Buffalo Bandits star Dhane Smith focused on winning lacrosse championships rather than setting records

Dhane Smith laughs as he recounts the foolproof plan he thought he came up with to stop playing on the Buffalo Bandits’ defensive unit and instead focus on offense during his first two seasons in the National Lacrosse League.

By tackling the defense, an impatient Smith figured it would force the coaches to move him into a scoring role — ideally, of course, playing alongside then-veteran star John Tavares.

The prolific junior scorer, selected fifth overall in the 2012 draft, didn’t think coaches were giving him a second option — watching games in street clothes — if he didn’t improve.

“They were both old school and hard-nosed,” Smith said of his first two Bandits coaches, Darris Kilgour, who was succeeded by Troy Cordingley in 2014. “They made it pretty clear to me that that wasn’t going to be the case, and I would be sitting in the press box.

“So at that moment, I knew I had to persevere, wait for my chance and make the most of my opportunities.”

When he was finally given the chance on offense in 2015, he had the first of seven 100-point seasons. A year later, Smith set the NLL single-season scoring and scoring record with 72 goals and 137 points.

It’s a lesson that Smith has taken to heart to be now considered the best player of his generation, and a memory that, 11 years later, has contributed to a shift in vision, separating personal goals from those of the team.

The records he set are now considered secondary. Championships are what matters for the 32-year-old to cement his legacy at a time when Buffalo looks to defend its NLL title by entering a best-of-three final series against the Albany FireWolves, which opens Friday.

“Obviously I had a lot of points and hits,” Smith said. “All that legacy stuff, it kind of carried over into those things. I want to be remembered for winning championships.

It hasn’t been easy for Smith and the Bandits, who lost three times in the Finals since 2016 before winning the franchise’s fifth championship — and first since 2008 — with a 2-1 series victory over Colorado l ‘last year.

This year, a revamped team with a mix of youth and veterans overcame a 5-6 start to advance to the finals by winning nine of their last 10 games, with Smith and Josh Byrne leading the way.

While Byrne led the team with 135 points (53 goals, 82 assists) in 18 games, Smith finished with 134, including 101 assists, a league single-season record. Smith is the only player to rank in the top 90 in a season, which he has done three times.

His transition from scoring to goal setting, while still playing a role on defense, indicates that Smith has become an unselfish and versatile player.

“I don’t even think he considers himself the best player on our team,” Bandits captain Steve Priolo said.

“You noticed the difference between 2018 and 2019, when he was saying, ‘I’m ready to start putting this team on my back,'” he added. “He’s a superstar. He doesn’t need to take these hits and risk injury. But he does it. … When he joins, we all join.”

During his first year as the Bandits’ general manager, Steve Dietrich recalled how Smith was considered an enigma when he entered the draft. At 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, Smith was a raw product and essentially a one-man offensive spectacle on a Kitchener junior team that lacked talent around him.

It helped that Dietrich was from Kitchener and knew Smith’s background, which included the family pedigree of being cousins ​​with former lacrosse star Billy Dee Smith. Dietrich credited Kilgour and Cordingley for complementing Smith’s game early in his career.

“This kid thinks he’s a superstar offensive player, you cut him off at the knees,” Dietrich said. “So he humbled himself a little bit and he took the humble pie and ran with it.”

Smith is so good that Dietrich believes the player enters the conversation about his inclusion among the game’s all-time greats, who are generally considered to be Tavares, twins Paul and Gary Gait and John Grant Jr.

“It’s an incredibly difficult question and it’s incredibly remarkable for these four guys and for Dhane that we’re having this conversation,” Dietrich said. “Even looking at Dhane up there is pretty incredible. »

Smith went from playing alongside Tavares to being coached by him – and came close to several of his career bests. One could fall as soon as Friday, with Smith six career assists into the postseason after breaking Tavares’ mark of 116.

“I’m surprised he didn’t surpass him, in all honesty,” said Tavares, uncle of NHL Toronto Maple Leafs captain John Tavares. “Records are made to be broken, and mine are dwindling. But I’m happy to see one of my own players surpass him.

Smith never imagined he would have the opportunity to break records in 2013, let alone be referenced in the same sentence as Tavares.

“I like breaking his records just to laugh about it with him,” Smith said of Tavares, who won four NLL titles as a player. “But that’s not my main goal. Ultimately, I have to chase his championships.

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