A rendition of “Hey Baby” by DJ Otzi rings out from the Buffalo Bandits locker room, echoing through the halls of Blue Cross Arena in Rochester.
As soon as the singing dies down, out of the locker room steps Dhane Smith, the 12-year NLL veteran, smiling ear-to-ear, still wearing his signature leg sleeve on his left leg.
Following an 11-point performance that included eight assists in the Bandits’ 15-7 win over the Rochester Knighthawks on Saturday, it’s safe to say that the Great Dhane has picked up where he left off last season. The eight assists from Smith moved him up to ninth on the NLL’s all-time list, moving past former Bandit Shawn Williams.
“Dhane is a great athlete, and he can create his own opportunities, so teams have to respect that,” head coach John Tavares said. “People try to double him. He has great vision and makes some great passes across the floor, and eight assists is a great night. He just sees the floor so well.”
After just one game, Smith ranks third in the league in assists and sixth in points despite six teams having already played two games.
Smith is familiar with greatness, and in terms of the NLL, he is the measuring stick.
He owns the first three spots for most assists in a season with 101 (2024), 96 (2023), and 94 (2022), the latter total being nine assists higher than the next-best season. Points-wise, four of the top six seasons belong to Smith. And before Smith was dishing the rock, he was punishing goalies, also having the most goals in a season (72) in 2016.
“It’s nice to have a guy that can find anyone. Whether it’s myself or guys across the floor, he can find us and he can also go to the net,” Kyle Buchanan said. “He’s probably a triple threat that can go back and play defense and drop in transition too. So, obviously a superstar in the league and he keeps getting better every year.”
When Dhane gets triple-teamed, he can dish it up! 🍽️#LetsGoBandits pic.twitter.com/YH4OqNmytz
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) December 8, 2024
While Smith’s main ability on Saturday was finding open teammates in space, he scored two consecutive crucial goals in two different ways in the second quarter to extend the Bandits’ lead to 4-1 before halftime.
The first goal saw Smith dodge from the left side of the top of the box and rip a high-to-low bounce shot in front of his defender’s face, bouncing the ball past Rochester goalie Riley Hutchcraft’s outstretched leg.
On the second goal, Smith took the ball on the opposite side of the top of the offensive zone, stepped into the shot, and zipped a sidearm shot off the right post and in.
The craziest thing about Smith’s latter goal wasn’t where he took the shot from, but the fact that he wasn’t even supposed to be in the game.
“It’s funny because we usually go three lefts in that corner and MacKay was tired, so he was like, ‘Dhane, you have to go this shift,’” Smith said. “I usually wouldn’t go at that time and luckily, I got the ball and was able to pick a corner.”
Then, in the third quarter when the Knighthawks took their first lead of the game, 5-4, Smith mobilized the Bandits, sparking three goals, all of which Smith assisted on, taking a 7-6 lead into the final quarter.
“We just needed to take that next step,” Smith said. “We needed to make sure we stopped the run, and offensively that next shift was huge for us as well to try to get the next goal.”
The offense didn’t stop there for Buffalo or Smith.
In an eight-goal fourth quarter for Buffalo, he recorded a goal and five assists in a 9:06 span, giving him two more points in that time than any Rochester player had all game.
“Yeah, I just understand that sometimes I’m going to get double teamed and sometimes I’m not,” Smith said. “I just have to make sure to be a smart player and kind of think where my feet are and make sure my stick’s up at all times because we have so many great goalscorers on our team, and I try to make everybody better and they make me better too.”
So, after 12 years of record-breaking lacrosse and Smith’s production showing no signs of dying down, fans can be glad that he’s only on year two of a five-year contract signed last season. Buchanan sure is.
“It’s nice to have him on our side.”
WE’RE SO BACK‼️#LetsGoBandits | @dhanesmith92 pic.twitter.com/thIFaJSbQr
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) December 7, 2024