2008 Buffalo Bandits season

The Buffalo Bandits are a lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2008 season was the franchise's 17th season.

2008 Buffalo Bandits
Champion's Cup Champions
East Division Champions
LeagueNLL
Division1st East
2008 record10-6
Home record7-2
Road record3-4
Goals for203
Goals against174
General ManagerDarris Kilgour
CoachDarris Kilgour
CaptainRich Kilgour
Alternate captainsPat McCready
John Tavares
ArenaHSBC Arena
Average attendance12,665
Team leaders
GoalsMark Steenhuis (34)
AssistsJohn Tavares (58)
PointsJohn Tavares (87)
Penalties in minutesKyle Laverty (70)
Loose BallsPat McCready (121)
WinsMike Thompson (5)
Goals against averageKen Montour (10.23)

The Bandits tied with Minnesota, New York, and Philadelphia with a 10-6 record but thanks to tiebreakers, clinched first place overall and home floor advantage throughout the playoffs. They beat the Philadelphia Wings 14-12 in the opening round of the playoffs, then made quick work of the New York Titans 19-12, before they beat the Portland LumberJax 14-13 to win their first championship since 1996.[1][2]

Regular season

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Conference standings

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Reference: [3]

East Division
PTeamGPWLPCTGBHomeRoadGFGADiffGF/GPGA/GP

1Buffalo Banditsxyz16106.6250.07–23–4203174+2912.6910.88
2Minnesota Swarmx16106.6250.06–24–4199196+312.4412.25
3New York Titansx16106.6250.05–15–5197186+1112.3111.62
4Philadelphia Wingsx16106.6250.07–13–5225220+514.0613.75
5Rochester Knighthawks1688.5002.04–44–4197171+2612.3110.69
6Toronto Rock1679.4383.04–53–4172174−210.7510.88
7Chicago Shamrox16610.3754.03–53–5176212−3611.0013.25
West Division
PTeamGPWLPCTGBHomeRoadGFGADiffGF/GPGA/GP

1San Jose Stealthxy1697.5620.04–45–3185172+1311.5610.75
2Colorado Mammothx1697.5620.06–23–5184167+1711.5010.44
3Calgary Roughnecksx1679.4382.05–32–6183178+511.4411.12
4Portland LumberJaxx16610.3753.03–53–5179194−1511.1912.12
5Edmonton Rush16412.2505.03–51–7141197−568.8112.31

x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games Played
W: Wins; L: Losses; GBGames back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowed
Differential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game

Game log

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Reference:[4]

Game Date Opponent Location Score OT Attendance Record
1 January 11, 2008 Rochester Knighthawks HSBC Arena L 9–12 18,670 0–1
2 January 12, 2008 @ Rochester Knighthawks Blue Cross Arena W 14–9 10,939 1–1
3 January 19, 2008 New York Titans HSBC Arena W 17–13 11,878 2–1
4 January 26, 2008 @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) Wachovia Center L 14–15 OT 10,542 2–2
5 February 8, 2008 @ Calgary Roughnecks Pengrowth Saddledome W 17–9 10,922 3–2
6 February 10, 2008 @ New York Titans Madison Square Garden L 9–10 OT 6,742 3–3
7 February 15, 2008 @ Toronto Rock Air Canada Centre L 8–11 14,611 3–4
8 February 16, 2008 Minnesota Swarm HSBC Arena W 16–14 14,446 4–4
9 February 24, 2008 @ Chicago Shamrox Sears Centre W 13–8 3,250 5–4
10 March 1, 2008 Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) HSBC Arena W 21–12 13,720 6–4
11 March 8, 2008 Minnesota Swarm HSBC Arena W 11–7 12,313 7–4
12 March 22, 2008 Toronto Rock HSBC Arena L 9–13 15,230 7–5
13 April 5, 2008 Colorado Mammoth HSBC Arena W 12–11 16,905 8–5
14 April 12, 2008 @ Rochester Knighthawks Blue Cross Arena L 6–11 10,517 8–6
15 April 19, 2008 Chicago Shamrox HSBC Arena W 13–9 13,633 9–6
16 April 26, 2008 Portland LumberJax HSBC Arena W 14–10 18,325 10–6

Playoffs

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Game log

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Reference:[5]

Game Date Opponent Location Score OT Attendance Record
Division Semifinal May 2, 2008 Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) HSBC Arena W 14–12 9,344 1–0
Division Final May 10, 2008 New York Titans HSBC Arena W 19–12 11,012 2–0
Championship Game May 17, 2008 Portland LumberJax HSBC Arena W 14–13 18,690 3–0

Player stats

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Reference:[6]

Runners (Top 10)

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Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; LB = Loose Balls; PIM = Penalty Minutes

Player GP G A Pts LB PIM
John Tavares 16 29 58 87 91 23
Mark Steenhuis 15 34 41 75 121 27
Delby Powless 16 18 37 55 29 10
Cory Bomberry 16 17 38 55 59 29
Roger Vyse 14 21 27 48 48 4
Kevin Dostie 10 22 14 36 34 11
Dan Teat 12 11 23 34 38 2
Pat McCready 15 8 15 23 121 44
Ian Llord 15 5 12 17 71 26
Totals 316 519 478 1047 48

Goaltenders

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Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals against; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

Player GP MIN W L GA Sv% GAA
Mike Thompson 14 421:36 5 1 83 .762 11.81
Ken Montour 14 480:45 4 5 82 .808 10.23
Daniel Sams 3 60:00 1 0 8 .882 8.00
Totals 10 6 174 .794 10.88

Awards

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Player Award
Mark Steenhuis Transition Player of the Year
John Tavares First Team All-Pro
Mark Steenhuis
Mark Steenhuis Championship Game MVP
John Tavares All-Stars
Mark Steenhuis
Chris White

Transactions

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Trades

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February 5, 2008[7]
To Buffalo Bandits
Andrew Lazore
Rusty Kruger
To Chicago Shamrox
two second round picks, 2008 entry draft
March 25, 2008[8]
To Buffalo Bandits
Mike Accursi
To Edmonton Rush
Dan Teat
second round pick, 2008 entry draft
first round pick, 2009 entry draft

Roster

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Reference:[9]

No. Position Player
44   Fwd Accursi, Mike
72   Fwd Bomberry, Cory
26   Fwd Bucktooth, Brett
  Fwd Conn, Craig
  ? Croswell, Brian
51   Fwd Dostie, Kevin
  Fwd Francis, Brandon
  Fwd Greenhalgh, Sean
5   Def Hill, Clay
16   Trans Kilgour, Rich
20   Fwd Kruger, Rusty
? Lalonde, Chris
17   Def Laverty, Kyle
4   Fwd Lazore, Andrew
2   Fwd Llord, Ian
10   Trans McCready, Pat
29   Goalie Montour, Ken
No. Position Player
99   Fwd Powless, Delby
  Def Ragnar, Pete
  Goalie Sams, Daniel
18   Def Sanderson, Phil
24   Def Schmelzle, Kyle
3   Def Smith, Billy Dee
14   Def Smith, Joe
  Def Sorci, Tony
  Trans Squire, Chad
9   Trans Steenhuis, Mark
12   Fwd Swamp, Brandon
11   Fwd Tavares, John
  Fwd Teat, Dan
66   Goalie Thompson, Mike
  Fwd Thorimbert, Jay
81   Fwd Vyse, Roger
6   Def White, Chris

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Bandits Win Edge 2008 NLL Championship Game". NLL.com. May 17, 2008. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  2. ^ The Bandits had won three MILL championships, but none since the MILL was reformed into the NLL in 1998.
  3. ^ "National Lacrosse League - 2008 Regular Season - Standings". NLL.com. Retrieved May 3, 2012.
  4. ^ "Buffalo Bandits – National Lacrosse League". NLL.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  5. ^ "Buffalo Bandits – National Lacrosse League". NLL.com. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2012.
  6. ^ "Buffalo Bandits - National Lacrosse League - team stats | Pointstreak Sports Technologies".
  7. ^ "Chicago Deals Lazore To Buffalo". NLL.com. February 5, 2008. Archived from the original on 8 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-01.
  8. ^ "Buffalo Deals Teat & Picks for Accursi". NLL.com. March 25, 2008. Archived from the original on 28 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-03.
  9. ^ "Buffalo Bandits - National Lacrosse League - team roster | Pointstreak Sports Technologies".