Ryan O'Halloran: Subpar start to season makes repeat title special for Buffalo Bandits (2024)

Kyle Buchanan believed it was in the hours and days after a tumultuous Buffalo Bandits season had reached a nadir. A third consecutive loss dropped them to 5-6 with time ticking on securing a National Lacrosse League playoff spot.

Most of the core from last year’s championship team remained, but one-goal wins in 2023 became one-goal losses this year. The defense was leaky. The discipline was lacking. Something – no, make that just about everything – was amiss.

“We sat down as a group and it was, ‘Let’s reset. What makes us successful?’ ” Buchanan said. “It was caring about the little things.”

Two-and-a-half months later, that recommitment to the little things led to a big celebration on the arena floor at 10:10 p.m. Saturday.

The Bandits closed out a two-game sweep of the Albany FireWolves with a 15-13 win at KeyBank Center and were champions. Again.

The Bandits’ stars – forwards Josh Byrne and Dhane Smith and goalie Matt Vinc – were their best players. Again.

And captain Steve Priolo was the first Bandits player to hoist the NLL Cup. Again.

“Being 5-6 makes this one special,” said coach John Tavares, who was a Bandits player during the back-to-back titles in 1992-93. “We had to work for it. We could have easily given up halfway through the year.”

The Bandits didn’t clinch a playoff spot until the penultimate game of the regular season on April 13, and needed a win and some help the following weekend to secure a first-round home playoff game. But once they survived the win-or-go-home quarterfinal game against Georgia (10-9 in overtime) on April 27, the Bandits were off and running … and winning … and dominating … and impressing.

Over their final four playoff games, the Bandits went 4-0 and outscored Toronto and Albany by a combined score of 49-31. They mostly stayed out of the penalty box. They were lethal on the power play. They received elite backstopping by Vinc.

“We found it,” Buchanan said of the late-season form.

Once the Bandits found it, the rest of the league was in trouble.

Learning from adversity

Byrne, the most valuable player of the regular season and final series, hopped onto the dasher board in front of the Bandits bench. Confetti dropped from the ceiling. Equipment – gloves, helmets and sticks – littered the playing surface. There were hugs, laughs and high-fives.

Moments later, Priolo accepted the NLL Cup, which the league bragged about being newly designed this year. He gave it a smooch, hoisted it over his head with a primal yell-of-a-celebration and handed it to Smith. Nick Weiss was next.

Then Weiss handed it to Vinc.

“When ‘Vino’ lifts it up, he knows what he’s doing,” Priolo said.

Vinc, 41, in what might have been his last NLL game, dashed through a mosh pit of teammates and staff to raise the cup. It was his fifth title, so he definitely knew what he was doing.

Smith knew what he was doing – he finished with a league-high 34 playoff points.

Same for Byrne, who had eight assists in Game 2 and scored a team-high 12 goals in the postseason.

Ditto for Chase Fraser, who scored a career-high five goals in the clincher, helping the Bandits hang on after they built leads of 4-1, 8-3 and 14-8.

And affirmative for players such as Buchanan (three points), Vinc (36 saves), Ian MacKay (10 loose balls), Chris Cloutier (five points) and Connor Farrell (multiple faceoff wins).

An hour-plus after the game, Tavares’ championship T-shirt was spot-soaked by champagne and/or beer and he was wearing another title-winning baseball cap.

I asked Tavares if, at 5-6, he thought he was running out of buttons to push or levers to pull. Sometimes, the thing simply doesn’t turn around, right?

“I just believed in our players and our team, and we have a really good balance of veterans, young players, athletes, rugged players, and a great goaltending and great defense gives you a chance to win all the time,” Tavares said.

The Bandits reached .500 on March 8, went over .500 for good on March 16 and started their season-ending winning streak on March 30. They started the playoffs as the fourth seed.

“In the past, we’ve had really successful seasons from start to finish,” MacKay said. “This year was a little different. But I think it was good for us facing that adversity. You have to learn from it, and, thankfully, we did.”

League’s shining light

At the league level, the NLL is an unorganized joke. They forced the FireWolves and Bandits to stew for two weeks between the semifinal and final rounds, then made them play on back-to-back days with a 300-mile, middle-of-the-night bus ride tossed in for good measure.

The league should be thankful they have a shining light like the Bandits, a stable organization with a loyal fan base that has reached the final four consecutive times and has the right mix of star and role players.

Nearly two hours after the game, the local media was informed Byrne, Smith and Vinc would not be brought to the press conference room (Fraser also did not appear). The room mostly cleared out (including myself) and I was already on the freeway when Byrne did appear. Inexcusable disorganization by an overmatched league office that was clearly uninterested in providing Bandits fans with the insights of the star players. Imagine Josh Allen not being made available after winning the Super Bowl.

But all credit to our city’s back-to-back champions. They regrouped and played their best lacrosse in the most important games. Bryne and Smith – who combined for 336 points in 21 regular season/playoff games – carried the offense. Vinc and acquired defender Paul Dawson led the defense. And Tavares hit the right notes with his game plans.

The best part about championship celebrations is watching the coach, with the player emotions a mix of relief, joy and gratification. Tavares was like a proud father.

“As the coach, I realize the guys do all the work,” he said. “They go out there and they determine the outcome with their effort and how they play. I’m so happy for the team. I love watching my players celebrate in the moment.”

For the second consecutive May and sixth time overall since their inception in 1992, the moment belonged to the Bandits.