Buffalo Bandits

The Buffalo Bandits are a professional box lacrosse team 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.

Buffalo Bandits
SportBox lacrosse
Founded1992
LeagueNational Lacrosse League
ConferenceEastern
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 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 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.

As of 2018, Buffalo is the longest tenured team in the NLL, in terms of continuous years in their home city, at 27 seasons.[3]

Awards and honors
YearPlayerAward
1992Derek KeenanRookie of the Year
John TavaresChampionship Game MVP
1993John TavaresChampionship Game MVP
1994John TavaresMost Valuable Player
1996Pat O'TooleChampionship Game MVP
2000John TavaresMost Valuable Player
2001John TavaresMost Valuable Player
2003Darris KilgourCoach of the Year
Kurt SilcottGM of the Year
2005Steve DietrichGoaltender of the Year[4]
2006Steve DietrichGoaltender of the Year[5]
Most Valuable Player[6]
2007Dave ZygajExecutive of the Year[7]
2008Mark SteenhuisTransition Player of the Year[8]
Champion's Cup MVP
2009 Billy Dee SmithDefenesive Player of the Year
Ken MontourGoaltender of the Year
2016Steve DietrichGM of the Year
Dhane SmithMost 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

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
  • 4 Ian MacKay
  • 20 Nick Weiss (A)
  • 41 Connor Farrell
Practice Squad
  • 7 Emerson Clark
  • 27 Dalton Sulver
  • 46 Evan Constantopoulos
  • 88 Cory Highfield
Injured Reserve
  • 25 Matt Spanger
  • 83 Frank Brown
Holdout
  • 30 Devlin Shanahan
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[lower-alpha 1] W–L Finish Home Road GF GA Coach Playoffs
1992National5–32nd2–23–1161125Bob McCready / Les BartleyChampions
1993National8–01st4–04–0143108Les BartleyChampions
1994National6–21st3–13–112199Les BartleyLost final
19953–54th2–21–3109108Les BartleyLost semi-final
19968–21st3–25–0173127Les BartleyChampions
19976–43rd3–23–2158153Les BartleyLost final
19986–64th4–22–4166171Les WakelingLost semi-final
19994–86th1–53–3158177Les WakelingDid not qualify
20008–42nd5–13–3202194Ted SawickiLost semi-final
20018–65th4–34–3248218Ted SawickiDid not qualify
2002Central8–84th4–44–4210215Ted Sawicki / Frank NeilsonDid not qualify
2003Central12–42nd8–04–4231188Darris KilgourLost division final
2004Eastern8–83rd4–44–4205198Darris KilgourLost final
2005Eastern11–52nd5–36–2217183Darris KilgourLost division semi-final
2006Eastern11–51st6–25–3193167Darris KilgourLost final
2007Eastern10–62nd6–24–4207188Darris KilgourLost division final
2008Eastern10–61st7–23–4203174Darris KilgourChampions
2009Eastern10–62nd5–35–3223170Darris KilgourLost division final
2010Eastern8–83rd4–44–4169170Darris KilgourLost division semi-final
2011Eastern10–61st4–46–2169159Darris KilgourLost division final
2012Eastern7–94th4–43–5198204Darris KilgourLost division semi-final
2013Eastern6–104th2–64–4171211Darris KilgourDid not qualify
2014Eastern8–103rd6–32–7190200Troy CordingleyLost division final
2015Eastern11–73rd7–24–5236208Troy CordingleyLost division semi-final
2016Eastern13–51st8–15–4251214Troy CordingleyLost Finals
2017Eastern6–125th3–63–6226251Troy CordingleyDid not qualify
2018Eastern8–105th4–54–5232240Troy CordingleyDid not qualify
2019Eastern14–41st7–27–2244186John Tavares, Rich KilgourLost 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
Total32 seasons279–188149–86130–1026,2405,713
Playoff Totals25 Appearances40–2430–1010–148207236 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
Panther City Lacrosse Club 0 0 0 — 1 0 1 .000 1 0 1 .000
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 .595 186 96 86 .525 376 209 167 .556

Playoff results
SeasonGameVisitingHome
1992Division SemifinalBoston Blazers 16Buffalo Bandits 22
Division FinalBuffalo Bandits 19Detroit Turbos 16
ChampionshipBuffalo Bandits 11Philadelphia Wings 10 (OT)
1993Division FinalBoston Blazers 10Buffalo Bandits 12
ChampionshipPhiladelphia Wings 12Buffalo Bandits 13
1994Division FinalDetroit Turbos 10Buffalo Bandits 16
ChampionshipPhiladelphia Wings 26Buffalo Bandits 15
1995SemifinalsPhiladelphia Wings 19Buffalo Bandits 16
1996SemifinalsRochester Knighthawks 10Buffalo Bandits 18
ChampionshipPhiladelphia Wings 10Buffalo Bandits 15
1997SemifinalsNew York Saints 10Buffalo Bandits 19
ChampionshipRochester Knighthawks 15Buffalo Bandits 12
1998SemifinalsBuffalo Bandits 12Philadelphia Wings 17
2000SemifinalsRochester Knighthawks 15Buffalo Bandits 11
2003QuarterfinalsCalgary Roughnecks 9Buffalo Bandits 16
SemifinalsBuffalo Bandits 13Rochester Knighthawks 16
2004Division SemifinalBuffalo Bandits 13Rochester Knighthawks 9
Division FinalBuffalo Bandits 19Toronto Rock 10
ChampionshipBuffalo Bandits 11Calgary Roughnecks 14
2005Division SemifinalRochester Knighthawks 17Buffalo Bandits 16
2006Division SemifinalBuffalo Bandits 11Minnesota Swarm 10
Division FinalBuffalo Bandits 15Rochester Knighthawks 10
ChampionshipColorado Mammoth 16Buffalo Bandits 9
2007Division SemifinalMinnesota Swarm 8Buffalo Bandits 14
Division FinalBuffalo Bandits 13Rochester Knighthawks 14 (OT)
2008Division SemifinalPhiladelphia Wings 12Buffalo Bandits 14
Division FinalNew York Titans 12Buffalo Bandits 19
ChampionshipPortland LumberJax 13Buffalo Bandits 14
2009Division SemifinalBoston Blazers 8Buffalo Bandits 11
Division FinalBuffalo Bandits 3New York Titans 9
2010Division SemifinalBuffalo Bandits 11Toronto Rock 13
2011Division SemifinalBoston Blazers 10Buffalo Bandits 11
Division FinalBuffalo Bandits 11Toronto Rock 12
2012Division SemifinalBuffalo Bandits 6Toronto Rock 7
2014Division SemifinalBuffalo Bandits 15Toronto Rock 13
Division Final 1Rochester Knighthawks 8Buffalo Bandits 12
Division Final 2Buffalo Bandits 8Rochester Knighthawks 13
Division Final 3Buffalo Bandits 1Rochester Knighthawks 2
2015Division SemifinalBuffalo Bandits 11Rochester Knighthawks 14
2016Division Final 1Buffalo Bandits 15New England Black Wolves 10
Division Final 2New England Black Wolves 15Buffalo Bandits 20
Championship 1Buffalo Bandits 9Saskatchewan Rush 11
Championship 2Saskatchewan Rush 11Buffalo 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%
1Bob McCready1992303.000————
2Les Bartley1992–1997493613.7351293.750
3Les Wakeling1998–1999241014.417101.000
4Ted Sawicki2000–2002352114.600101.000
5Frank Neilson2002734.429————
6Darris Kilgour2003–201317610373.58520119.550
7Troy Cordingley2014–2018904644.511945.444
8John Tavares,
Rich Kilgour[13]		201918144.778321.666
9John Tavares2020–654619.70817143.824

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.

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 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 (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
  14. Acquired the first overall pick and selected Chris Langdale from Toronto
  15. "2017 Media Guide" (PDF). Buffalo Bandits. Retrieved 5 December 2017.


See also
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