Finals MVP[9]
2024 Josh Byrne Offensive Player of the Year[10]
Most Valuable Player[11]
NLL Finals MVP

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)
  • Most assists in a single season – Dhane Smith (101 assists, 2024)

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) [12]

NLL All-Star Game

* – voted as starter

Current roster

Buffalo Bandits roster
Active (21-man) roster Inactive roster Coaches
Goaltenders
Defensemen
Forwards
Transition
Practice Squad
Injured Reserve
Holdout
Protected list
Unable to play
Head Coach

John Tavares

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

Roster updated 2024-5-7
NLL Transactions

All-time record

Season Division/Conference[a] 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 Finals
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
2021 Eastern Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022 Eastern 14–4 1st 7–2 7–2 247 185 John Tavares Lost Finals
2023 Eastern 14–4 1st 7–2 7–2 215 191 John Tavares Champions
2024 Unified 11–7 4th 6–3 5–4 237 212 John Tavares Champions
Total 32 seasons 279–188 149–86 130–102 6,240 5,713
Playoff Totals 25 Appearances 40–24 30–10 10–14 820 723 6 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
Albany FireWolves 3 1 2 .333 3 2 1 .667 6 3 3 .500
as 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
Calgary Roughnecks 7 6 1 .857 9 4 5 .444 16 10 6 .625
Colorado Mammoth 12 7 5 .583 9 3 6 .333 25 10 11 .476
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
Georgia Swarm 8 3 5 .375 8 6 2 .750 16 9 7 .563
as Minnesota Swarm 14 12 2 .857 11 7 4 .636 25 19 6 .760
Halifax Thunderbirds 5 4 1 .800 4 2 2 .500 9 6 3 .667
as Rochester Knighthawks 32 16 16 .500 37 13 24 .351 69 29 40 .420
Las Vegas Desert Dogs 0 0 0 — 1 1 0 1.000 1 1 0 1.000
Ottawa Black Bears 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 —
as New York Riptide 3 1 2 .333 2 2 0 1.000 5 3 2 .625
Philadelphia Wings 4 3 1 .750 5 5 0 1.000 9 8 1 .889
Rochester Knighthawks 4 4 0 1.000 4 3 1 .750 8 7 1 .875
San Diego Seals 2 2 0 1.000 2 2 0 1.000 4 4 0 1.000
Saskatchewan Rush 3 1 2 .333 3 3 0 1.000 6 4 2 .667
as Edmonton Rush 2 1 1 .500 4 1 3 .250 6 2 4 .333
Toronto Rock 36 18 18 .500 31 13 18 .419 67 31 36 .463
as Ontario Raiders 1 1 0 1.000 1 0 1 .000 2 1 1 .500
Vancouver Warriors 1 1 0 1.000 2 1 1 .500 3 2 1 .667
as Vancouver Stealth 4 3 1 .750 4 3 1 .750 8 6 2 .750
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 190 113 77 .595 181 96 85 .530 375 209 166 .557

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
2022 Conference Semifinal Albany Firewolves 5 Buffalo Bandits 10
Conference Final 1 Toronto Rock 17 Buffalo Bandits 18
Conference Final 2 Buffalo Bandits 10 Toronto Rock 9
Championship 1 Colorado Mammoth 14 Buffalo Bandits 15
Championship 2 Buffalo Bandits 8 Colorado Mammoth 11
Championship 3 Colorado Mammoth 10 Buffalo Bandits 8
2023 Conference Semifinal Rochester Knighthawks 8 Buffalo Bandits 20
Conference Final 1 Toronto Rock 5 Buffalo Bandits 14
Conference Final 2 Buffalo Bandits 17 Toronto Rock 8
Championship 1 Colorado Mammoth 12 Buffalo Bandits 13
Championship 2 Buffalo Bandits 10 Colorado Mammoth 16
Championship 3 Colorado Mammoth 4 Buffalo Bandits 13
2024 Quarterfinals Georgia Swarm 9 Buffalo Bandits 10 OT
Semi Final 1 Buffalo Bandits 12 Toronto Rock 4
Semi Final 2 Toronto Rock 8 Buffalo Bandits 12
Championship 1 Buffalo Bandits 12 Albany FireWolves 8
Championship 2 Albany FireWolves 13 Buffalo Bandits 15

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
Albany FireWolves 2 2 0 1.000 1 1 0 1.000 3 3 0 1.000
Calgary Roughnecks 1 1 1 .500 2 0 2 .000 3 1 2 .333
Colorado Mammoth 5 3 2 .600 2 0 2 .000 7 3 4 .429
Georgia Swarm 1 1 0 1.000 0 0 0 — 1 1 0 1.000
Rochester Knighthawks 1 1 0 1.000 0 0 0 — 1 1 0 1.000
Saskatchewan Rush 1 0 1 .000 1 0 1 .000 2 0 2 .000
Toronto Rock 5 4 1 .800 7 5 2 .714 12 9 3 .750
Total 16 12 4 .750 13 6 7 .462 29 18 11 .621

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[13]		 2019 18 14 4 .778 3 2 1 .666
9 John Tavares 2020– 65 46 19 .708 17 14 3 .824

Draft history

NLL Entry Draft

First Round Selections

NLL Dispersal Draft

NLL Expansion Draft

Retired numbers

The Bandits have four retired numbers, three of which are represented at the Arena in the rafters with the Championship banners.[15]

Game broadcasts

Buffalo Bandits games can be heard on Buffalo's Entercom stations, either WGR 550 AM or WWKB 1520 AM. John Gurtler, former play-by-play man for the Buffalo Sabres, handles announcing duties, while former Bandit Randy Mearns handles color commentary.

All games are broadcast on ESPN+. Select games can be found nationally on ESPN Linear Networks, and locally (to the Buffalo Market) on WNLO CW23.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Buffalo Bandits.

Notes

  1. ^ Conference play began in the 2022 season

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; 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.
  2. ^ "Bandits win decisive Game 3, bring NLL championship back to Buffalo". wgrz.com. June 3, 2023. Retrieved 2023-06-04.
  3. ^ They are not the longest tenured franchise, however; the FireWolves operate on the franchise of the founding franchise Philadelphia Wings who briefly played in New England as the Black Wolves, who also won six championships while still based in Philadelphia. The other longer tenured team is another founding member in the Colorado Mammoth who were originally the Baltimore Thunder with previous stops as the Pittsburgh Crossefire (2000) and Washington Power in (2001–2002).
  4. ^ "Dietrich Named Aquis Goaltender of the Year". NLL.com. May 4, 2005. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
  5. ^ "Steve Dietrich Named RBK Goaltender of the Year". NLL website. May 3, 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-10-07. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  6. ^ "Dietrich Wins 2006 Jet Blue MVP Award". NLL website. May 11, 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  7. ^ "Dave Zygaj Named NLL Executive of the Year". NLL.com. May 7, 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-08.
  8. ^ "Steenhuis Named Top Transition Player". NLL.com. May 12, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-12.
  9. ^ "SMITH NAMED 2023 NLL FINALS MVP". Buffalo Bandits. June 3, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  10. ^ "BYRNE NAMED NLL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR". Buffalo Bandits. May 16, 2024. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  11. ^ "BYRNE NAMED NLL'S MOST VALUABLE PLAYER". Buffalo Bandits. May 17, 2024. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  12. ^ "Matt Vinc". NLL. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  13. ^ http://www.bandits.com/article/BANDITS%20ANNOUNCE%20CHANGES%20TO%20COACHING%20STAFF [dead link‍]
  14. ^ Acquired the first overall pick and selected Chris Langdale from Toronto
  15. ^ "2017 Media Guide" (PDF). Buffalo Bandits. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
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
Preceded by National Lacrosse League Champions
2023, 2024 		Succeeded by
Incumbent