Buffalo Bandits at Toronto Rock
Whoever writes the NLL schedule did not make us wait long for an Eastern Conference Finals rematch. The Buffalo Bandits will take on the Toronto Rock in Ontario this Saturday. This may only be the second game of the season but it will be a massive one, for many reasons.
The Rock started the season in a full sprint beating the Vancouver Warriors 19-8. Last weekend they tripped up and fell to the Rochester Knighthawks 7-11. The Knighthawks may be a better team than we expected but we will discuss that more in the future. Toronto is an incredibly talented team across the board. Their offense has gotten a boost from two offseason acquisitions in Corey Small (4g, 4a) and Stephen Keogh (5g, 2a). They lost long time players in Rob Hellyer and Reid Reinholdt but through two games, the team has not skipped a beat. Challen Rogers and Tom Schreiber will continue to be a handful for the Bandits to control on offense as well. Their defense is once again led by Mitch De Snoo, Latrell Harris, Brad Kri, and TD Ierlan. This team is built from the back out and that starts with long time goalie Nick Rose. Both their defense and goalie are always a nightmare to get past.
The Buffalo Bandits opened their season with a loss to the Albany Firewolves 10-11. I, like many others, did not see the Bandits losing their first game of the year. The Bandits offense struggled mightily to find quality scoring chances. Outside of Tehoka Nanticoke, the team was at a loss to find ways to the crease. Part of this comes from a few new pieces on the offensive side of the floor and being down one, eventually two, pieces of that offense. However, that is not a great excuse for a former MVP in Dhane Smith and 100 plus point player in Josh Byrne not to find a way. On the defensive side, there were positives and negatives. The defense played quite well given the new pieces they were also dealing with. Carter McKenzie, Dylan Robinson, and Kellen LeClair all used their size to their advantage and it was noticeable. The biggest thing the defense was missing was Steve Priolo. Not only is he an incredible defender but he is the captain of the team and especially that defense. The defense, at times, looked confused and out of sorts. That is where Priolo, who is expected back this game, will play a big part. I am excited to see what the defense looks like with his communication keeping them organized. Matt Vinc will be the first one to tell you he did not play his best last game but he does not often have rough back-to-back games. I am not worried about the former goalie of the year having a big bounce back game.
The most concerning part of the game against Albany came on the offensive side of the floor. The Rock will not make it any easier on the offense. The best part of playing one game and having a bye is the opportunity to make adjustments. I am very interested to see if any changes have been made to the offensive strategy. This team has too much talent on offense not to be able to cause more confusion and open more lanes than they did in game one. The other aspect of the offense that needs to change is the transition game. The transition game is too slow and needs to be higher paced. It does not need to happen on every play but this team rarely tries to get a fast break. At the same time, there is not enough urgency from the defense to get off the field and get the offense on.
Being on the road for the first matchup against Toronto will not be easy. Both teams are coming off losses they would like to avenge. Not to mention we all know what happened in the playoffs last season. The Bandits need to get their season back on track and this game is a catch 22. On one side it would be a massive early season win and get them right back in the driver seat. Being able to knock the Rock down to an early 1-2 record would be huge. On the other side, this game will be very tough. Going against Toronto in their building, coming off a loss, with what happened in playoffs last year, I can easily see this game getting very physical and chippy. As we learned in week one, nothing about this league is easy, but this will be a tough one.