| 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 |
| |
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.
[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
[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)
- 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
| |
| Active (23-man) roster | Inactive roster | Coaches |
Goaltenders
Defensemen
| | Forwards
Transition
| | 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
Assistant Coaches
- Chuck Brown
- Jay Drury
- Derek Graham
- Ron Henry
- Emmet Printup
- Legend
- * Suspended list
- (C) Captain
- (A) Alternate captain
Roster updated 2009-09-09
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)
[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 |
| 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 |
[edit] All-time Team-by-team Playoff Records
defunct franchises in italics
[edit] Head Coaching History
| # | Name | Term | Regular Season | Playoffs |
| 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
First Round Selections
- 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
[edit] See also
| Buffalo Bandits | | | The Franchise | | | | Arenas | | | | Head Coaches | | | | Division Championships (6) | | | | Champion's Cups (4) | | | | Seasons | | | | Current League Affiliations | | |
