A.J. Shannon and the rest of the Buffalo Bandits find themselves in unfamiliar territory

tonight, both in terms of geography and the standings.

The Bandits play two games in two nights this weekend. They will take on the Washington

Stealth in Everett, Wash., Friday night (11 p.m., Radio 1520 AM) for the first time ever. The

team moved from San Jose to the Seattle area in the offseason. Then it's on to Edmonton for a

matchup with the Rush on Saturday night (9 p.m., Radio 1520 AM).

The Bandits carry an 0-2 record into the weekend. It's the first time since 1992 —

the first year of the franchise — that the Bandits have lost their first two games.

While two early losses aren't a huge stumble in a 16-game season, at least one win over the

weekend is essential if the Bandits don't want to dig themselves a big January hole.

"[Washington and Edmonton] are both drastically better teams, it seems," said Shannon, who

was signed by the Bandits as a free agent in the offseason. "Washington got off to a good

start (2-0), and Edmonton (1-1) has completely changed its team. There are no easy games in

this league, especially with the travel. It's going to be two challenging games for us."

Shannon has completed a circle of sorts by coming back to Buffalo. This is where he started

his indoor lacrosse career when he was taken in the first round of the 2003 draft.

"I played three years — 2004 to 2006 — here and it was a great time," the

forward said. "This is a place I missed playing in, and I'm very happy to be back."

Shannon's offensive high point came in 2005, when he had career highs in goals (25) and

points (40). But in 2006 he was traded to Edmonton in a deal that involved an exchange of

first-round draft picks, and suddenly Shannon found himself far, far away from his native

Whitby, Ont. Shannon stayed there for about a season and a half, but was only able to see

action in 12 games before he went to Philadelphia in a trade in 2008. That was closer to home,

but still far from ideal.

"We never had a practice," Shannon said about his days in Edmonton and Philadelphia. "You

fly in the day before the game and get a late workout in, but that's it. It really makes a

difference when you get a good Tuesday or Wednesday practice."

Luckily for Shannon, the Bandits had an interest in bringing him back.

"I know A.J. was a free agent," assistant coach Duane Jacobs said. "He and Darris [Kilgour,

the head coach] were talking. ... He sort of wanted to get back to his original style of play,

which was a transition guy who was able to score goals."

In two games for the Bandits this season, Shannon has a goal and two assists and has made a

good second impression with the team.

"Defensively, that's where we've seen him be able to fit in," Jacobs said. "We had a lot of

depth up front. Coming in, he's worked really hard. We were pleased with his performance in

training camp. He was deserving of playing the first two games.

"We're 0-2 and not really happy with that, but with A.J. we're not really surprised that

he's been able to come in and contribute."

. . .

The Bandits remain hopeful that John Tavares will be able to make his 2009 debut Friday

night. The league's all-time leading scorer has missed the first two games with a calf injury.

"We want to make sure we have a healthy John Tavares for the last eight games, as opposed

to the first eight," Jacobs said. "He's going to take as long as it takes to be 100 percent."