The Buffalo Bandits dynasty wasn’t built in a day, but you can point to a moment when the notion that it could happen was realized.
Sitting within the confines of the Scotiabank Saddledome, fresh off a series-ending 14-13 OT loss in the 2019 NLL Finals to the Calgary Roughnecks, then second-year player Josh Byrne vocalized his thoughts to the rest of the locker room.
“We have a pretty damn good group here,” Byrne said. “As long as we continue to work hard and push each other and play the right brand of lacrosse we’re going to have a chance to contend for titles.”
As the future NLL MVP had theorized, 2019 wouldn’t be their last NLL Finals appearance. The Bandits then made three consecutive finals appearances in 2022, 2023 and 2024, winning the past two years with Byrne earning Finals MVP in 2024.
Now with the 2024-25 NLL season beginning, the Bandits’ chase for a third straight title kicks off Saturday at 7 p.m. against Rochester.
- 2024-25 Need to Know: Tickets | Schedule | Theme Nights
“The goal is the championship every year. So, whether it’s back-to-back, three-peat, it doesn’t really matter. The goal is to try and get to the championship,” Paul Dawson said. “But again, you have to take little steps before you get to the big steps. So, it’s kind of one game, one week at a time. But if you ask the other 13 teams in this league, everyone wants to win a championship.”
Byrne has been a crucial part of the team’s offense since joining the Bandits in 2017. He has registered 90 or more points the last three seasons and won NLL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year after notching a career-high 135 points (53+82) in 2024.
Taking on a leadership role on an already experienced team, Byrne understands what it’s going to take to win the championship.
“We’re not going to win three championships in one day. So, we’re not too worried about the whole three-peat thing,” Byrne said. “It’s a new season, and there’s going to be some ups and downs to it, and you have to make sure that you ride that roller coaster and understand what’s been successful in the past and keep building on that to try and continue to get better.”
Even if the Bandits haven’t proven anything yet this season, opponents have it out for Buffalo, wanting to dethrone the two-time defending NLL champions.
Dawson, a 19-year NLL veteran and three-time champion, has been in the league long enough to know a thing or two about how to survive.
“I think you just embrace it. It’s kind of like the old saying, ‘Pressure makes diamonds,’” Dawson said. “… When you’re on top of the league, you have to know there’s a target on your back, but you have to embrace it. So, it kind of makes you come to the rink, train harder, play harder.”
Knowing the culture of the NLL is crucial to being successful, which is why it’s helpful for the Bandits to have two of the greatest players in NLL history on their staff in head coach John Tavares and assistant coach and general manager Steve Dietrich.
Both Tavares and Dietrich have been involved in the league since 1992, whether as a player or as a coach. They have combined to win four MVPs and five NLL Championships in their playing days and are now working to add more hardware to the Bandits’ trophy cabinet.
Between the two of them, they have a vast wealth of knowledge on how to construct a successful team and what it takes to win a title.
“When you’re winning, it’s easier to keep guys together,” Tavares said. “Steve Dietrich has, one, done a great job of building the team to what it is. Two, keeping the guys together, yet, making those minor changes from year to year to bring some new energy every year, and we have the core of the guys coming back again.”
Ten of the 21 players on the 2024-25 roster were on the team during the championship loss in 2019. Core pieces of the back-to-back championship teams like Byrne, Matt Vinc, Dhane Smith and Steve Priolo give the roster continuity that a lot of teams in the league don’t have.
“You have some insanely talented guys that can all be number one guys on any other team, but they understand what we have here is special,” Byrne said. “We know that as a group that if we play well together and we let the ball do the work and we trust each other and we don’t have a big ego when you’re playing a game, that good things are going to happen and we’re going to be able to stack up championships.”
Hey Banditland, meet your 2024-25 Buffalo Bandits! 🔥
More info here: https://t.co/15WzUpGpvq pic.twitter.com/uMAC82Ppki
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) November 25, 2024
Last season in March, Dietrich added two proven players to the Bandits roster that will continue to make an impact this season.
On March 6, the team traded for the grizzled Dawson from the Colorado Mammoth and six days later signed two-time PLL All-Star faceoff specialist and NLL newbie Connor Farrell to a two-year deal. It didn’t take long for them to realize how tight knit the team is.
“I knew by just watching games that this locker room was tight. So, I was a little nervous coming in, didn’t know what to expect, but they welcomed me with open arms, and I love every single one of them like a brother,” Farrell said. “I’ve been on a lot of teams; I’ve never been on a team that’s as close as us.”
Dawson, who has been on eight teams, including both iterations of the Rochester NLL teams, recognized the sense of family that the team had within the few months he’s been a member of Banditland.
“I think it’s just kind of the sense of family. You have a bunch of guys who have picked up and moved to Buffalo and they made Buffalo their home and you kind of bring that sense of home into the locker room,” Dawson said.
The 39-year-old NLL veteran is among the oldest players in the league alongside Vinc. Both Dawson and Vinc returning for another year in a sport that is punishing on the body is not an easy decision, but fortunately for them, love makes the decision easier.
Love from their families and love from the 18,000-plus fans in KeyBank Center chanting their names when they make a big play.
“It’s one of those things where it’s special in Buffalo,” Vinc said. “It’s special to play so close to my home and have my family be able to come and watch the game and be a part of Banditland. It’s those memories that you’ll never be able to take away from me is having those special nights, especially here in Buffalo.”
With two away games on tap before the Bandits celebrate banner night at home on Dec. 28, they’ll try to keep it simple and win each week, taking it one game at a time.
“We’re excited to get things going and to start chasing a championship, that’s for sure,” Byrne said.