Bandits swat Swarm out of the playoffs
The Buffalo Bandits started their quest to “run it back in orange and black” on Saturday night with an overtime victory against the Georgia Swarm. I’ll be honest, with the way this game was going I did not think the Bandits were going to be able to pull off the victory. I didn’t necessarily think that the Bandits weren’t the better team in the game. However, there were many moments throughout the game that were not going Buffalo’s way. Dhane Smith had a goal challenged and correctly overturned. Josh Byrne looked like he had a goal scored but it was challenged too late. Smith looked like he scored the game winner, but it was .1 second too late. In overtime, Brandon Robinson had a great 1-on-1 opportunity to end the game and couldn't do it. It simply felt like it wasn’t their night. However, the Bandits did pull off the victory with Byrne’s fifth goal of the game to end it in overtime with a score of 10-9.
The Buffalo Bandits offense was confusing. For the most part they seemed a bit off. That will happen when going up against a goaltender who was playing as well as Brett Dobson was. They had a few good opportunities that they would normally score on, but instead they were going off the post or wide. When a goalie is playing well the offense is forced to aim their shots more and overthink a bit. That being said, the even strength offense only scored three goals in regulation. The other goals were either on the power play or on the transition by the defense. For an offense that averaged over thirteen goals a game, that is not good enough. The good news for the Bandits is that they have two of the league's best scorers on their team. It is great when the secondary scoring is rolling and everyone on the offense is scoring. However, when that isn’t the case, it’s also great to have players like Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne on the team. Smith finished with six assists while Byrne finished with five goals and one assist. Top players in the league can put the team on their back and take over a game. With the offense struggling, that is exactly what Smith and Byrne were able to do. It had been a while since the Bandits faced a great team, defense and goalie. Hopefully this game will be a bit of a wakeup call for the offense. The games will only get more difficult this upcoming weekend.
The defense once again played well. There were three goals that I thought were the result of poor defense. All three were from slow switches and allowing the shooter too much time and space to shoot. Outside of those three the defense put on another smothering performance. They were fast, caused turnovers and blocked shots. Matt Vinc also put together another solid effort. He finished the game with 46 saves, I believe two in overtime and multiple big saves throughout the game. The defense and Vinc allowed the Bandits to stay in the game early and throughout the game. The offense fell asleep multiple times for long stretches of play, but the defense shut down Georgia in a similar fashion.
Instead of going over special teams, which performed quite well going 4-for-4 on the power play and 2-for-4 on the penalty kill, I am going to take this time to go over the challenge rule. I have done this before in a previous article, but there was a lot of confusion after this game so let’s go over it again (I will post the full rules down below). Long story short, if there is any stoppage of play the teams have a maximum of 35 seconds to challenge a play. If the play is ongoing, the teams must throw the flag within 25 seconds of the play in question. To me, this was just an unfortunate situation for the Bandits. I do not feel as if the referees did anything wrong. They had a scrum to deal with and focus on. The Bandits video board did not give the Bandits a clear replay review after the potential goal until it was too late. Byrne was also immediately pointing out that he thought it went in and wanted Johnny to throw the flag. I don’t blame Johnny for not throwing the flag sooner without being given a good review of the shot. I know a lot of fans were complaining about the call on the field not being called a goal. The shot went in and out of the net, off the crossbar so quickly, it would have been tough to notice it went in even with the referee watching the shot closely. The refs are human, as much as people want them to be flawless robots.
Normally I leave my thoughts about the referees and the calls for my breakdown down below, but with the number of complaints I saw and some ridiculous comments I will go a bit more in depth here. I thought the referees did a bad job in this game, but not for the same reasons most people thought they called a poor game. In my opinion the refs made two bad calls against the Bandits and two good calls. In general, you'd hope they would be better than 50 percent. My biggest issue with the refs was the inconsistency throughout the game on what was and what was not a penalty. Sometimes refs will call a game very tight, other times they will let everything go. If it is even for both teams, that’s all that matters to me. In this game both teams were given four power play opportunities, and the Bandits power play included a 5-minute major. Personally, I would have had the 5-minute majors the other way around. Early in the game Georgia hit Dhane Smith up high with a cross check that looked like a 5-minute major. The hit into the boards, again on Smith, that was called a 5-minute major I thought should have been reduced to a two. Like I said earlier, there were two bad calls against the Bandits. The first one was the body check against Dylan Robinson on a clean and well-timed hit. The second one was the “cross check” against Justin Martin on a play where he had one hand on the stick and the stick was vertical, very tough to call a cross check on that play. On the other hand, Nick Weiss punched a Georgia player in the face with no call. Chase Fraser hit Dobson below the belt with no call. Weiss had a bad cross check at the end of the game that he was lucky was not called. On the Byrne no goal play, Nanticoke gave a heavy hit from behind on a player while Fraser checked a player up high to the ground once again with no calls. Were there bad calls against the Bandits, yes. Were there calls that were missed that should have been called against the Bandits, yes. It was the same for Georgia. There were some calls against them that were questionable and some calls that were not made against them that should have been. In a playoff game like this, players need a clear direction of what is and is not being called and the referees did not give them that.
The Buffalo Bandits advance to face off against the Toronto Rock for the third straight year in a three-game set. The big difference this year is that Toronto has the home field advantage. However, Buffalo has been able to win in St. Catherines multiple times in a row and if they can do it again, they will have a chance to finish the series at home. This matchup will be a blood bath between two bitter rivals. I am nervous, excited, and cannot wait to get this series started.
Goaltender Breakdown
In this segment, I will breakdown how the goalies, offense and defense all performed on the goals in the game. How many were impressive goals, breakdowns in the defense or on the goalie.
Brett Dobson
Inside – 4
Mid-Range - 5
Outside – 1
*4 of the goals were on the penalty kill
Matt Vinc
Inside – 1
Mid-Range - 5
Outside – 3
*2 of the goals were on the penalty kill
1st goal – First shot, first goal. No one was out to challenge the shooter, but it snuck right through Vinc and I think he would want it back.
2nd goal – This was a good play by Georgia. It was a give and go and Kew was able to keep his feet outside the crease.
3rd goal – A slow switch by the Bandits defense allowed a shot to hit the post, hit Vinc and go in.
4th goal – An iffy pass by Priolo that was dropped by Smith leads to a quick transition opportunity for Georgia
5th goal – B. Bomberry allowed too much time and space and finished with a great shot over Vinc left shoulder, bar down.
6th goal - PP Goal – I am not sure how Kew snuck this through with the bodies in front.
7th goal - No one picked up Bomberry as he walks in and fires a great shot. There was confusion between Belter, MacKay and Martin.
8th goal - PP Goal – Kew simply with a great power play shot.
9th goal - This one was on Vinc. It was a quick shot, but it came from the outside and went between the legs of Vinc.
2/9 on Vinc
3/9 on the defense
Challenges by the Bandits – None
Referee Corner
Like many of the fans out there, I find myself often questioning what the refs are doing on the field. From no goals and players being ejected, to calls that simply do not make sense. In this segment, I will attempt to use the rulebook and my best judgement to understand some hot topics from the previous game.
Bandits – 4/4 on the PP
Georgia – 2/4 on the PP
Dylan Robinson – Body Checking - This was a weak call. Dylan used his hip to make good contact with the player and knock him down. There was nothing overly aggressive or illegal about this hit – bad call
Zach Belter – Holding – This was a tough one for Zach. It was a good play by I believe Thompson backing into Belter to force the issue. It may not have been a bad hold, but it was holding – good call
Justin Martin – Cross Checking – My co-host PK always wants the Bandits players to only have one hand on the stick when pushing a player, so they do not get called for cross checking. In this instance, that is exactly what Martin does. For a smaller player, while he is physical, a push should not make you fly off your feet. The Georgia player was either off-balance or selling the call well – bad call
Cam Wyers – Holding – A lot happened before this call. There was a loose ball take down against Byrne that was not called, and I feel like it should have been. However, Byrne also took the Georgia players stick with him, so we’ll call that even. Fraser scooped up that loose ball and rolled it right to Georgia on a fresh shot clock reset for no reason. He was not happy with himself. Now for the call itself, it was a hold. Another one where it wasn’t a brutal hold by Wyers and he attempted to drop his stick before the call, but he did hold him – good call
2/4 – good calls
As explained in detail above, I thought the referees had a rough game. They were all over the place with their calls. There were some calls that were bad calls and some calls that were badly missed. Nick Weiss punched a player in the head, and nothing was called. I thought the high sticking hit on Dhane by Georgia should have been a 5-minute major against Georgia. I thought the 5-minute major that was called for boarding later in the game should have been reduced to a 2-minute minor. It was a confusing game called by the refs.
The Challenge Rule by Definition (straight from the rule book) -
17.82 NUMBER OF CHALLENGES - Head Coach may challenge two (2) times per game with an opportunity up to a maximum of three (3) times per game in regulation time only. If the first or second challenge request is overturned by the official after the review (the challenge team loses the challenge), the team shall have a maximum of 2 challenges, in regulation time. The Head Coach gets one challenge in overtime, which is exclusive of the number of challenges that are used at any point in regulation time. The Crew Chief and Assistant Referees will initiate replay reviews with less than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter and in overtime. Should the official deem the play is close on an awarded goal or no-goal, the official will initiate replay review. Should a Head Coach use a challenge flag with less than two minutes in the fourth quarter or in overtime, the Head Coach will be charged with using a challenge, regardless whether the official initiates the replay review.
17.83 CHALLENGES AND TIMEOUTS - A timeout will 24 be charged to the team requesting the challenge who loses a challenge as deemed by the official’s review. A team that requests a challenge and does not have any timeouts remaining and loses a challenge shall be assessed a bench minor penalty, served by the in-home.
17.84 OFFICIALS’ MECHANICS - The game officials will determine a flag thrown by the Head Coach on the floor. The Shot Clock Official shall be the primary mechanic to determine a flag thrown by the Head Coach. The Shot Clock Official and/or Assistant Referee shall notify the Crew Chief immediately upon seeing a flag/challenge during any stoppage of play. The officials shall stop play as per below during play-on situations. In a three man on floor mechanic, should the lead official and single side official have a discrepancy in goal/non goal calls on a play, the Crew Chief will automatically review the play at any point in the game. A team is not charged a challenge in this situation. Upon review by the Crew Chief, if the review is deemed inconclusive the original call by the lead official will stand.
17.85 ALL GAME STOPPAGES - Clubs shall have a maximum of thirty-five (35) seconds to challenge a play should the play in question occur at the expiry of a period, any called timeout, injury stoppage, or equipment repair, or any other stoppage permitted by the officials. The thirty-five seconds will begin once play is stopped, e.g., a whistle indicating a goal scored. Officials shall use the extended replay mechanic to determine the consistency and quality of replays being shown after awarded goals per the League Casebook.
17.86 PLAY-ON SITUATIONS - During play-on game situations when a challenge flag has been thrown, the officials shall stop play once the challenging team gains possession, or any stoppage of play, or when the nonchallenging team is in possession and has no immediate scoring opportunity, whichever occurs first. The challenging club must throw the flag within twenty-five seconds of the play being challenged.