BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Music pumping. Fans in the arena clad in orange and black as they are encouraged over the public address system and jumbotron. Chants ... and plenty of goals on the scoreboard.
Welcome to Banditland.
The term is affectionately used to describe the NLL's Buffalo Bandits' fan base in Western New York that ardently supports its team, one that has made winning a regularity in recent years. The Bandits won championships in 1992, 1993, 1996, 2008, 2023 and 2024 -- and now sit on the verge of history.
Coming off two title-winning seasons, the Bandits are making their fifth-straight appearance in the NLL Finals, and are two wins away from doing something that few teams in professional sports have accomplished -- three straight championships.
"I think dynasty," forward Dhane Smith said when asked what three-peat brings to mind for him. "There's not many teams that have done it, so you don't really think about it all too much. This year feels a little bit different.
"I don't know if it's because we haven't played Toronto throughout these playoffs, which we usually do, but I think, again, I'm not really focused on a three-peat necessarily. I'm focused on winning that next championship and we have a great opportunity ahead of us and I tell the younger guys, don't take it for granted."
TO BECOME THE SECOND TEAM in NLL history to win three straight titles (2012-14 Rochester Knighthawks) and join the likes of the 2000-02 Los Angeles Lakers, the 1998-2000 New York Yankees and the 1997-2000 Houston Comets, among others, the Bandits will have to get past the Saskatchewan Rush.
The best-of-three series begins on Friday night in Buffalo (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN+). The series will then continue to Saskatchewan on Sunday night (8:00 p.m. ET, ESPN+) and then extends to the following Saturday if needed.
The matchup features the top two seeds facing off, after both finished the regular season 13-5. To get to this point, the Bandits went through a tough stretch of 11 games in 10 weeks (6-5) but earned the top seed.
Buffalo then went undefeated in the previous two playoff rounds (beating the San Diego Seals and Vancouver Warriors) and have received 12 days off, as players and coaches work their full-time jobs along with preparing in the meantime.
The Rush also swept their semifinal matchup, and are coming off an overtime win over the Halifax Thunderbirds this past Saturday. Saskatchewan is making its first Finals appearance since 2018.
The Bandits' six championships are tied with the Philadelphia Wings and Toronto Rock for most in the league. They've also lost seven times in the finals. Forward Josh Byrne, the 2024 league and finals MVP, described winning championships as "addictive."
"The one thing is we kind of know how to win," Smith, one of three MVP finalists and a two-time winner of the award, said. "For the longest time, we were struggling to get over that hump. I think that's key come this time of year.
"Obviously, every year is a little bit different. Every year the league's gotten that much better, and Saskatchewan's an unbelievable, young talented team. They feel like there's nothing to lose and those are the most dangerous matchups."
Smith, who tied with Byrne for the most points in the league during the regular season, is two points away (199) from breaking the record for the most playoff points in NLL history -- currently held by his coach (and former teammate) John Tavares. Smith said that if Tavares played in today's series format, he'd probably have "10 times the points."
"I joke that whenever I don't get as much playing time as I usually do, it's probably due to that," Smith said. "He probably has it in the back of his mind that he wants to sit me here and there."
Tavares, however, joked back that he plays Smith every minute of offense, so he can't have any more minutes unless he's on defense.
"Of course, he's gonna break my record, and of course, I'm happy that it's a guy that I played with, and I have the honor of coaching as well," Tavares said. "So, I'm happy for him and I hope he breaks it next game."
WHEN IT COMES to that three-peat, Byrne said it's something he hasn't thought about, instead wanting to focus on the little things to get there. Tavares said it's for after the games are over to think about. He plans to remind his team of focusing on what they need to do to win the next game.
"I'm not going to even say the words three-repeat. I don't talk about that to my team," Tavares said. "I don't think about that. Think about, 'this is our next game.'"
That next game will be in front of the Banditland faithful, the passionate following that exists in a city known on the outside for its wings, weather and the Buffalo Bills.
"It's really a first for the lacrosse world. I don't think that there's a fan base or a team or an organization at any level [in lacrosse] that gets the kind of support that we do," Byrne said. "It's truly insane, and when you think of a professional lacrosse player, normally you don't think too much of it when you compare it to NHL teams or NBA teams or NFL teams.
"But here in Buffalo, you're treated and looked up to just as much as the Bills and the Sabres are. They're really the first city and fan base to treat us like real professional athletes."
The team plays their games at KeyBank Center, where the Sabres also play, and attract quite a crowd. The Bandits set an NLL attendance record of 166,238 this season across nine home games, including four sellouts, and did not have fewer than 17,240 people in attendance at any one game. Eight NHL teams, including the Sabres, had a lower average attendance, while six NBA teams last year averaged a lower number.
That Banditland presence will be on display once again Friday night.
"To me, [the fans' support] shows that we can be the next major league like an NHL, like an NBA, like an NFL," Tavares said. "Right now, we're still a weekend league and still, even though we're professional, we still don't get the media attention and probably the attention that we deserve because it is a great sport and it is a great league, and it's just a matter of people knowing that we exist and following it."