On Fridays and Saturdays at KeyBank Center, you’re likely to see Kyle Buchanan buzzing around the offensive zone, tiring out defenders and trying to get himself open.
The other five days of the week, Buchanan is busy with his full-time job – fatherhood.
The Bandits’ forward has two daughters. He chases them around and even practices his dance moves alongside his seven-year-old, a competitive dancer.
Buchanan caught up with Bandits.com last week to discuss being a girl dad, as well as playing lacrosse on the West Coast and at Robert Morris University alongside current teammate Kiel Matisz.
It’s your 12th season in the NLL, but you’re still one of the fastest players on the field. What’s been the key to keeping up your fitness throughout your career?
I don’t think (my role) has really changed my whole life, so it wasn’t a new thing for me to be small when I came to the NLL. It’s just who I am, and my game has been built around that: causing some havoc and anticipating plays and beating guys to balls and things like that. So, as I get older, I just try and play the same way. Practice our game, just buzz around, play around, and keep up that pace so that when I come to a game, it’s not a shock. Doing some running and chasing around two little girls doesn’t hurt either. It’s kind of just how I play and who I am, so I’ve been fortunate to be able to keep up the same pace.
You’re one of the best players in the NLL from the X spot (behind the goal). What do you credit that to?
Again, I think being a smaller player, it has made me try and find ways to be creative or to get open. I can’t pull a guy over or push a guy away like maybe Tehoka (Nanticoke) or Chase (Fraser) could, so I tried to get creative and go behind the net. When dunks came into play in the NLL, which is a few years back now, it’s kind of an opportunity there and people didn’t really know how to defend it, and now defenses are getting better at that. Something I try to do is go to the opposite side of the floor, where the lefties normally are, and try and get open over there. So, it’s just about being creative and sort of rounding out your game and being able to score in different ways. Again, just trying to work with guys, see what works and see what doesn’t, and to try to implement those into my game.
You were drafted to the Washington Stealth and lived in-market for a year, and then you were in San Diego. What was it like playing lacrosse on the West Coast?
It was awesome in my rookie year. It was cool. I lived with a couple of guys out there around the city, so it’s nice to get a feel for the organization and how the league works from that standpoint of being in-market and working with local lacrosse players. The game in Seattle at the time was growing. We had a pretty decent crowd there in Everett. It was cool to be part of that as a younger guy. And then if I look at San Diego when I was a bit older, I was sort of brought in to run that part of it and run the school program and push the game in the market. And they’re growing, and their fan base is growing like crazy. The West Coast, especially because they can play more year-round than some other places, I think it’s going to do nothing but grow. So, it was really exciting to be in both of those places. They’re very different from each other, Northwest versus Southwest, but similar experiences for sure, where people love the game, and it continues to grow.
Behind the back MAGIC from Kyle Buchanan! 🪄#LetsGoBandits | @KyleBuchanan9 pic.twitter.com/PAgWm3Z4pI
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) February 23, 2025
You’ve played for a few different teams. What makes Buffalo different from other established NLL franchises?
Well, I just find in Buffalo, when you’re a part of the community and you’re doing something in the right way and for the right reasons, people get behind you and support you. I think when the Bandits came in for the first time, they were champions and a really good squad, and it was easy to get behind them. I think over the years and with the ownership, being linked from the Bills, the Sabres to the Bandits, we’ve been really visible in the community, trying to give back, trying to do a lot for charities or meet-and-greets with the fans and stuff like that. So, I think our accessibility as players in the Buffalo community has really got people behind us. We see it every single game, but it’s just the people of Buffalo, I think they get behind it, and then it’s easy as a player to feel like you want to give back to them as well. So I think it’s on both sides that we can mesh and gel and continue to grow it. I know people that come to a game in Buffalo and that’s the only place they want to go to games in the future, so it continues to add to the crowd, and the fans do a great job of including people around them in the games. I know family and friends have come and they’re getting yelled at for sitting down during the play, so just a cool culture, cool atmosphere. Again, the people of Buffalo seem to bring that everywhere they go, whether it’s in sports or anything.
You went to Robert Morris University for college. Being from Canada, what went into that decision to go to an American university for lacrosse versus playing juniors or playing in Canada?
I’m from Ottawa. I’m primarily from a hockey family and my cousins actually had gone to the NCAA for hockey, so that was my original path that I wanted to follow. I had a few offers to do Division I hockey and lacrosse, and I was debating what I wanted to do, and then there were only a couple of people that I knew that took that route from Ottawa at the time. A few of those people were like my family, so when I was able to get a Division I offer in lacrosse, I thought, you know, that’s the top level, that’s probably where I want to continue my career in lacrosse. So, going to the U.S. was never in doubt. I knew I wanted to do that from an early age. I think just the experience of getting away from home allows you to improve your game. You’re practicing and playing six, seven days a week, and you don’t necessarily get that when you play university sports in Canada, so I just knew that was my next step.
Now that the trade deadline has passed and you’ve had a few games with him, how exciting is it to play with your old college teammate Kiel Matisz? And to not have to see him on the other sideline anymore?
We played together in the summertime, won a national championship together a handful of years ago now. He’s one of my best buddies. We were at each other’s weddings, and it’s always nice when you get a familiar face around with you. He’s such a good guy. He’s just a calming presence in the locker room. He’s kind of a gentle giant, right? He’s 6-foot-5 and I don’t know how much he weighs, but he’s a big fella, and [he bolsters] our defense with not only his demeanor in the dressing room, but on the floor as well. He’s calm with the ball and can play both sides of the ball, offense and defense. A really nice addition to our team, and obviously, it’s nice having one of your best buddies on the squad as well.
What about the Bandits allows two new players to fit in so seamlessly?
We have a really tight core group, and it probably is a bit intimidating coming in, but we also have a really fun group, so we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We’re light in practice and shootaround, and stuff like that. The coaching staff has a great relationship with most of the guys, and so I think that creates a pretty open culture when you do get in there. Then, when it’s time to strap up, we’re just as good, if not better than everybody else. So, I think, coming into our group at first can be intimidating because we’ve had some success in the last little while, but at the same time, our top guys are the most welcoming ones in the dressing room, and that goes a long way. So, we’re all here for the same reason, and lacrosse is a small world where we all know someone, that whole six degrees of separation. We all know someone who knows someone. So, a lot of good guys in this game, and it’s just about welcoming them and showing them what we want to do and what our goals are in Buffalo.
You’re a dad to two girls. What’s been your favorite part of fatherhood?
Well, I come from three boys. I have so many boys in my family, a lot of athletes. I always wanted to have a daughter, and now I’m lucky enough to have two of them. I’m so fortunate to be able to share the experience of playing with them and then have them understand; it’s not like they’re one year old. They’re four and seven, and they really understand what it means to me to be on the floor and living my dream. And the guys support my girls so much too, and are so welcoming to them – sign autographs for them, take pictures with them, all that stuff. I’m just proud to watch them grow up, too, and follow what they want to do. My oldest is a competitive dancer now and super passionate about that. I tried to force her in a little with lacrosse and hockey, but she’s doing dance right now, and then my youngest is getting on the sports stuff with lacrosse and hockey as well. So, it’s just cool to see what they like to get into, and they’re so different from each other. Again, I’m just fortunate that I’m an hour from home and I get to experience some of my joys when I was a child with them when they come to games.
Do you practice dance routines with her?
I’m not going to lie, I was in a hip-hop dance class with her a few weeks ago, and I had to do it with my four-year-old. So, yeah, I do a little bit at home behind closed doors.
What’s one food you couldn’t live without?
Steak is probably my favorite. I’m a big breakfast guy too, though. That’s a tough one, but I guess I could include steak in my breakfast as well.
Breakfast before a game: What does that look like for you?
Well, we have a pretty good setup in Buffalo. We have the chefs there every morning for us, pregame. So, for me, I go scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, and then usually a juice, coffee, and water. That’s my pregame breakfast in Buffalo.
It’s that time of year for college basketball. Who’s winning your bracket in March Madness?
I did fill out a bracket this morning. I think my final is Florida-Duke, and I think I went with Florida. Cheering for Cooper Flagg, but I just thought I’d go against the grain a bit, so I picked Florida.