Vinc Taking the All-Time Games Crown: By the Numbers

We’re going to learn a lot this weekend. 

We already know that the Buffalo Bandits will be competing for their 3rd consecutive National Lacrosse League Cup beginning May 16th. What we don’t know is who their opponent will be. Will it be the Saskatchewan Rush or the Halifax Thunderbirds? We will find out on either May 10th or (if necessary) May 11th. 

As we gear up for at least one of the most consequential games of this NLL season, here are some numbers you need to know.

22 – Years Since Toronto Rock Played in 5th Consecutive NLL Finals

Before the 2024-25 NLL Season, there was only one team in NLL history who had made the NLL finals in five consecutive years. That was the Toronto Rock. From 1999 to 2003, the Rock competed for the championship trophy every season – they earned the right to hoist the trophy four of the five times. 

Bandits’ Head Coach John Tavares definitely remembers those years of Rock dominance. After winning three championships (and competing in 5) with the Bandits in the 90s as a player, Tavares had to see his team’s arch-rival go on a historic championship run. While the Rock were winning year after year, Tavares’ team couldn’t make the finals and even missed the playoffs three times.

Fast forward to this season, after defeating the Vancouver Warriors 2-0 in their best-of-three series last weekend, the Buffalo Bandits are now the first team in 22 years to be competing in their fifth consecutive NLL finals. 

The Rush organization got close, winning three of their four trips to the finals from 2015-2018, but even that group couldn’t make it five times.

So far, the Bandits have won two of the four finals that they’ve battled in. If they can win again this year, it would mark only the second three-peat in NLL history and the first in more than a decade.

357 – Total NLL Games Matt Vinc Will Have Played After Game 1 of the NLL Finals

Game 1 of the 2025 NLL Finals will be Matt Vinc’s 357 NLL game played (regular season and postseason combined). Why is that important? Well, it will be another history-making moment for arguably the greatest NLL goaltender of all time.

As soon as Vinc steps in between the pipes for Game 1, he will pass Dan Dawson for the most games played in NLL history. From 2002-2023, Dawson was a staple of the NLL. When he retired after the 2022-23 season, he had a established himself as one of the great players of all-time. Since 2006, Vinc has been doing just that. 

What is remarkable about how Vinc has gone about breaking Dawson’s record is the volume of postseason games he’s played. Vinc has played in 53 playoff games. That’s 13 more games than the next player, John Tavares, who played in 38 playoff games. He’s played in 19 more playoff games than Dawson. We also know that Vinc will extend his record during the NLL finals.

The 2025 finals will be his sixth straight (he lost with Rochester in 2018 before joining the Bandits) and tenth overall.

7th – Jake Withers All-Time Ranking For Postseason Face-Off Wins 

Jake Withers is focused on doing anything he can to keep his Thunderbirds’ championship hopes alive. If you had told Withers that, heading into Game 2 of the semi-finals against the Saskatchewan Rush, he would be ranked 7th all-time in postseason face-off wins, he would almost certainly not care very much.

But, for you readers, you might be interested to know that after winning 11 face-offs against the Saskatchewan Rush in Game 1, Withers has now won 165 playoff face-offs. Last weekend, Withers passed Tyler Burton (156 postseason face-off wins) and Max Adler (160). 

With 25 more face-off wins, Withers will pass Jamie Hanford for the 6th-most face-off wins in NLL postseason history. If the Thunderbirds can win Game 2 on May 10th to force a Game 3 on May 11th, Withers might pass Hanford.

1 – Goals Robert Church Needs To Pass Mark Matthews For Most Postseason Goals In Rush Franchise History

Speaking of the Rush, Robert Church was a big part of those title runs, and he’s still playing at a high level.

He is the Rush’s all-time leading regular season goal scorer, having netted 384 goals over 11 seasons in the league. This weekend, Church can take the top spot as the Rush’s all-time goal scorer in postseason history. He is currently tied with Mark Matthews with 40 playoff goals scored. 

There’s a pretty good chance Church will set the record this weekend. He has scored at least 1 goal in 17 of the 22 playoff games he’s played in. It is interesting, though, that of the two playoff games he’s played against the original Rochester Knighthawks (now Halifax Thunderbirds), he was held goalless in one of those games.