Bandits' all-Canadian lineup has Buffalo buzzing into playoffs

Buffalo’s First Niagara Center will be the place to be for southern Ontario lacrosse fans when the NLL playoffs roll around next month.

The Bandits, 11-5, are on the verge of clinching first place in the NLL East after defeating Toronto 14-8  Saturday and eliminating Ontario’s team, 5-11, from contention for a playoff berth.

While attendance for Rock games at Toronto's Air Canada Centre has slipped below 10,000 a game, attendance has stayed strong in Buffalo. More than 17,000 were on hand Saturday and they bumped the season’s average to a league-best 15,429. Thousands drive across the Peace Bridge.

Of the 18 Bandits on the floor, 16 were from southern Ontario and two from British Columbia. Captain Billy Dee Smith, Mark Steenhuis and Steve Priolo motor in from nearby St. Catharines. League scoring leader Dhane Smith, Ryan Benesch, Andrew Watt and GM Steve Dietrich are from Kitchener. There’s Dave Brock from Burlington, Chad Culp from Fergus, Daryl Veltman from Georgetown, Tyler Ferreira from Brampton, Kevin Brownell from Millgrove, Dave DiRuscio from Oakville, Jay Thorimbert and Mitch de Snoo from Oshawa-Whitby, and Mitch Weiss from Port Hope. Anthony Cosmo lives in Orangeville. Head coach Troy Cordingley lives in Oakville and assistant John Tavares in Mississauga.

The Bandits hold their weekly practices on Tuesday nights in the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena at Hagersville, Ont., which is in forward Alex Kedoh Hill’s Six Nations neighborhood.

The team is owned by the NHL’s Sabres, who averaged 18,541 at the gate in 2015-2016 with player payroll expenses exceeding $60 million US. With an NLL team salary cap under $500,000, a guess would be that owners make their greatest profit from the Bandits.

The throngs in First Niagara Center boast they are the most colorful - bright orange anyone? - and loudest in the NLL year after year. And they’ve got a lot to cheer about this year because Cordingley’s 2016 lineup has the best chance of returning the Champion’s Cup to Buffalo since the title was last won in 2008.

“We have a lot more depth,” says Billy Dee Smith. “Before, we had depth on defence. Now we’ve got depth on offense and defence.”

“The boys are a lot more hungry,” says DiRuscio, who was the winning goalie Saturday. “They’re willing to put everything on the line to win. That’s what it’s going to take because the games are so close that anyone can win on any night. The boys are really, really hungry this year.”

It was Tucker Out Lymphoma Night in memory of Tucker Williams on Saturday. The son of Bandits scout/assistant coach and former player Shawn Williams of Oshawa passed away Dec. 17, 2014, after a courageous battle with Burkitt lymphoma. The game was put on pause so his dad could make a brief speech. Charitable causes will benefit from the special night.

A 12-9 loss in Toronto last Friday night was a wakeup call for the Bandits.

“We were too cocky,” says Benesch. “We needed that stinker to get that out of our system.

“I think we thought that we’d already won the championship. To be brought back down to reality with that loss was a good thing for us. Now we know we can’t take anybody for granted.

“Take a shift off and it’s going to bite you in the butt. (Toronto) is our biggest rival. Obviously, there’s a little bit of bad blood there. It’s nice to be done with them. Now we’ll focus on Rochester and clinching first place and that first-round playoff bye.”

The Bandits play the Knighthawks in Rochester this Saturday. Rochester, 6-9, could miss the playoffs if it loses, which would be shocking considering it won the championship in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

“Who would have ever thought that Toronto would be out and Rochester would be fighting for their playoff lives?” says Benesch.

Nobody.

Only two weeks remain in the regular season.

“We’re coming up against hungry and angry teams,” says Cordingley. “We’re fortunate we went on a six-game run to leave us not having a lot of pressure on us.

“We’ve got teams that are going to be playing A-quality ball against us and we’ve got to match that intensity from the other teams and continue to do what we do. You have to beat everybody if you want to be the champs.”