Smith new single season assists record holder after hopping Matthews

Dhane Smith, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Michael Hetzel)

In recent weeks, it became extremely evident that Dhane Smith would be setting a new single-season standard when it came to assists during a National Lacrosse League regular season.

After an amazing 8 of them in the Buffalo Bandits’ 15-12 loss to the New York Riptide last night, Smith surpassed Mark Matthews’ previous single-season record of 84 assists. With two games still to go, Smith sits at 87 assists for the still league-leading Bandits.

Matthews had 84 assists with the Saskatchewan Rush in 2018.

Mark Matthews, Saskatchewan Rush

Smith is also on pace to top his own single-season record for points. The Bandits power forward presently has 126 points with games against the Georgia Swarm (Apr. 16) and Toronto Rock (Apr. 30) left on Buffalo’s schedule. Smith set the record for points during a regular season in 2016 with 137.

Matthews was named the NLL’s MVP during that 2018 record-setting season. Ditto for Smith in 2016, who currently ranks #1 in The Lax Mag’s NLL Player Rankings.

As reported last week on The Lax Mag, Smith is also likely to again reach an incredibly rare 30 goal, 60 assist, and 90 loose ball season, something only nine other players have achieved over the NLL’s 35 year history.

New York Riptide rookie, Jeff Teat, who had a 10-point game against Smith’s Bandits yesterday, is also on course to crack that 30/60/90 Club. Breaking the 30-goal mark last night and also owning a forward-leading 96LB, Teat is just 7 assists shy of 60.

Dan Craig (Toronto Rock) & Jesse King (Calgary Roughnecks) are the only other forwards currently with 90 or more loose balls, although Smith will almost surely achieve the same over Buffalo’s final two games.

Outside of Smith, the only other players to achieve a 30/60/90 slash season include: John Tavares, Gary Gait, Paul Gait, Colin Doyle, Josh Sanderson, Shawn Evans, Cody Jamieson, Joe Resetarits and Lyle Thompson.

Also last night, Toronto Rock forward Dan Dawson broke Tavares’ all-time assists record after registering his 935th A in the team’s 10-8 in Rochester. Dawson also broke Tavares’ all-time games played record earlier this year.