Buffalo Bandits

	Buffalo Bandits
Division	Eastern
Founded	1991
Home Arena	HSBC Arena
Based in	Buffalo, New York
Colors	Orange, Black, Purple
Head Coach	Darris Kilgour
General manager	Darris Kilgour
Local media	WWKB, WGR
Championships	1992, 1993, 1996, 2008
Division Championships	1992, 1993, 1994, 2004, 2006, 2008
PLPA representative	John Tavares
Website	www.bandits.com
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The Buffalo Bandits are a team in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). They play at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, until the MILL turned into the NLL in 1998.

The Bandits are owned by Hockey Western New York LLC, the consortium led by Tom Golisano, Daniel DiPofi and Larry Quinn that also owns the Buffalo Sabres.

The Bandits became the first franchise in MILL/NLL history^[1]^[2] to win a championship in its first season. The Bandits repeated as champions in their second season, 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.

The Bandits' cheerleaders are known as the Buffalo Bandettes.

[edit] Awards & 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
1992	John Tavares	Championship Game MVP
1993	John Tavares	Championship Game MVP
1994	John Tavares	NLL Most Valuable Player
1996	Pat O'Toole	Championship Game MVP
2000	John Tavares	NLL Most Valuable Player
2001	John Tavares	NLL Most Valuable Player
2003	Darris Kilgour	Les Bartley Award
2003	Steve Govett	GM of the Year
2005	Steve Dietrich	Goaltender of the Year^[3]
2006	Steve Dietrich	Goaltender of the Year^[4]
2006	Steve Dietrich	NLL Most Valuable Player^[5]
2007	Dave Zygaj	Executive of the Year^[6]
2008	Mark Steenhuis	Transition Player of the Year^[7]
2008	Mark Steenhuis	Champion's Cup MVP

[edit] NLL Hall of Fame members

Les Bartley (class of 2006)
Darris Kilgour, Tom Borrelli (class of 2007)
Johnny Mouradian (class of 2008)
Jim Veltman (class of 2009)

[edit] NLL records

[edit] 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)

[edit] Season record holders

Most points in a single season - John Tavares (115 points, 2001)

[edit] All-time record holders

Most goals in a career - John Tavares (620 goals, 1991-present)
Most assists in a career - John Tavares (706 assists, 1991-present)
Most points in a career - John Tavares (1,326 points, 1991-present)

[edit] NLL All-Star Game

2005: Kyle Couling, Mark Steenhuis, John Tavares*, Dan Teat
2006: Steve Dietrich, Mark Steenhuis, John Tavares*
2007: Pat McCready, Mark Steenhuis, John Tavares*
2008: Mark Steenhuis*, John Tavares*, Chris White
2009: Ken Montour*, Mark Steenhuis*, John Tavares, Roger Vyse, Chris White*

* - voted as starter

[edit] Current roster

Buffalo Bandits roster

Active (23-man) roster

Inactive roster

Coaches

Goaltenders

29 Ken Montour
66 Michael Thompson

Defensemen

28 Clay Hill
16 Rich Kilgour (C)
2 Ian Llord
10 Pat McCready
18 Phil Sanderson
24 Kyle Schmelzle
3 Billy Dee Smith
14 Joe Smith
6 Chris White

Forwards

44 Mike Accursi (A)
72 Cory Bomberry
12 Brian Croswell
51 Kevin Dostie
84 Brandon Francis
19 Sean Greenhalgh
8 Delby Powless
17 Brandon Swamp
11 John Tavares (A)
81 Roger Vyse

Transition

63 Thomas Montour
9 Mark Steenhuis

Practice Squad

27 Dustin Dunn
88 Cody Jacobs
39 Findley Wilson

Injured Reserve

26 Brett Bucktooth

Unable to play

-- Tory Gardner
-- Eryn Jones

Head Coach

Darris Kilgour

Assistant Coaches

Chuck Brown
Jay Drury
Derek Graham
Ron Henry
Emmet Printup

Legend

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

Roster updated 2009-02-25
NLL Transactions

[edit] All time record

League Champions	Division Champions	League Leader

Season	Division	W-L	Finish	Home	Road	GF	GA	Coach	Playoffs
1992	National	5-3	2nd	2-2	3-1	161	125	Bob "Buff" McCready^[8] Les Bartley	Won Championship
1993	National	8-0	1st	4-0	4-0	143	108	Les Bartley	Won Championship
1994	National	6-2	1st	3-1	3-1	121	99	Les Bartley	Lost Championship
1995		3-5	4th	2-2	1-3	109	108	Les Bartley	Lost in semifinals
1996		8-2	T-1st	3-2	5-0	172	127	Les Bartley	Won Championship
1997		6-4	3rd	3-2	3-2	158	153	Les Bartley	Lost Championship
1998		6-6	4th	4-2	2-4	166	171	Les Wakeling	Lost in semifinals
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 in semifinals
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	T-1st	8-0	4-4	231	188	Darris Kilgour	Lost in semifinals
2004	Eastern	8-8	3rd	4-4	4-4	205	198	Darris Kilgour	Lost Championship
2005	Eastern	11-5	2nd	5-3	6-2	217	183	Darris Kilgour	Lost in division semifinals
2006	Eastern	11-5	1st	6-2	5-3	193	167	Darris Kilgour	Lost Championship
2007	Eastern	10-6	2nd	6-2	4-4	249	194	Darris Kilgour	Lost in division finals
2008	Eastern	10-6	T-1st	7-2	3-4	203	174	Darris Kilgour	Won Championship
2009	Eastern	10-6	T-1st	5-3	5-3	223	170	Darris Kilgour	Lost in division finals
Total	18 seasons	142-88		76-40	66-48	3,369	2,969
Playoff Totals		19-11		13-6	6-5	422	383		4 Championships Won

[edit] 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
Arizona Sting	2	2	0	1.000	1	1	0	1.000	3	3	0	1.000
as Columbus Landsharks	3	3	0	1.000	3	3	0	1.000	6	6	0	1.000
Calgary Roughnecks	1	1	0	1.000	4	3	1	.750	5	4	1	.800
Chicago Shamrox	2	2	0	1.000	2	2	0	1.000	4	4	0	1.000
Colorado Mammoth	3	3	0	1.000	2	0	2	.000	5	3	2	.600
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
Edmonton Rush	0	0	0	—	0	0	0	—	0	0	0	—
Minnesota Swarm	6	5	1	.833	4	4	0	1.000	10	9	1	.900
New York Titans	2	2	0	1.000	2	1	1	.500	4	3	1	.750
Philadelphia Wings	20	12	8	.600	17	7	10	.412	37	19	18	.514
Portland Lumberjax	2	2	0	1.000	1	0	1	.000	3	2	1	.667
Rochester Knighthawks	15	7	8	.467	18	5	13	.278	33	12	21	.364
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
Toronto Rock	13	2	11	.154	9	4	5	.444	22	6	16	.273
as Ontario Raiders	1	1	0	1.000	1	0	1	.000	2	1	1	.500
Total (active franchises)	85	53	32	.624	77	40	34	.519	162	93	69	.574
Total (defunct franchises)									52	39	13	.750

[edit] 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
1993	Championship	Philadelphia Wings 12	Buffalo Bandits 13
1994	Division Final	Detroit Turbos 10	Buffalo Bandits 16
1994	Championship	Philadelphia Wings 26	Buffalo Bandits 15
1995	Semifinals	Philadelphia Wings 19	Buffalo Bandits 16
1996	Semifinals	Rochester Knighthawks 10	Buffalo Bandits 18
1996	Championship	Philadelphia Wings 10	Buffalo Bandits 15
1997	Semifinals	New York Saints 10	Buffalo Bandits 19
1997	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
2003	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
2007	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
2009	Division Final	Buffalo Bandits 3	New York Titans 9

[edit] All-time Team-by-team Playoff Records

defunct franchises in italics

	Home				Road				Overall
Team	GP	W	L	PCT	GP	W	L	PCT	GP	W	L	PCT
Boston Blazers	2	2	0	1.000	0	0	0	—	2	2	0	1.000
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
Detroit Turbos	1	1	0	1.000	1	1	0	1.000	2	2	0	1.000
Minnesota Swarm	2	2	0	1.000	0	0	0	—	2	2	0	1.000
New York Saints	1	1	0	1.000	0	0	0	—	1	1	0	1.000
New York Titans	1	1	0	1.000	0	0	0	—	1	1	0	1.000
Philadelphia Wings	5	3	2	.600	2	1	1	.500	7	4	3	.571
Portland Lumberjax	1	1	0	1.000	0	0	0	—	1	1	0	1.000
Rochester Knighthawks	5	2	3	.400	3	1	2	.333	8	3	5	.375
Toronto Rock	0	0	0	—	1	1	0	1.000	1	1	0	1.000
Total	20	14	6	.700	8	4	4	.500	28	18	10	.643

[edit] Head Coaching History

#	Name	Term	Regular Season				Playoffs
#	Name	Term	GC	W	L	W%	GC	W	L	W%
1	Buff 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—present	96	62	34	.646	14	9	5	.643

[edit] Draft History

[edit] NLL Entry Draft

First Round Selections

1991: Darris Kilgour (1st overall)
1992: Tom Marechek (6th overall)
1993: Gil Nieuwendyk (6th overall)
1994: Rodd Squire (5th overall)
1995: Jason Luke (3rd overall)
1996: Mike Murray (6th overall)
1997: Casey Zaph (7th overall) & Marty O'Brien (8th overall)
1998: Matt Disher (7th overall)
1999: None

2000: Ryan Powell (2nd overall)
2001: None
2002: Billy Dee Smith (3rd overall)
2003: A.J. Shannon (6th overall)
2004: Delby Powless (1st overall)
2005: Jeff Shattler (10th overall)
2006: Brett Bucktooth (3rd overall)
2007: None
2008: None

[edit] 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)

[edit] NLL Expansion Draft

1999 to Albany Attack: Troy Cordingley (3rd overall)
2001 to Calgary Roughnecks, New Jersey Storm, Vancouver Ravens & Columbus Landsharks^[9]: 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)

[edit] Retired Numbers

The Bandits have two retired numbers, one of which is represented at the Arena on the turf.^[10]

34 Thomas Gardner, western New York youth lacrosse organizer, number retired March 20, 1999
43 Darris Kilgour, F, 1992-1999, number retired March 25, 2001

[edit] Game Broadcasts

Buffalo Bandits games can be heard on WWKB-AM 1520 out of Buffalo. John Gurtler, former play-by-play man for the Buffalo Sabres, handles announcing duties. Home games are streamed live on NLL.com with Brendan McDaniels on the play-by-play. Verizon FiOS customers can watch them on TV on tape delay. NLL.com also streams all Bandits away games live featuring the home teams' commentators.

[edit] Third jersey

On February 13, 2009, the Bandits unveiled their first-ever third (alternate) jersey at the Buffalo Sabres/San Jose Sharks game at HSBC Arena. While wearing the new jerseys, several players threw t-shirts to Sabres fans.

The next day, the Bandits wore their third jerseys for the first time when they took on the Toronto Rock.^[11]

The jersey is mostly orange with an enlarged version of the head of the character in the team's logo which covers the entire front. The only difference is the gray bandanna is orange instead. The bandanna extends to the back of the jersey where the player's name and number are displayed in a white font, different from the font of the current home and away jerseys. On the players' right arm is a generic styling of the team's nickname, while the word "BUFFALO" appears on the left. Orange numbers are placed on the shoulders in front of an orange background. A larger-than-normal number is placed on the lower right front of the jersey.

[edit] Footnotes and references

^ 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.
^ "Dietrich Named Aquis Goaltender of the Year". NLL.com. May 4, 2005. http://nll.com/article.php?id=948. Retrieved on 2007-05-08.
^ "Steve Dietrich Named RBK Goaltender of the Year". NLL website. May 3, 2006. http://nll.com/article.php?id=442. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
^ "Dietrich Wins 2006 Jet Blue MVP Award". NLL website. May 11, 2006. http://nll.com/article.php?id=429. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
^ "Dave Zygaj Named NLL Executive of the Year". NLL.com. May 7, 2007. http://nll.com/article.php?id=2939. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.
^ "Steenhuis Named Top Transition Player". NLL.com. May 12, 2008. http://www.nll.com/article.php?id=3480. Retrieved on 2008-05-12.
^ Buff McCready only coached the Bandits for the first three games.
^ Acquired the first overall pick and selected Chris Langdale from Toronto
^ "http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/news010322.htm". Outsider's Guide. March 22, 2001. http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/news010322.htm. Retrieved on 2008-06-10.
^ "Third jersey to go on sale Saturday". http://www.bandits.com/newsarchive.cfm?id=785. Retrieved on 2009-02-13.

[edit] See also

Preceded by Detroit Turbos	Major Indoor Lacrosse League Champions 1992, 1993	Succeeded by Philadelphia Wings
Preceded by Philadelphia Wings	Major Indoor Lacrosse League Champions 1996	Succeeded by Rochester Knighthawks
Preceded by Rochester Knighthawks	National Lacrosse League Champions 2008	Succeeded by Calgary Roughnecks

[0] 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.

[1] 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] "Dietrich Named Aquis Goaltender of the Year". NLL.com. May 4, 2005. http://nll.com/article.php?id=948. Retrieved on 2007-05-08.

[3] "Steve Dietrich Named RBK Goaltender of the Year". NLL website. May 3, 2006. http://nll.com/article.php?id=442. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.

[4] "Dietrich Wins 2006 Jet Blue MVP Award". NLL website. May 11, 2006. http://nll.com/article.php?id=429. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.

[5] "Dave Zygaj Named NLL Executive of the Year". NLL.com. May 7, 2007. http://nll.com/article.php?id=2939. Retrieved on 2008-05-08.

[6] "Steenhuis Named Top Transition Player". NLL.com. May 12, 2008. http://www.nll.com/article.php?id=3480. Retrieved on 2008-05-12.

[7] Buff McCready only coached the Bandits for the first three games.

[8] Acquired the first overall pick and selected Chris Langdale from Toronto

[9] "http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/news010322.htm". Outsider's Guide. March 22, 2001. http://www.lacrosse-network.com/outsidersguide/news010322.htm. Retrieved on 2008-06-10.

[10] "Third jersey to go on sale Saturday". http://www.bandits.com/newsarchive.cfm?id=785. Retrieved on 2009-02-13.

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