NLL Finals - Bandits v Firewolves
Well, after a long 12 days of waiting, the NLL Finals between the Albany Firewolves and Buffalo Bandits kick off Friday night in the state’s capital. If you had taken a poll before the season started on who people thought would be in the finals, I’m sure many would have listed the Bandits as one of the 2 teams. They are the defending champs. Had been to 3 straight finals. Have the greatest goalie of all time in Matt Vinc. Stars of the league like Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne. Led on the bench by one of the greatest players of all time in John Tavares. It was an easy pick. But their opponent? No one had Albany making it this far and if you claim you did, I’m claiming you to be a liar. Even their Coach/GM Glenn Clark, fresh off his awards, said his team is further ahead than they thought they’d ever be this year. Coming off a 3-15 season last year and into the NLL Finals is an unheard of turn around. With the likes of Doug Jamieson between the pipes and dynamic rookies Alex Simmons and Tye Kurtz, they made the impossible, possible. People are calling it a David vs Goliath matchup and while I can see why that has been making its rounds, these teams are very similar in many ways which makes for an electric matchup.
Both teams finished the regular season 11-7 and are perfect through the playoffs. Buffalo comes in averaging 10.67 goals a game through the playoffs while Albany sits at 12. The Bandits defense and goaltending has been their backbone in the 3 games giving up just 7 a game while the Firewolves are averaging 8.33 a game. Albany was able to knock out Halifax in round one and complete the sweep of San Diego in the semifinals on their way to the finals. Buffalo took out Georgia in OT in round one and completed yet another sweep of Toronto to make their 4th straight finals appearance.
Albany seems to have had Buffalos number the last 2 seasons including winning both of the matchups this year. Simmons, Kurtz and Ethan Walker are the main pieces on offense and each had fantastic games vs the Bandits this year. Kurtz went 8/4/12 including a sock trick in February. Walker was 3/8/11 and is the QB of the offense and the motor that runs their car. Simmons led the way going 6/8/14 in the 2 games as the Bandits have yet to figure him out. As you look at the playoffs it’s a similar story with those 3 leading the way and are all in the top 7 in scoring with Simmons and Kurtz leading the pack. Between the pipes is the 2020 goalie of the year having one of his best seasons as a pro in Jamieson. After allowing just 3 against Halifax, he continued the winning ways making 130 saves which is good for an 84SV% and an 8.34 GAA. You will never see Dougie get to high or too low in net and that calmness spreads outward into his fantastic defense which play a unique style unlike many around the league. The deadline addition of John Wagner has done wonders for the team and he was been their best player out the back end through the playoffs.
As for Buffalo, they are trying to finally figure out a team that has given them issues for 2 years. But as we have said on our show for the last 2 weeks, this is a different team than the first 2 matchups in the regular season. Connor Farrell, Paul Dawson and Adam Bomberry go in. You get a more experienced Zach Belter and Cam Wyers. Brandon Robinson will be available for the lefties. Oh and a guy named Matt Vinc will be in the crease after missing the game in February. Pair all that with a team that has won 7 straight and 9 of their last 10 and you get a winning formula. There are a lot of reasons the Bandits are back in the finals once again. The star studded offense that led the league in the regular season. The goaltending which has been its best the back end of the season. The younger players taking on bigger roles throughout the season which has paid massive dividends in the playoffs. The team finally getting healthy right in time for the stretch run. But for me, the biggest reason has been the deadline addition of one Paul Dawson. I have admitted and will admit again, I was puzzled by the move. I knew they needed to add a defender but thought there were other, better options available. I couldn’t have been more wrong. He has completely changed the defense and turned it into a blocked shots machine. In the 13 games before Dawson arrived, the team had blocked 74 shots or 6.17 a game. Only twice did they block 10. In the 9 games with him in the lineup, they have blocked 97 shots good for 10.78 a game and in 7 of those 9 have blocked 10 or more. To take it a step further, the team was allowing 12.75 goals a game before the trade and that has dropped to 8.89 since his addition into the lineup. Dawson has completely shifted the defense into what we see now which has been the best in the league.
Game 1 Prediction: Buffalo 11 – Albany 9
Game 2 Prediction: Buffalo 12 – Albany 8
There are a lot of similarities between Albany and Buffalo if we are being honest. Loaded offense with talent all over. Stout defense that can get out in transition. Goalies in net playing their best in the playoffs. Albany has had an unbelievable season. I doubted them, but the more of their game I watched, the more I understood that they are legit. They are a young group that is ahead of their timeline and don’t care about anything other than winning. They could win this finals and cap off a story book season. I would not be completely shocked if that happened. I just don’t believe it is their time yet. The Firewolves are just starting their run and will be a threat for the title for years to come. I just truly believe this is the Bandits time. JT, Vinc, Smith, Byrne, Dawson, Steve Priolo and all the other players are not going to left this opportunity go to the way side to do something special. If they are able to pull this out, and claim their 6th title, the dynasty run will be talked about for the rest of history. But another finals loss and the team will be talked about like the Buffalo Bills of the 90’s. An incredible team that wasn’t able to get the job done enough. But these Bandits are not like those Bills teams. The team got the monkey off their back last year and now it’s time to stack the titles. They felt the defeat vs the Mammoth on their home floor in 2022. They felt the power of Banditland last year winning on their home floor. They have a chance to do it once more this weekend and that’s exactly what I feel they will do.