All Things Buffalo Bandits

[ChevyVanMiller]

With the Sabres being so putrid and looking at another record year with no playoffs, I've really gotten into the Bandits over the past two seasons.

 

I know lacrosse is a niche sport, but it has a lot of similarities to hockey. Furthermore, the Bandits are the two-time defending champs and currently in first place overall as they shoot for a three-peat. The Bandits have one of the best goalies in the history of the sport in Matt Vinc and a host of top players led by the trio of Dhane Smith, Josh Byrnes and Tehoka Nanticoke. Their coach is the league's all-time scoring leader John Tavares.

 

One of the things that I love about indoor lacrosse is that there are distinct offensive and defensive players. Once a team gets possession of the ball there is a wholesale change of players. That way the best scorers are touching the ball on every possession. That's why guys routinely have 10+ point nights. Another cool feature is that there is one faceoff specialist. The Bandits' is Connor Farrell. He is affectionately known as the "Milkman."

 

When the Bandits play at home, the arena is known as "Banditland." They almost always sellout, so the arena rocks with 19,000 people (unlike the Sabres, who can't fill the place unless an icon is being celebrated).

The Bandits are 9-1, with a league-best plus 42 goal differential, and today at 6:30 PM they are in Calgary to play the Roughnecks. If you are in the Buffalo market the games are carried on the CW Network. Everywhere else they can be seen on the ESPN app. You need to scroll down to the lacrosse icon and then the games will appear.

 

I thought with the season steamrolling towards the playoffs we might get a little Bandit talk going. If you haven't given the sport a shot, please consider it. It's a lot of fun and the Bandits are the one Buffalo team that actually wins championships.

Edited Sunday at 02:26 AM by ChevyVanMiller

[ChevyVanMiller]

Well, I guess I jinxed them because the bandits had their worst night of the season and fell to the roughnecks 17–11. On a happy note though, the Great Dhane Smith recorded his 400th goal.