# 2007 Buffalo Bandits season

The Buffalo Bandits are a lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2007 season was the franchise's 16th season, and was almost a repeat of their 2006 season. After winning the East with an 11-5 record in 2006, the Bandits finished 2nd with a 10-6 record in 2007. Once again they dispatched Minnesota in the division semi-finals, and once again met Rochester in the division finals. This time however, Rochester would take the division on their way to the Championship, beating the Bandits 14-13 in overtime.

## Regular season
### Conference standings

Reference:
East Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Rochester Knighthawks – xyz | 16 | 14 | 2 | .875 | 0.0 | 8–0 | 6–2 | 249 | 194 | +55 | 15.56 | 12.12 |
| 2 | Buffalo Bandits – x | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | 4.0 | 6–2 | 4–4 | 207 | 188 | +19 | 12.94 | 11.75 |
| 3 | Minnesota Swarm – x | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 5.0 | 4–4 | 5–3 | 200 | 207 | −7 | 12.50 | 12.94 |
| 4 | Toronto Rock – x | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | 8.0 | 3–5 | 3–5 | 187 | 183 | +4 | 11.69 | 11.44 |
| 5 | Chicago Shamrox | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | 8.0 | 4–4 | 2–6 | 176 | 191 | −15 | 11.00 | 11.94 |
| 6 | Philadelphia Wings | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | 8.0 | 4–4 | 2–6 | 178 | 186 | −8 | 11.12 | 11.62 |
| 7 | New York Titans | 16 | 4 | 12 | .250 | 10.0 | 3–5 | 1–7 | 195 | 233 | −38 | 12.19 | 14.56 |
West Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Colorado Mammoth – xy | 16 | 12 | 4 | .750 | 0.0 | 7–1 | 5–3 | 209 | 179 | +30 | 13.06 | 11.19 |
| 2 | Calgary Roughnecks – x | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 3.0 | 4–4 | 5–3 | 219 | 202 | +17 | 13.69 | 12.62 |
| 3 | Arizona Sting – x | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 3.0 | 6–2 | 3–5 | 188 | 181 | +7 | 11.75 | 11.31 |
| 4 | San Jose Stealth – x | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 3.0 | 4–4 | 5–3 | 181 | 170 | +11 | 11.31 | 10.62 |
| 5 | Edmonton Rush | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | 6.0 | 4–4 | 2–6 | 160 | 189 | −29 | 10.00 | 11.81 |
| 6 | Portland LumberJax | 16 | 4 | 12 | .250 | 8.0 | 3–5 | 1–7 | 153 | 199 | −46 | 9.56 | 12.44 |
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 | December 30, 2007 | @ Portland LumberJax | Rose Garden | L 10–11 | OT | 8,437 | 0–1 |
| 2 | January 12, 2007 | New York Titans | HSBC Arena | W 16–14 | | 18,690 | 1–1 |
| 3 | January 13, 2007 | @ Colorado Mammoth | Pepsi Center | L 10–11 | OT | 16,523 | 1–2 |
| 4 | January 20, 2007 | Minnesota Swarm | HSBC Arena | W 22–13 | | 12,883 | 2–2 |
| 5 | February 2, 2007 | Toronto Rock | HSBC Arena | L 10–14 | | 13,659 | 2–3 |
| 6 | February 3, 2007 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | L 8–13 | | 15,471 | 2–4 |
| 7 | February 11, 2007 | @ Chicago Shamrox | Sears Centre | W 12–11 | | 5,010 | 3–4 |
| 8 | February 17, 2007 | @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | Wachovia Center | W 12–8 | | 12,688 | 4–4 |
| 9 | February 24, 2007 | Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | HSBC Arena | W 13–12 | | 14,882 | 5–4 |
| 10 | March 4, 2007 | @ Minnesota Swarm | Xcel Energy Center | W 16–15 | | 7,504 | 6–4 |
| 11 | March 17, 2007 | @ New York Titans | Madison Square Garden | W 11–8 | | 7,012 | 7–4 |
| 12 | March 24, 2007 | Colorado Mammoth | HSBC Arena | W 19–15 | | 15,156 | 8–4 |
| 13 | March 31, 2007 | Chicago Shamrox | HSBC Arena | W 15–10 | | 16,228 | 9–4 |
| 14 | April 7, 2007 | Arizona Sting | HSBC Arena | W 15–5 | | 13,492 | 10–4 |
| 15 | April 13, 2007 | Rochester Knighthawks | HSBC Arena | L 10–14 | | 15,334 | 10–5 |
| 16 | April 14, 2007 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | L 8–14 | | 11,200 | 10–6 |

## Playoffs
### Game log

Reference:
| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| Division Semifinal | April 22, 2007 | Minnesota Swarm | HSBC Arena | W 14–8 | | 9,003 | 1–0 |
| Division Final | April 27, 2007 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | L 13–14 | OT | 8,558 | 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 |
| John Tavares | 15 | 42 | 61 | 103 | 77 | 6 |
| Kevin Dostie | 16 | 29 | 33 | 62 | 96 | 15 |
| Dan Teat | 16 | 20 | 30 | 50 | 64 | 14 |
| Mark Steenhuis | 15 | 25 | 24 | 49 | 108 | 4 |
| Cory Bomberry | 15 | 16 | 33 | 49 | 46 | 13 |
| Delby Powless | 15 | 21 | 22 | 43 | 50 | 4 |
| Brett Bucktooth | 11 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 57 | 14 |
| Jason Crosbie | 12 | 11 | 14 | 25 | 53 | 8 |
| Roger Vyse | 12 | 12 | 12 | 24 | 46 | 0 |
| Totals | | 310 | 517 | 381 | 1034 | 52 |

### 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 |
| Mike Thompson | 16 | 511:39 | 5 | 4 | 103 | .759 | 12.08 |
| Steve Dietrich | 14 | 431:22 | 5 | 2 | 83 | .777 | 11.54 |
| Daniel Sams | 2 | 15:00 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .778 | 8.00 |
| Totals | | | 10 | 6 | 188 | .768 | 11.75 |

## Awards

| Player | Award |
| Dave Zygaj | NLL Executive of the Year |
| John Tavares | First Team All-Pro |
| John Tavares | Overall player of the Month, March |
| John Tavares | All-Stars |
| Mark Steenhuis | All-Stars |
| Pat McCready | All-Stars |

## Transactions
### Trades

| March 16, 2007 | To Buffalo Bandits Phil Sanderson | To Toronto Rock first round pick, 2007 entry draft |

## Roster

Reference:
| No. | Position | Player |
| 72 | Fwd | Bomberry, Cory |
| 2 | Def | Bonterre, Troy |
| 26 | Fwd | Bucktooth, Brett |
| 27 | Def | Couling, Kyle |
| 54 | Fwd | Crosbie, Jason |
| 30 | Goalie | Dietrich, Steve |
| 51 | Fwd | Dostie, Kevin |
| | Fwd | Henderson, Tony |
| 5 | Def | Hill, Clay |
| 16 | Trans | Kilgour, Rich |
| 17 | Def | Laverty, Kyle |
| 10 | Trans | McCready, Pat |
| No. | Position | Player |
| 99 | Fwd | Powless, Delby |
| 86 | Goalie | Sams, Daniel |
| 18 | Def | Sanderson, Phil |
| 21 | Def | Seymour, Daryl |
| 3 | Def | Smith, Billy Dee |
| | Def | Sorci, Tony |
| 9 | Trans | Steenhuis, Mark |
| 11 | Fwd | Tavares, John |
| 15 | Fwd | Teat, Dan |
| 19 | Fwd | Thenhaus, Brenden |
| 66 | Goalie | Thompson, Mike |
| 81 | Fwd | Vyse, Roger |
| 6 | Def | White, Chris |