The Banner is Raised and the Season has Begun
The Buffalo Bandits started their third straight title defense with a 15 to 11 victory over the Georgia Swarm. This is the first season in a long time when the team looks a bit different. The Bandits are dealing with the losses of Chase Fraser, Chris Cloutier and Justin Martin. Two key pieces of their offense and one of their unsung heroes on defense. To cover those losses, they brought in a few familiar faces in Ryan Benesch and Mitch DeSnoo to go along with Mike Triolo who was a healthy scratch in game one. The roster may look a bit different, but the goal remains the same.
As I just mentioned, the offense looks a bit different this year for the first time in a long time. I think we will see a bit of a fresh look this season. There really is no way to replace the flash of Fraser or the reliability of Cloutier. However, Benesch was able to put up 66 points including 27 goals last season. In game one, he had one goal and one assist, it’s not a lot, but it’s a good start to the season. On the right side of the offense Tehoka Nanticoke (2g, 1a) will have to step up to replace some of the production lost from Fraser. The Bandits are also looking for a big season from young gun Lucas Nielsen (0g, 1a) and maybe some lane setting from Mike Triolo (healthy scratch). In game one, the biggest thing I noticed was Dhane Smith (4g, 4a) putting on his goal scoring hat a little more often. It’s tough to ask Dhane to step up any more than he already does, but we may see a few less assists and a few more goals this season. With Smith breaking his own NLL assist record on a yearly basis, it’s hard to remember that he holds the single season record for most goals scored in a season. If he needs to score a bit more, he can do it. His counterpart Josh Byrne (2g, 4a) also got off to a hot start to the season. Not that long ago, Byrne went down with a knee injury in the summer lacrosse finals. He showed no signs of it lingering into the start of the regular season with multiple diving shots throughout the game. I wasn’t overly impressed with the offense in game one. I think it will take some time for the new pieces to gel together before we really see them take off. Twelve offensive goals is still a solid performance to start the season.
The defense took arguably the biggest off-season hit with the retirement of Justin Martin. Martin was a player who rarely put up big numbers, but when he was on the field, the opponents' number one weapon didn’t put up big numbers either. One of the best shut down defenders in the game is tough to replace. However, bringing in Mitch DeSnoo, a top 5 defender in the league, helps soften the blow. DeSnoo was the BSC player of the week finishing game one with one goal, one assist, ten loose balls, two caused turnovers, three blocked shots, and a partridge in a pear tree. I’m sure DeSnoo was staying in great shape but with his contract dispute in Philadelphia and the trade to the Bandits taking place just a few days ago, he came into this game with no pre-season or training camp. He had an incredible game one, but I think you can expect him to be even better as the season goes on. The rest of the defense looks the same as last year. Nick Weiss started his season strong with three assists, ten loose balls, one caused turnover and two blocked shots. Steve Priolo and Cam Wyers added two caused turnovers each while Paul Dawson had two blocked shots. On three of the Georgia Swarm goals, Dawson was a bit slow to a player or lost his man all together. It is only game one so there’s no reason to overreact. However, with Zach Belter and Kiel Matisz both out due to injury, there is plenty of defensive depth if the Bandits need to push Dawson to a rotational role. Dawson means a lot to this team as a veteran defenseman, but he is 40 years old and on the wrong side of his career. It may take him a few games to get up to speed. Hopefully this was an outlier performance and not the start to a pattern. Matt Vinc looked shaky to start this game. There were three outside shots by Jackson that he would typically save. Like Dawson, I will give Vinc a game one pass. It will take time to settle back into full game speed. In the second half, Vinc and the defense allowed just two goals in the final 29-minutes of play. That’s the kind of performance we were expecting to see. I don’t often bring up the transition game, but it looked like DeSnoo, Weiss and Priolo were more than willing to push the pace of play from the defense, and it resulted in multiple transition goals. Hopefully this is something we continue to see throughout the year to help soften the blow of the losses of Fraser and Cloutier on offense.
The Bandits special teams was one of the big story lines headed into this season. On defense, the penalty kill is known for standing in the crease and blocking shots. The Bandits will be forced to change their strategy after an off-season rule change. Players can no longer block a shot while having any part of their feet touching the crease. This applies to regular game play as well, but for the Bandits, it is most prevalent on their penalty kill. In game one, the Swarm had five powerplay opportunities. The Bandits were able to kill four of those five chances. The one goal they did allow may be their biggest weakness on the penalty kill which is a quick stick shot from the side of the net. With the players being forced to stay at the top of the crease, it allows the player on the side of the net more space to catch a pass and forces Vinc to make those saves. Last year, a player would be on the post sealing off that type of opportunity. It is something to keep an eye on throughout the season. As for the Bandits powerplay, it is off to a rough start. They went 1-for-3 on the powerplay, including zero goals on a 5-minute major against Brett Dobson. Dobson had to go to the penalty box and the Bandits could not get any shots past backup Delvin Shanahan. On the positive side, they did hit a lot of posts during their opportunities and much like the offense, it will take some time for the new look powerplay to find its rhythm.
The Bandits started their title defense in convincing fashion. It may have taken the first half for the team to settle in, but they picked it up in the second half outscoring Georgia 7 to 3. There is plenty the Bandits can improve upon after the first game of the season. For now, they are 3-0 on banner raising nights and escaped the game with no new injuries. You can’t ask for a better start to the new season. Welcome to the chase for four.
Goaltender Breakdown
In this segment, I will breakdown how the goalies, offense and defense all performed on the goals in the game. How many were impressive goals, breakdowns in the defense or on the goalie.
Brett Dobson
Inside – 8
Mid-Range - 6
Outside – 0
Transition - 4
*1 goal was on the penalty kill
*1 goal scored on back-up goalie Shanahan
*1 empty net goal
Matt Vinc
Inside – 8
Mid-Range - 0
Outside – 3
Transition - 3
*1 goal was on the penalty kill
Goal 1 – Pretty good defense, outside shot that sneaks past Vinc, likely one he wants to have (V)
Goal 2 – Very similar to the first goal, good shots shooting around a screen but still one Vinc should save (V)
Goal 3 – Fast transition goal and a nice finish
Goal 4 – PP goal – great quick stick goal from the side by Benedict on the power play. This is something we’ll have to keep an eye on with the Bandits players playing out of the crease a bit more
Goal 5 – Once again Jackson shoots around a screen from the outside, tough to see for Vinc but again, a save he likely wants - (V)
Goal 6 – A transition opportunity that leads to a good shot by Trumble
Goal 7 – Dawson lost track of his man and Cole had all the time in the world in front of the net (D)
Goal 8 – Georgia left the defensive zone quickly to get Benedict a wide-open breakaway in transition
Goal 9 – Byrne uses a nice move to get around Dawson, a bit too easily, and beats Vinc (D)
Goal 10 – Jackson slips past Dawson to find himself open in front of Vinc and buries it (D)
Goal 11 – Hard pick on Priolo finds MacIntosh open in front of Vinc for the goal
3/11 on Vinc
3/11 on the defense
Challenges by the Bandits – None
Referee Corner
Like many of the fans out there, I find myself often questioning what the refs are doing on the field. From no goals and players being ejected, to calls that simply do not make sense. In this segment, I will attempt to use the rulebook and my best judgement to understand the calls made throughout the game.
Bandits – 1-3 on the PP
Swarm – 1-5 on the PP
L. Nielsen – Elbowing – easy call for the referee to make, Nielsen threw an elbow to the Swarm player’s head – good call
S. Priolo – Illegal Body Checking – another easy call, it was a heavy body check from Priolo on a player who didn’t have the ball. He is lucky this wasn’t a 5-minute major – good call
C. Wyers – Slashing - This play happened off screen so we will give them the benefit of the doubt – good call
J. Byrne – Goalie Interference – I thought this was a weak call as it looked like Byrne was trying to hold himself and Dobson up to not crash into him. However, he did make contact with the goalie and they are going to call that more often than not – goodish call
R. Benesch – Illegal Substitution – Looks like Benesch jumped the gun on a transition opportunity and came off the bench a bit too quick – good call
4.5/5 – good calls