Woah, We’re Half Way There
The Buffalo Bandits are halfway through their season. They are currently sitting first place in the East division at 7-2. For a team that has dealt with a few serious injuries to their offense I don’t think you could have asked for a better start. The offense has had more depth than we have seen in previous years with goals coming from a large variety of players. The defense is continuing to look stronger as it finds better chemistry with each game that is played. Outside of the first game of the season, Matt Vinc has had another incredible start to a season.
It seems I always start these breakdowns on the offensive side of the ball, so why stop now. The offense has been the biggest surprise to start the season. In the offseason, we saw the departure of Conner Fields. The Bandits lost Chase Fraser to injury before the season began and lost Chris Cloutier just two games into the year. Both Fraser and Cloutier are expected back at some point but so far, they have missed a combined sixteen games. The Bandits went into this season with a slightly different philosophy on offense and due to these injuries, it has really had to take shape quickly. During the championship series last year the Bandits were lacking variety in ways to score. The transition game was okay at best and the offense was kept to the outside far too easily. This season that has changed.
The biggest addition to the offense, both physically and metaphorically, has been Brandon Robinson. Robinson is 6’3, 200 pounds and was brought in to create lanes for the Bandits offense. He has done that and much more. Coming into this season, Robinson had scored a combined 9 goals and 11 assists in seventeen career games. This season, in nine games he has 13 goals and 8 assists for 21 points. However, that is not what he was brought in to do. Robinson has found a way to be a force on offense. He is creating lanes for players like Josh Byrne and scooping up loose balls with ease for second chance opportunities. The season is only halfway through but so far, Robinson seems to be the piece the Bandits offense was missing during the championship series.
As great as the Bandits depth on offense has been this year with players like Ian MacKay (11g, 10a) in transition, Kyle Buchanan (11g, 25a) quickly turning into an ageless wonder and Tehoka Nanticoke (18g, 14a) having a solid yet unlucky sophomore season, there are still two alphas that this team runs through. The deadly duo Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne are at it again. Last season, Smith won MVP while Byrne finished seventh in the league in scoring and just one point shy of 100. This season has been no different. Smith is once again putting together an MVP type season leading the league in assists by 18 with 53 and points by 11 with 72. Both of those numbers are on pace to break his own single season record. Byrne, who missed a game and a half, still sits fourth in the league in points with 51 and second in the league in goals with 25. When these two players are healthy, on top of the depth the Bandits are seeing this season, the offense is very hard to stop.
The Bandits defense is a good mix of new and old. I do not think the defense has one main player that has stepped up. Instead, they have multiple across the board. Steve Priolo, outside of finding himself in a bit of penalty trouble this year, is off to another great start. Has the 34-year-old captain lost a step, maybe, but if he has it has been a half step at best. Nick Weiss is having arguably the best season of his career leading the team in caused turnovers with 16 while pitching in 68 loose balls and 14 points. Ian MacKay has been the team’s most complete player of the young season. MacKay has had a much larger roll on offense with the variety of lefty injuries the Bandits have gone through. On top of that, he has continued to play a high level of defense and transition. MacKay leads the team in loose balls with 69, second in caused turnovers with 11, and has tied his single season career high with 11 goals, only nine games into the season. The offense may have a deadly duo but the defense has created a three-headed monster.
The defensive depth has been another surprise this season. The Bandits defense is always known to be one of the better units in the league. The team has a great blend of transition defensive players and stay at home defenders. New to the team this year Kellen LeClair, Adam Bomberry, and rookie Dylan Robinson have had a positive impact early in the year. Adam Bomberry has only played in three games since being traded to the team and already has four caused turnovers. In eight games, LeClair has had six caused turnovers and has been a solid stay at home defender. Rookie Dylan Robinson has 9 caused turnovers, 37 loose balls and adds an element of speed on transition when leaving the zone. The veteran depth of Matt Spanger, Ethan O’Connor, Bryce Sweeting, and Justin Martin have also performed well.
Matt Vinc is simply doing what Matt Vinc does best, play goalie in the NLL. Through nine games he has a .800 save percentage while facing the most shots in the league. Vinc has made 380 saves. The next closest is Christian Del Bianco with 335. An extra 45 saves is the equivalent of playing an extra game compared to the rest of the league. He currently is sitting sixth in the league with a 10.40 goals against average. Could that number be a little better, sure, but it is a solid number especially given the amount of saves he has on the year. I simply do not think the Bandits would be the team they are without Vinc between the pipes.
Do I believe the 2022 – 2023 Buffalo Bandits can make it to the championship series? Yes. Through nine games, I don’t think that the Bandits have given us a reason to believe otherwise. The offense is currently second in the league with 122 goals for despite missing a few key players. The defense has continued to look better each game. Matt Vinc does not look like he has lost a step since winning goalie of the year last season. Are there other teams in the East that will make this journey difficult? Of course there are. The Toronto Rock look as evenly matched against the Bandits as they did last season. The Halifax Thunderbirds, despite slipping a little in the standings, can compete with any team especially come playoffs. The Rochester Knighthawks have been a big surprise this season and will not go lightly in crunch time. The Bandits will have tough competition on their road to the championship series. However, at the halfway point in the season, it looks like they have the roster to get them there.