BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The National Lacrosse League has announced the finalists for its annual season-end awards and three members of the Buffalo Bandits have been nominated for awards.
Bandits forward Dhane Smith has been named a finalist for NLL MVP. Smith, a two-time MVP who most recently won the award last season, finished the 2022-2023 regular season with 36 goals and 96 assists, good for 132 points which was second in the league. His 96 assists broke the league's all-time single-season assists record, which he set last year. He also reached 600 career assists during the season. Smith is tied with his teammate Josh Byrne for the lead in points in the playoffs with 26.
The other finalists for NLL MVP are Jeff Teat of the New York Riptide and Christian Del Bianco of the Calgary Roughnecks.
Bandits goaltender Matt Vinc has been named a finalist for Goaltender of the Year. Vinc is an eight-time Goaltender of the Year winner and most recently won last season. He finished the 2022-2023 regular season with 14 wins and 742 saves, both led the league. Vinc notched his 48th win as a Bandits goalie during the regular season as well, which made him the all-time franchise wins leader. By appearing in the team's first playoff game against the Rochester Knighthawks he became the first player in NLL history with 40 playoff game appearances. In three playoff games this year Vinc leads all goaltenders with a 3-0 record a 7.07 goals against average and a .870 save percentage.
The other finalists for Goaltender of the Year are Del Bianco of the Roughnecks and Nick Rose of the Toronto Rock.
Bandits forward Kyle Buchanan has been named a finalist for two separate awards, the Sportsmanship Award and Teammate of the Year. Buchanan finished the 2022-2023 regular season with 21 goals and 37 assists, good for 58 points which ranked third on the team behind Smith and Byrne. He has four goals and eight assists in three playoff games.
The other finalists for the Sportsmanship Award are Tom Schreiber of the Toronto Rock and Lyle Thompson of the Georgia Swarm. The other finalists for Teammate of the Year are Dan Dawson of the Toronto Rock and John LaFontaine of the Albany FireWolves.
The winners of the awards will be announced next week.
