Bandits notebook
Old face returns to lineup in finale
The Buffalo Bandits added a veteran to their lineup on Saturday.
Brett Bucktooth was activated for the game. He had missed the entire 2009 season until this point because of a serious shoulder injury. Bucktooth wasn’t expected to play at any point this season, but he beat medical expectations and was ready to go against Boston.
“Cody Jacobs went to the holdout list and Brett came on the roster,” Bandits coach Darris Kilgour said.
Kilgour had given a great deal of thought to the situation before making the decision. He knew that Bucktooth’s play would be welcome, but it was difficult to tinker with his roster so late in the season.
Kilgour gave Bucktooth good marks for his first game back.
“I thought he did OK for not playing all year,” the coach said. “The other guys around him didn’t help him much.”
Bucktooth had a goal in the second quarter and added three assists on the night.
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There were plenty of bright spots in a Bandits’ season that saw the team finish 10-6 once again, even though it felt a little overshadowed by Saturday’s loss.
When asked for nice surprises from the 2009 regular season, Kilgour pointed to three of his players.
“There are so many guys have come forth with a great effort,” he said. “John Tavares, you really expect him to drop off at some point and he really hasn’t. Mark Steenhuis got a little bit better from last year, which is just amazing to me.”
Tavares and Steenhuis became the first pair of teammates to score 50 goals each since 2002, when brothers Paul and Gary Gait did it for Washington.
Kilgour also singled out a defensive player.
“Billy Dee Smith is a guy who has flown under the radar for three, four years now,” he said. “In my mind there is not a better one-on-one defender in the league. He probably is one of the best transition players in the league, but because of his reputation he doesn’t get as much credit as he deserves.”
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The Bandits broke the league attendance record for a season on Saturday. Their crowd of 18,52 brought their eight-game total to 143,651. The old record was 140,942, set by the Colorado Mammoth in 2004.
The Bandits honored one fan as he walked through the turnstiles Saturday night with an autographed jersey and two season tickets for 2010.
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Saturday night’s game marked the end of the first regular season in the history of the Blazers. The expansion team hasn’t had the usual growing pains, in part because it acquired forward Dan Dawson and goalie Anthony Cosmo— two of the best building blocks in the league. Dawson is one of the top scorers in the league, while Cosmo is considered one of the league’s best netminders.
Boston coach Tom Ryan says he’s done some learning on the job this season.
“I definitely have learned a lot,” Ryan said. “In the first couple of losses, you could look at a young team making mistakes. I could have done a better job of preparing the team, making adjustments.”
Dawson finished the game with five assists to go with two goals. He tied Josh Sanderson of Calgary as both set a single-season record for assists in a season with 74.
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