On my recent article about the Sabres, Buffalo Rising commenter "meanoldman" kindly suggested that the Bandits deserve more respect. He's right. I've been to four games in the last two years, and I've got to say, Lacrosse is awesome. Some notable aspects of the game include; music during gameplay, tons of fan interaction, a pleasing amount of violence, and a healthy serving of scoring.
If you haven't made it to a Bandits game this season, then you're missing out on what an average of what 17,864 Bandits (league-leading attendance) fans already know: this team is good. As you all know, they won the NLL championship this year, and at 10-5, are making a run at winning another.
The only better NLL record belongs to Calgary's Roughnecks, who are 11-4 this season. Regardless, Buffalo has a wide range of talent. They lead the league in goals-for at 211, the only team to cross the 200 goal mark thus far. Their winning formula is a combination of a potent offense and stingy defense, as their goals-against of 157 is second only to Boston's 156.
Having two Top 5 scorers on one team has been a huge benefit to the Bandits. Mark Steenhuis' 97 points are good for 2nd in the league, tied with only one other player, and John Tavares' 87 points put him at 5th in points. They've also received large contributions from Mike Accursi, Rory Bomberry and Roger Vyse, among others. Balanced scoring has been one of Buffalo's trademarks, as the defense has contributed over 50 points.
There's only one game left this season. It's Saturday, April 18th, against Boston, right here at HSBC Arena. The Bandits have the chance to clinch the division, and head into the playoffs to try and win the NLL championship again, their 5th in 17 years. In fact, the Bandits have gone to the big dance 8 times since 1992, and have only missed the playoffs three times. That's impressive.
Will you be there to seem then do it again?
View image
If you haven't made it to a Bandits game this season, then you're missing out on what an average of what 17,864 Bandits (league-leading attendance) fans already know: this team is good. As you all know, they won the NLL championship this year, and at 10-5, are making a run at winning another.
The only better NLL record belongs to Calgary's Roughnecks, who are 11-4 this season. Regardless, Buffalo has a wide range of talent. They lead the league in goals-for at 211, the only team to cross the 200 goal mark thus far. Their winning formula is a combination of a potent offense and stingy defense, as their goals-against of 157 is second only to Boston's 156.
Having two Top 5 scorers on one team has been a huge benefit to the Bandits. Mark Steenhuis' 97 points are good for 2nd in the league, tied with only one other player, and John Tavares' 87 points put him at 5th in points. They've also received large contributions from Mike Accursi, Rory Bomberry and Roger Vyse, among others. Balanced scoring has been one of Buffalo's trademarks, as the defense has contributed over 50 points.
There's only one game left this season. It's Saturday, April 18th, against Boston, right here at HSBC Arena. The Bandits have the chance to clinch the division, and head into the playoffs to try and win the NLL championship again, their 5th in 17 years. In fact, the Bandits have gone to the big dance 8 times since 1992, and have only missed the playoffs three times. That's impressive.
Will you be there to seem then do it again?
yup, I will be there. Was at the Championship game last year as well as a fair share of the season's games. A ton of fun at a good price!
It was particularly fun a couple years back to travel to Rochester to watch a game with about 1,000 or so other Bandit's fans. Good times!