The Links: Winner by Weiss leaves Banditland booming in Game 1 of NLL Finals
Nick Weiss, Buffalo Bandits (Photo: Michael Hetzel)
We spent Sunday morning collecting all the media mentions of last night’s Game 1 of the NLL Finals between the Buffalo Bandits and Colorado Mammoth, a final-minute winner from Buffalo defenseman Nick Weiss giving the Bandits the win in yet another super-close ending during this year’s pro playoffs.
NLL Finals
Buffalo leads best-of-three series 1-0
Game 1: Colorado 14 at Buffalo 15
Game 2: Buffalo at Colorado, Ball Arena
Saturday, June 11, 2022, 9pm ET
*Game 3: Colorado at Buffalo, KeyBank Center
Saturday, June 18, 2022, 7:30pm ET
*if necessary
While there were a ton of noteworthy goals, clearly we have to start with what Weiss did at 14:09 in the fourth quarter…
Heads up assist by Ian MacKay, who had three on the night, daintily dishing to Weiss immediately after the restart while two Mammoth forwards fled off floor to get a pair of defenders on the turf. While last night’s GWG was Weiss’ first done during the playoffs, he does have three previous regular-season winners on his resume. Weiss was announced as Game 1’s first star.
Last night’s second star was rookie Tehoka Nanticoke, who had an offensively absurd game with 5 goals and 2 assists. Previous to last night, Nanticoke had collected just 1 goal and 3 assists in the team’s games against the Albany FireWolves and Toronto Rock. You likely saw signage around Banditland that read, “Just don’t suck.” Friday’s NLL media day was the reason why…
Do yourself a favour and don’t search “just don’t suck” on Twitter. Results probably aren’t suitable for everyone’s eyes.
Also, normal rookies aren’t supposed to score like this…
The Mammoth’s Zed Williams had arguably the greatest game of his career, scoring 4 goals and adding 4 assists in the just-losing effort. It’s the second-most goals Williams has ever scored in an NLL game, while his 4 assists and 8 points are new single-game highs.
Eli McLaughlin, who had a hatty and 5 helpers last night, still easily leads the post-season points chase with 41. Connor Robinson (32), Josh Byrne (30) and Dhane Smith (29) are next on the leaderboard. McLaughlin, who has been so incredibly clutch all season, was stuffed by Matt Vinc in the dying seconds last night’s nailbiter…
Jomboy, who has put a ton of extra mainstream eyes on the pro-lacrosse product this year, sent @JoezMcfLy to Banditland last night. The NLL newbie had a night…
And speaking of Jomboy, here’s a quick update on the views the brand’s NLL “a breakdown” YouTube vids alone are sitting at:
Lacrosse goalies trade punches, a breakdown: 541,037
Lacrosse hidden ball trick, a breakdown: 533,215
Toronto wins elimination game in overtime, a breakdown: 279,326
That’s 1,353,578 looks on YT. Factor in their strong social totals and the extra impressions last night, and Jomboy likely got the league around 2 million digital views in 2022.
Both The Buffalo News and WKBW and some post-game blurbs. A search of “lacrosse” on The Denver Post’s website shows the paper last let locals know that the Mammoth were a win away from this year’s NLL Finals. They won and have played again since.
If the crowd looked large in @JoezMcfLy’s tweets, that’s cuz it was. Over 14K witnessed the Bandits’ W live at KeyBank Center last night.
In last night’s post-game comments, Buffalo Head Coach John Tavares made a point of saying that the franchise had to do better in the Finals. Founded in 1991, the Bandits have now made eleven NLL (or Major Indoor Lacrosse League) Finals; winning four, losing six, and 2022’s title yet to be decided. “I’ve been with this team since 1992. We’re four for eleven. That needs to change.” - Tavares
Buffalo Bandits NLL Finals History
Year: Finals (Cup MVP)
1992: Buffalo Bandits over Philadelphia Wings (Tavares)
1993: Buffalo Bandits over Philadelphia Wings (Tavares)
1994: Philadelphia Wings over Buffalo Bandits (Paul Gait)
1996: Buffalo Bandits over Philadelphia Wings (Pat O’Toole)
1997: Rochester Knighthawks over Buffalo Bandits (Steve Dietrich)
2004: Calgary Roughnecks over Buffalo Bandits (Curtis Palidwor)
2006: Colorado Mammoth over Buffalo Bandits (Gavin Prout)
2008: Buffalo Bandits over Portland Lumberjax (Mark Steenhuis)
2016: Saskatchewan Rush over Buffalo Bandits (Aaron Bold)
2019: Calgary Roughnecks over Buffalo Bandits (Dane Dobbie)
2022: Buffalo Bandits leading Colorado Mammoth 1-0
A win in Denver next Sturday against the Mammoth would make it five. The Philadelphia Wings (1.0, now Albany FireWolves) and Toronto Rock have won the most NLL titles with six, the Rochester Knighthawks (1.0, now Halifax Thunderbids) sit second with five.