MATT VOLZ
Sports Editor
Image property of the National Lacrosse League.
As the breezy fall transitions to the bitter cold winter, thousands of fans will fill KeyBank Center to watch their favorite team.
They’re not wearing the blue and gold of the Buffalo Sabres, though.
These fans are donned in the black and orange of the Buffalo Bandits.
The Bandits typically draw some of the best crowds in the National Lacrosse League (NLL), nearly selling out the 19,070-seat arena for each game.
Last season, they averaged a league-best 16,974 fans per game, making Banditland one of the league’s most difficult environments for opposing teams to play in.
The fans have good reason to come out in droves, as the Bandits enter 2025 with their eyes on a third straight championship.
The organization is one of the most successful in the league, with six championship banners hanging in the rafters.
Head coach John Tavares won four of those titles as a player for the team, and he has led the Bandits to their last two from behind the bench.
Buffalo is led by two key forwards, Josh Byrne and Dhane Smith.
Byrne was the league’s best player in 2024, as he was named Offensive Player of the Year and was awarded the MVP awards for both the regular season and the NLL Finals.
Smith, a two-time season MVP and 2023 Finals MVP, is already one of the top offensive players in NLL history at age 32.
Byrne and Smith ranked first and second in the league in points last season, respectively.
Buffalo’s forward group is aided by the return of a few key contributors from the past two playoff runs.
Chris Cloutier, Chase Fraser and Kyle Buchanan all signed one-year deals to return to the team, providing a secondary scoring boost behind Smith and Byrne.
The transition and defensive units have some mainstay players returning, too.
Alternate captain Nick Weiss and veteran Paul Dawson were both brought back for one more season.
Weiss returns for his 10th season with the Bandits, while Dawson is set to begin his first full season in Buffalo after coming over from Colorado in a midseason deal that shored up a struggling Bandits defense.
Captain Steve Priolo is also back for 2024-25, as he signed a three-year contract extension over the summer.
Capping it off is 42-year-old goalie Matt Vinc, who is coming back for his 19th NLL season.
While most everyone is returning, the team did see a few departures.
Defenseman Justin Robinson was traded to the newly-named Ottawa Black Bears in exchange for a 2028 sixth-round pick that would become a fourth-round selection if he were to make Ottawa’s final roster.
His brother, forward Brandon Robinson, was traded to the rival Rochester Knighthawks in exchange for transition player Thomas Whitty in September.
Whitty, a 25-year-old native of St. Catharines, Ontario, recorded 81 loose ball recoveries and blocked 14 shots with Rochester in 2023-24.
Overall, the core from Buffalo’s last two championship runs is still intact, and they should be in contention for a third straight NLL Cup.
The Bandits open the 2024-25 season on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. as they face the Knighthawks in Rochester.
Their home opener will also be against Rochester on Saturday, Dec. 28 at 6:30 p.m.
The 2024 championship banner will be raised before the home opener as part of a championship ceremony.