# 2005 Buffalo Bandits season

The Buffalo Bandits are a lacrosse team based in Buffalo playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2005 season was the 14th in franchise history.
The Bandits finished second in the east after stellar seasons from veterans John Tavares and Steve Dietrich, who was named Goaltender of the Year. They hosted the Rochester Knighthawks in the division semi-final game, but the Knighthawks defeated the Bandits 19-14, winning the right to face the eventual champion Toronto Rock in the division finals.

## Regular season
### Conference standings

Reference:
East Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Toronto Rock – xyz | 16 | 12 | 4 | .750 | 0.0 | 6–2 | 6–2 | 227 | 190 | +37 | 14.19 | 11.88 |
| 2 | Buffalo Bandits – x | 16 | 11 | 5 | .688 | 1.0 | 5–3 | 6–2 | 217 | 183 | +34 | 13.56 | 11.44 |
| 3 | Rochester Knighthawks – x | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | 2.0 | 5–3 | 5–3 | 193 | 179 | +14 | 12.06 | 11.19 |
| 4 | Philadelphia Wings | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | 6.0 | 3–5 | 3–5 | 213 | 218 | −5 | 13.31 | 13.62 |
| 5 | Minnesota Swarm | 16 | 5 | 11 | .312 | 7.0 | 2–6 | 3–5 | 188 | 231 | −43 | 11.75 | 14.44 |
West Division :
| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| 1 | Calgary Roughnecks – xy | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | 0.0 | 6–2 | 4–4 | 216 | 208 | +8 | 13.50 | 13.00 |
| 2 | Arizona Sting – x | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 1.0 | 5–3 | 4–4 | 209 | 209 | −-0 | 13.06 | 13.06 |
| 3 | Colorado Mammoth – x | 16 | 8 | 8 | .500 | 2.0 | 5–3 | 3–5 | 201 | 182 | +19 | 12.56 | 11.38 |
| 4 | Anaheim Storm | 16 | 5 | 11 | .312 | 5.0 | 2–6 | 3–5 | 175 | 212 | −37 | 10.94 | 13.25 |
| 5 | San Jose Stealth | 16 | 4 | 12 | .250 | 6.0 | 2–6 | 2–6 | 170 | 197 | −27 | 10.62 | 12.31 |
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 7, 2005 | Toronto Rock | HSBC Arena | L 13–15 | | 11,067 | 0–1 |
| 2 | January 21, 2005 | @ Minnesota Swarm | Xcel Energy Center | W 15–10 | | 13,198 | 1–1 |
| 3 | January 22, 2005 | @ Colorado Mammoth | Pepsi Center | L 8–11 | | 18,137 | 1–2 |
| 4 | January 28, 2005 | @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | Wachovia Center | W 15–10 | | 8,849 | 2–2 |
| 5 | January 29, 2005 | Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | HSBC Arena | W 20–16 | | 10,945 | 3–2 |
| 6 | February 11, 2005 | Anaheim Storm | HSBC Arena | W 20–9 | | 8,805 | 4–2 |
| 7 | February 19, 2005 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | W 11–7 | | 9,961 | 5–2 |
| 8 | February 25, 2005 | Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | HSBC Arena | L 8–14 | | 8,912 | 5–3 |
| 9 | March 4, 2005 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | W 14–12 | | 17,756 | 6–3 |
| 10 | March 11, 2005 | @ Minnesota Swarm | Xcel Energy Center | W 23–16 | | 8,254 | 7–3 |
| 11 | March 18, 2005 | Minnesota Swarm | HSBC Arena | W 13–11 | | 9,116 | 8–3 |
| 12 | March 19, 2005 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | L 11–12 | OT | 10,102 | 8–4 |
| 13 | March 26, 2005 | Toronto Rock | HSBC Arena | L 8–12 | | 11,309 | 8–5 |
| 14 | April 1, 2005 | Rochester Knighthawks | HSBC Arena | W 11–9 | | 10,014 | 9–5 |
| 15 | April 9, 2005 | @ Calgary Roughnecks | Pengrowth Saddledome | W 14–9 | | 10,183 | 10–5 |
| 16 | April 16, 2005 | San Jose Stealth | HSBC Arena | W 13–10 | | 12,138 | 11–5 |

## Playoffs
### Game log

Reference:
| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| Division Semifinal | April 23, 2005 | Rochester Knighthawks | HSBC Arena | L 14–19 | | 10,014 | 0–1 |

## 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 | 16 | 43 | 59 | 102 | 126 | 9 |
| Dan Teat | 16 | 26 | 39 | 65 | 84 | 24 |
| Mark Steenhuis | 16 | 34 | 28 | 62 | 141 | 23 |
| Jason Crosbie | 14 | 20 | 30 | 50 | 69 | 10 |
| Delby Powless | 13 | 20 | 24 | 44 | 57 | 4 |
| A.J. Shannon | 16 | 25 | 15 | 40 | 78 | 8 |
| Aime Caines | 13 | 13 | 15 | 28 | 33 | 10 |
| Pat McCready | 13 | 7 | 16 | 23 | 77 | 44 |
| Bryan Kazarian | 13 | 1 | 17 | 18 | 53 | 20 |
| Totals | | 304 | 521 | 414 | 1137 | 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 |
| Steve Dietrich | 15 | 749:43 | 9 | 4 | 137 | .789 | 10.96 |
| Derek General | 8 | 209:19 | 2 | 1 | 46 | .718 | 13.19 |
| Totals | | | 11 | 5 | 183 | .774 | 11.44 |

## Awards

| Player | Award |
| Steve Dietrich | Goaltender of the Year |
| John Tavares | First Team All-Pro |
| Steve Dietrich | First Team All-Pro |
| Delby Powless | All-Rookie Team |
| John Tavares | Overall Player of the Month, January |
| John Tavares | Overall Player of the Month, March (tie with Bob Watson) |
| John Tavares | All-Stars |
| Kyle Couling | All-Stars |
| Mark Steenhuis | All-Stars |
| Dan Teat | All-Stars |

## Transactions
### Trades

| February 2, 2005 | To Buffalo Bandits second round pick, 2005 entry draft second round pick, 2007 entry draft | To Arizona Sting Jonas Derks |

## Roster

Reference:
| No. | Position | Player |
| 49 | Fwd | Caines, Aime |
| 25 | Def | Candy, Drew |
| 27 | Def | Couling, Kyle |
| 54 | Fwd | Crosbie, Jason |
| 13 | Fwd | Derks, Jonas |
| 30 | Goalie | Dietrich, Steve |
| 26 | Def | Floris, Greg |
| 19 | Def | Francey, Tyler |
| 85 | Goalie | General, Derek |
| 7 | Fwd | Harasym, Jon |
| 5 | Def | Hill, Clay |
| 90 | Fwd | Hominuck, Mike |
| No. | Position | Player |
| 14 | Fwd | Jamieson, Kyle |
| 97 | Fwd | Kazarian, Bryan |
| 16 | Def | Kilgour, Rich |
| 17 | Def | Laverty, Kyle |
| 23 | Def | McCready, Pat |
| 63 | Fwd | Montour, Thomas |
| 99 | Fwd | Powless, Delby |
| 8 | Fwd | Shannon, A.J. |
| 3 | Def | Smith, Billy Dee |
| 9 | Fwd | Steenhuis, Mark |
| 11 | Fwd | Tavares, John |
| 15 | Fwd | Teat, Dan |
| 6 | Def | White, Chris |