NLL Buffalo Bandits

Tavares and Dietrich named first-team All-Pros

Published on May 12, 2005 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Buffalo Bandits News Release


Buffalo, N.Y. (May 12, 2005) --- The National Lacrosse League today announced that Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares and goaltender Steve Dietrich have been named first-team All-Pro selections. Buffalo was one of only two teams in the league to have more than one player on the first-team.

"I'm very happy for both John (Tavares) and Steve (Dietrich)," stated Bandits General Manager Kurt Silcott. "These two guys carried our team for the majority of the regular season and earned us our first home playoff game since 2003. It's nice to see them get recognized for their efforts."

Tavares earned his twelfth first team All-Pro honor after finishing the 2005 season ranked fourth in the league in goals (43), assists (59) and points (102).

The Toronto, Ontario native is the Bandits franchise leader in every major offensive category including games played (163), goals (517), assists (534) and points (1051). On Saturday, February 19th, Tavares became the fastest player in NLL history to reach 1,000 career points with a seven-point (3G, 4A) performance against the Rochester Knighthawks. It took him 154 games to surpass the total, while Gary Gait accomplished the feat in 157 contests.

The 36-year-old school teacher was named Overall Player of the Week three times (Week 5, Week 7 and Week 11), Offensive Player of the Week twice (Week 5 and Week 11) and Player of the Month twice (January and March).

Since the Player of the Month's inception in 1994, only three times in league history has a player won two of the three Player of the Month awards during a season. The NLL's all-time leader in assists has accomplished the feat two of those times (February and March in 1996, January and March 2005), while Colorado's Paul Gait holds the third distinction (January and March in 2002).

Dietrich earns his first All-Pro honor of his career after winning the Goaltender of the Year award. The Kitchener, Ontario native led the league in both save percentage (.789) and goals against average (10.89), while his 9-4 record was second best in the league. Dietrich was named Defensive Player of the Week twice (Week 8 and Week 15).

Buffalo's all-time franchise leader in wins (23) and saves (1879), Dietrich currently ranks second in league history in saves (4063), trailing only Dallas Eliuk of Philadelphia. The 35-year-old goaltender set a career-high during 2005 in save percentage and notched his lowest goals against average since the 1994 season when he played for the Detroit Turbos.

In 15 games this season, Dietrich made 511 saves and allowed just 137 goals, fewest among active goaltenders that appeared in at least 12 games.

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