The Buffalo Bandits are an American professional box lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York, that competes in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team plays its home games at KeyBank Center. The Bandits played in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League from 1992 to 1997, then in its successor the NLL since 1998. The Bandits are one of the oldest franchises in the league, behind the Oshawa FireWolves (which were founded in 1987 as the original Philadelphia Wings franchise) and the Colorado Mammoth (which were founded in 1987 as the Baltimore Thunder). The Bandits are the oldest franchise still playing in their original city and are widely regarded as the most popular franchise in the league. The Bandits are tied with the Toronto Rock for the most National Lacrosse League Cup championships with 7 titles.
The Bandits are owned by Hockey Western New York LLC, led by Terry Pegula who also owns the Rochester Americans, Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bills.
History
The Bandits played their first season in 1992. They played home games at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium sharing with the Buffalo Sabres until its closure in 1996.
The Bandits became the first expansion franchise in MILL/NLL history to win a championship in its first season.The Baltimore Thunder won the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League championship in the first year of their existence as well (1987), but that was the first year the league existed; the Toronto Rock won a championship in its first season in Toronto (1999), but the franchise had already played one year in Hamilton as the Ontario Raiders. The Bandits repeated as champions in their second season, compiling the league's only perfect season to date that year, lost the championship game their third season and captured their third Championship in 1996, their fifth season. It was not until 1999, their eighth season, that the Bandits did not make the playoffs.
After their 1996 championship-winning season, the Bandits returned to the NLL Championship in 1997, 2004, and 2006) only to lose each time, including twice at home. It would not be until 2008 that the Bandits would win their elusive fourth championship, a 14–13 triumph over Portland. The Bandits would lose the finals three more times before securing their fifth championship in 2023. The Bandits won their fifth title against the Colorado Mammoth winning the third and final game of the three game series 13–4. The following year, the Bandits repeated as champions, winning their sixth title in a sweep of the Albany FireWolves. The Bandits secured a third-straight championship in 2025, their 7th overall and most in the NLL all-time.
As of 2025, Buffalo is the longest tenured team in the NLL, in terms of continuous years in their home city, at 33 seasons. The team is also the strongest-attended franchise in the league, with an average attendance of over 18,000 fans per game in 2025, an NLL record.
Awards and honors
Year Player Award 1992 Derek Keenan Rookie of the Year John Tavares Championship Game MVP 1993 John Tavares Championship Game MVP 1994 John Tavares Most Valuable Player 1996 Pat O'Toole Championship Game MVP 2000 John Tavares Most Valuable Player 2001 John Tavares Most Valuable Player 2003 Darris Kilgour Coach of the Year Kurt Silcott GM of the Year 2005 Steve Dietrich Goaltender of the Year 2006 Steve Dietrich Goaltender of the Year Most Valuable Player 2007 Dave Zygaj Executive of the Year 2008 Mark Steenhuis Transition Player of the Year Champion's Cup MVP2009 Billy Dee Smith Defensive Player of the Year Ken Montour Goaltender of the Year 2016 Steve Dietrich GM of the Year Dhane Smith Most Valuable Player2018Craig England Teammate of the Year2019Matt VincGoaltender of the YearJohn Tavares/Rich KilgourCoach of the Year Steve Dietrich GM of the Year 2022Matt VincGoaltender of the Year Steve Dietrich GM of the YearDhane Smith Most Valuable Player 2023Dhane SmithNLL Finals MVP2024Josh ByrneOffensive Player of the YearMost Valuable PlayerNLL Finals MVP2025John GurtlerMedia Person of the YearKyle BuchananSportsmanship AwardDhane SmithOffensive Player of the YearIan MacKayNLL Finals MVP
NLL Hall of Fame members Les Bartley, Head Coach, 2006 Darris Kilgour, Forward, 2007 John Mouradian, General Manager, 2008 Jim Veltman, Defense, 2009 Rich Kilgour, Transition, 2010 Steve Dietrich, Goaltender, 2012 Pat O'Toole, Goaltender, 2013 Tracey Kelusky, Forward, 2016 John Tavares, Forward, 2016 Pat McCready, Defense, 2021 Shawn Williams, Forward, 2021
NLL records
Single-game record holders Most assists in a single game – Mark Steenhuis (13 assists, February 14, 2009) Most points in a single game – Mark Steenhuis (17 points, February 14, 2009)
Season record holders Most points in a single season – Dhane Smith (137 points, 2016) Most goals in a single season – Dhane Smith (72 goals, 2016) Most assists in a single season – Dhane Smith (103 assists, 2025)
All-time record holders Most goals in a career – John Tavares (724 goals, 1991–2015) Most assists in a career – John Tavares (823 assists, 1991–2015) Most points in a career – John Tavares (1,547 points, 1991–2015) Most saves in a career – Matt Vinc (8,299 saves 2005–Present) Most wins in a career – Matt Vinc (119 wins 2005–present) Most minutes played – Matt Vinc (12,627:54 2005–present)
NLL All-Star Game 2005: Kyle Couling, Mark Steenhuis, John Tavares*, Dan Teat 2006: Steve Dietrich, Mark Steenhuis, John Tavares* 2007: Pat McCready, Mark Steenhuis, John Tavares* 2008: Mark Steenhuis*, John Tavares*, Chris White 2009: Ken Montour*, Mark Steenhuis*, John Tavares, Roger Vyse, Chris White* 2011: Chris White, Mark Steenhuis, John Tavares, Brett Bucktooth 2012: Billy Dee Smith, Scott Self, Chris White, John Tavares, Mike Thompson * – voted as starter
Current roster
All-time record Season Division/Conference W–L Finish Home Road GF GA Coach Playoffs 1992 National 5–3 2nd 2–2 3–1 161 125 Bob McCready / Les Bartley Champions 1993 National 8–0 1st 4–0 4–0 143 108 Les Bartley Champions 1994 National 6–2 1st 3–1 3–1 121 99 Les Bartley Lost final 1995 3–5 4th 2–2 1–3 109 108 Les Bartley Lost semi-final 1996 8–2 1st 3–2 5–0 173 127 Les Bartley Champions 1997 6–4 3rd 3–2 3–2 158 153 Les Bartley Lost final 1998 6–6 4th 4–2 2–4 166 171 Les Wakeling Lost semi-final 1999 4–8 6th 1–5 3–3 158 177 Les Wakeling Did not qualify 2000 8–4 2nd 5–1 3–3 202 194 Ted Sawicki Lost semi-final 2001 8–6 5th 4–3 4–3 248 218 Ted Sawicki Did not qualify 2002 Central 8–8 4th 4–4 4–4 210 215 Ted Sawicki / Frank Neilson Did not qualify 2003 Central 12–4 2nd 8–0 4–4 231 188 Darris Kilgour Lost division final 2004 Eastern 8–8 3rd 4–4 4–4 205 198 Darris Kilgour Lost final 2005 Eastern 11–5 2nd 5–3 6–2 217 183 Darris Kilgour Lost division semi-final 2006 Eastern 11–5 1st 6–2 5–3 193 167 Darris Kilgour Lost final 2007 Eastern 10–6 2nd 6–2 4–4 207 188 Darris Kilgour Lost division final 2008 Eastern 10–6 1st 7–2 3–4 203 174 Darris Kilgour Champions 2009 Eastern 10–6 2nd 5–3 5–3 223 170 Darris Kilgour Lost division final 2010 Eastern 8–8 3rd 4–4 4–4 169 170 Darris Kilgour Lost division semi-final 2011 Eastern 10–6 1st 4–4 6–2 169 159 Darris Kilgour Lost division final 2012 Eastern 7–9 4th 4–4 3–5 198 204 Darris Kilgour Lost division semi-final 2013 Eastern 6–10 4th 2–6 4–4 171 211 Darris Kilgour Did not qualify 2014 Eastern 8–10 3rd 6–3 2–7 190 200 Troy Cordingley Lost division final 2015 Eastern 11–7 3rd 7–2 4–5 236 208 Troy Cordingley Lost division semi-final 2016 Eastern 13–5 1st 8–1 5–4 251 214 Troy Cordingley Lost Finals 2017 Eastern 6–12 5th 3–6 3–6 226 251 Troy Cordingley Did not qualify 2018 Eastern 8–10 5th 4–5 4–5 232 240 Troy Cordingley Did not qualify 2019 Eastern 14–4 1st 7–2 7–2 244 186 John Tavares, Rich Kilgour Lost Finals2020North7–4T-2nd4–23–2130118John TavaresNo playoffs held2021EasternSeason cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic2022Eastern14–41st7–27–2247185John TavaresLost Finals2023Eastern14–41st7–27–2215191John TavaresChampions2024Unified11–74th6–35–4237212John TavaresChampions2025Unified13–51st6–37–2242195John TavaresChampions2026Unified11–75th6–35–4199183John TavaresLost Quarterfinal Total 34 seasons 303–200 161–92 142–108 6,681 6,091 Playoff totals 27 Appearances 45–26 34–10 11–16 892 783 7 Championships
All-time team-by-team records (active NLL franchises only)
Home Road Overall Team GP W L PCT GP W L PCT GP W L PCT Calgary Roughnecks 8 6 2 .750 11 6 5 .545 19 12 7 .632 Colorado Mammoth 13 8 5 .615 11 4 7 .364 24 12 12 .500 as Washington Power 2 1 1 .500 2 2 0 1.000 4 3 1 .750 as Pittsburgh CrosseFire 0 0 0 — 1 0 1 .000 1 0 1 .000 as Baltimore Thunder 8 6 2 .750 5 4 1 .800 13 10 3 .769 Oshawa FireWolves000—101.000101.000 as Albany FireWolves422.500422.500844.500 as New England Black Wolves 5 3 2 .600 5 2 3 .400 10 5 5 .500 as Philadelphia Wings 27 15 12 .555 24 11 13 .458 51 26 25 .509 Georgia Swarm 9 4 5 .444 9 6 3 .667 18 10 8 .556 as Minnesota Swarm 14 12 2 .857 11 7 4 .636 25 19 6 .760 Halifax Thunderbirds752.714532.6001284.667 as Rochester Knighthawks321616.500371324.351692940.420 Las Vegas Desert Dogs2201.0001101.0003301.000 Rochester Knighthawks6601.000642.66712102.833 San Diego Seals321.6674401.000761.857 Saskatchewan Rush 4 2 2 .500 5 5 0 1.000 9 7 2 .778 as Edmonton Rush 2 1 1 .500 4 1 3 .250 6 2 4 .333 Toronto Rock371918.514331518.454703436.486 as Ontario Raiders1101.000101.000211.500 Vancouver Warriors312.333321.667633.500 as Vancouver Stealth431 .750431 .750862.750 as Washington Stealth202.000321.667523.400 as San Jose Stealth1101.0001101.0002201.000 as Albany Attack431.750431.750862.750 Total 198 120 78 .606 191 100 91 .524 389 220 169 .566
Playoff results