THE CANADIAN PRESS
The Buffalo Bandits are due.
They lost the 2004 National Lacrosse League final in Calgary, they were beaten at home in 2006 by Colorado, and here they come again. They’ll have home-floor advantage against the Portland LumberJax for the Champions Cup showdown Saturday night (The Score, 7:30 p.m. ET).
The Bandits have been around for 17 years and last wore the pro crown in 1996. Given the drought, and their disappointments in ’04 and ’06, they’re hungrier than a dog that hasn’t been fed for a week. They are 12-6 this year including playoffs.
The three-year old LumberJax will be making their first title game appearance. Their two playoff wins followed a 6-10 regular season. They are only the third team in NLL history to reach the final after a sub-.500 season. The Bandits won the only regular-season meeting 14-10 in Buffalo a month ago.
Buffalo coach Darris Kilgour and his players are sporting Mohawk hair styles.
“Everybody’s on board with it and I think we’re looking pretty good,” says Kilgour.
The Lumberjax are a miserable second in hair above the shoulders.
“We’ve got a few ugly beards going,” says GM-coach Derek Keenan.<
Mike Thompson will start in goal for the Bandits on Saturday, says Kilgour. Ken Montour made 41 saves to help Buffalo tame New York 19-12 in the East final. Both goalies are so good that Kilgour is comfortable with either, so he’s been alternating his First Nations netminders.
Keenan won’t name his starter until the day of the game. Matt Disher of Arthur, Ont., strained a knee ligament and was pulled early in the second quarter last weekend. With 43-year-old Dallas Eliuk of Vancouver stopping 35 shots the rest of the way, Portland pulled out a 16-12 win in the West final in Calgary. Disher’s rehab is going well.
“There is a chance he could play,” says Keenan.
Buffalo’s offence represents a myriad of challenges for the LumberJax.
John Tavares, who picked up 10 assists in the East final, and transition star Mark Steenhuis, who scored seven goals in that game, were named to the first all-pro team Wednesday.
“Tavares is the guy who makes our whole offence work,” says Kilgour. “He’s the most unselfish player on our team if not in the league.
“He makes everybody else around him better.”
Tavares is pro lacrosse’s all-time leader in goals and points. He played on Buffalo’s 1992, 1993 and 1996 championship teams and, as far as he’s concerned, he’s waited long enough for another title.
“His legs might be slowing down but his mind is getting quicker,” Kilgour says of the 38-year-old Mississauga high school math teacher.
Steenhuis, a St. Catharines landscaper, can pick apart a defence.
“He gets a step on you, forget about it,” says Keenan.
The Bandits’ shotgun attack also includes agile pick artists Mike Accursi of Pelham, Ont., and Kevin Dostie of Edmonton. There’s Brett Bucktooth, the First Nations star from the Syracuse region, and three Six Nations players from Ontario: outside shooters Cory Bomberry and Roger Vyse and the sneaky Delby Powless.
There is no one player an opponent can key on to shut down Buffalo’s offence.
“Right now we have everybody firing on all cylinders,” says Kilgour. “We’ve a very difficult team to match up against because somewhere along the line, hopefully, we find a mismatch.”
Captain Rich Kilgour, who is the coach’s brother in a First Nations family in the Buffalo region, Pat McCready and Billy Dee Smith of St. Catharines, Peterborough products Chris White and Kyle Laverty, Phil Sanderson of Orangeville and Clay Hill of Six Nations comprise a strong back end. A penchant for penalties has spoiled outings in the past, but Buffalo’s defence has been using brain as well as brawn in recent weeks.
Their most difficult tasks Saturday will be to corral high-scoring Dan Dawson, who had five goals and five assists in the West final, and to put the brakes on transition speedster Brodie Merrill.
Dawson is in his third title game in four years. He’s yet to win one. He’s amassed 22 points in two playoff games this spring.
“The last two weeks his focus level has been amazing,” says Keenan. “The other guys feed off of him.
“He’s been here before and he’s looking to close the deal.”
The six-foot-six tower from Oakville has few equals in leaping across the front of creases to plant balls in nets.
“The key, obviously, is Dan Dawson,” Darris Kilgour responds when asked about Portland’s offence. “Everything they do revolves around him.
“That’s going to be the big challenge.”
Merrill can do for the LumberJax what Steenhuis does for the Bandits.
“He’s one of those special players who creates mismatches all over the floor,” Darris Kilgour says of the Orangeville, Ont., resident. “We’re definitely going to try and keep the transition game at a minimum for him.
“The lower the scoring, the better for us.”
Portland’s offence also includes British Columbians Derek Malawsky, who is a splendid playmaker, and slippery Peter Morgan, hard-charging American Ryan Powell, Scott Stewart of Hamilton and Peter Jacobs, the 18-year-old First Nations forward from Akwesasne who will be the youngest player to appear in an NLL final.
Portland’s back end includes captain Pat Jones of Oshawa, Brad MacDonald of Orangeville, Scott Stapleford of Windsor and British Columbians Ray Guze, Tyler Codron, Richard Morgan, Bruce Alexander and Mike Kilby.
“We’re playing well, and at the right time,” says Keenan. “Our offence is clicking . . . and we’re playing pretty good defence.
“The guys are playing with a lot of confidence.”
Buffalo is strong on special teams, especially power plays, and Portland will have to match the Bandits in this area to stay in the game. The LumberJax exceeded everybody’s expectations getting this far.
“In a short three years we’ve managed to get to the title game and if we manage to win it it’ll be even more important to the franchise,” says Keenan, who is a recreation director for the City of Oshawa. “If we can build on what we’ve established this season, the future looks bright in Portland.”<
The last time a Portland team won a pro championship was 1977, when the Blazers won the NBA title.