2009 Buffalo Bandits season
# 2009 Buffalo Bandits season

The Buffalo Bandits are a lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2009 season was the franchise's 18th season. It was also their first season in title defense since 1997.

## Regular season

### Conference standings

Reference:

East Division :

| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | New York Titans – xy | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | 0.0 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 190 | 180 | +10 | 11.88 | 11.25 |
| 2 | Buffalo Bandits – x | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | 0.0 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 223 | 170 | +53 | 13.94 | 10.62 |
| 3 | Boston Blazers – x | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | 0.0 | 4–4 | 6–2 | 181 | 168 | +13 | 11.31 | 10.50 |
| 4 | Rochester Knighthawks – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 3.0 | 6–2 | 1–7 | 169 | 197 | −28 | 10.56 | 12.31 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Wings | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 3.0 | 4–4 | 3–5 | 188 | 193 | −5 | 11.75 | 12.06 |
| 6 | Toronto Rock | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | 4.0 | 3–5 | 3–5 | 194 | 218 | −24 | 12.12 | 13.62 |

West Division :

| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Calgary Roughnecks – xyz | 16 | 12 | 4 | .750 | 0.0 | 5–3 | 7–1 | 206 | 167 | +39 | 12.88 | 10.44 |
| 2 | Portland LumberJax – x | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 3.0 | 4–4 | 5–3 | 181 | 177 | +4 | 11.31 | 11.06 |
| 3 | San Jose Stealth – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 5.0 | 5–3 | 2–6 | 200 | 185 | +15 | 12.50 | 11.56 |
| 4 | Colorado Mammoth – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 5.0 | 4–4 | 3–5 | 172 | 184 | −12 | 10.75 | 11.50 |
| 5 | Minnesota Swarm | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | 6.0 | 2–6 | 4–4 | 174 | 198 | −24 | 10.88 | 12.38 |
| 6 | Edmonton Rush | 16 | 5 | 11 | .312 | 7.0 | 4–4 | 1–7 | 159 | 200 | −41 | 9.94 | 12.50 |

x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games Played W: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowed Differential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game

### Game log

Reference:

| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | January 3, 2009 | Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | HSBC Arena | W 15–11 | | 18,690 | 1–0 |
| 2 | January 10, 2009 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | W 8–6 | | 15,923 | 2–0 |
| 3 | January 16, 2009 | Rochester Knighthawks | HSBC Arena | W 23–6 | | 15,494 | 3–0 |
| 4 | January 24, 2009 | @ Minnesota Swarm | Xcel Energy Center | W 10–9 | | 11,458 | 4–0 |
| 5 | January 29, 2009 | @ Edmonton Rush | Rexall Place | W 13–8 | | 6,298 | 5–0 |
| 6 | February 6, 2009 | @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | Wachovia Center | L 11–13 | | 10,506 | 5–1 |
| 7 | February 14, 2009 | Toronto Rock | HSBC Arena | W 25–10 | | 18,690 | 6–1 |
| 8 | February 20, 2009 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | W 17–16 | OT | 12,844 | 7–1 |
| 9 | February 28, 2009 | Minnesota Swarm | HSBC Arena | L 15–16 | | 18,690 | 7–2 |
| 10 | March 14, 2009 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | L 14–15 | OT | 9,134 | 7–3 |
| 11 | March 21, 2009 | Portland LumberJax | HSBC Arena | W 14–4 | | 17,822 | 8–3 |
| 12 | March 28, 2009 | New York Titans | HSBC Arena | L 9–11 | | 18,550 | 8–4 |
| 13 | April 4, 2009 | @ Boston Blazers | TD Banknorth Garden | W 15–11 | | 7,073 | 9–4 |
| 14 | April 10, 2009 | Rochester Knighthawks | HSBC Arena | W 13–9 | | 17,118 | 10–4 |
| 15 | April 11, 2009 | @ New York Titans | Prudential Center | L 9–12 | | 6,222 | 10–5 |
| 16 | April 18, 2009 | Boston Blazers | HSBC Arena | L 12–13 | OT | 18,527 | 10–6 |

## Playoffs

### Game log

Reference:

| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Division Semifinal | May 2, 2009 | Boston Blazers | HSBC Arena | W 11–8 | | 13,343 | 1–0 |
| Division Final | May 9, 2009 | @ New York Titans | Prudential Center | L 3–9 | | 5,644 | 1–1 |

## Player stats

Reference:

### Runners (Top 10)

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; LB = Loose balls; PIM = Penalty minutes

| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | LB | PIM |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Mark Steenhuis | 16 | 51 | 50 | 101 | 117 | 24 |
| John Tavares | 16 | 51 | 43 | 94 | 98 | 6 |
| Mike Accursi | 16 | 30 | 30 | 60 | 66 | 4 |
| Cory Bomberry | 15 | 15 | 36 | 51 | 46 | 11 |
| Roger Vyse | 15 | 27 | 19 | 46 | 57 | 0 |
| Sean Greenhalgh | 15 | 15 | 22 | 37 | 51 | 0 |
| Kevin Dostie | 14 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 28 | 4 |
| Thomas Montour | 12 | 5 | 15 | 20 | 90 | 4 |
| Pat McCready | 9 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 55 | 24 |
| Totals | | 324 | 547 | 327 | 1073 | 40 |

### Goaltenders

Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals against; Sv% = Save percentage; GAA = Goals against average

| Player | GP | MIN | W | L | GA | Sv% | GAA |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Ken Montour | 15 | 651:46 | 8 | 3 | 104 | .813 | 9.57 |
| Mike Thompson | 16 | 313:49 | 2 | 3 | 66 | .759 | 12.62 |
| Totals | | | 10 | 6 | 170 | .795 | 10.63 |

## Transactions

### New players

* Sean Greenhalgh - acquired prior to last season, but did not play due to injury

### Players not returning

* Kyle Laverty - selected in expansion draft

### Trades

| July 2, 2008 | To Buffalo Bandits third round pick, 2009 entry draft | To Edmonton RushGreg $Hinman^*$ |
| - | - | - |
| December 13, 2008 | To Buffalo Bandits Thomas Montour | To Calgary Roughnecksfirst round pick, 2009 entry draft |

$^*$ - Hinman was acquired from the Arizona Sting in the dispersal draft

### Entry draft

The 2008 NLL Entry Draft took place on September 7, 2008. The Bandits selected the following players:

| Round | Overall | Player | College/Club |
| - | - | - | - |
| 3 | 35 | Eryn Jones | Six Nations, ON |
| 4 | 49 | Tory Gardner | Six Nations, ON |
| 5 | 62 | Shane Pollock | Wallaceburg, ON |
| 6 | 65 | Dustin Dunn | Potsdam State University |
