Three-peats don’t happen in the NLL. The league is too competitive, the rosters turn over too fast, the grind is too real. And yet here we are — the Buffalo Bandits just won their seventh NLL championship, becoming only the second franchise in league history to pull off back-to-back-to-back titles. If you’re still sleeping on this dynasty, wake up.

The 2024-25 Bandits finished 13-5 in the regular season, tied for the best record in the league alongside the Saskatchewan Rush. That tie at the top wasn’t an accident — it set up a Finals rematch that was everything you wanted from a championship series. Buffalo won it 2-1, dropping a gut-punch Game 2 in overtime before coming back and absolutely burying Saskatchewan 15-6 in the clincher. That’s what champions do.

Dhane Smith Is the Greatest Playmaker in NLL History. Stop Debating It.

Dhane Smith finished the regular season with 102 assists. One hundred and two. He broke his own record — the one he already set to prove the point — and did it in a league where defenders know exactly what he’s going to do and still can’t stop him. Smith finished with 134 points, tied with linemate Josh Byrne, and the two of them were the engine that made everything else possible.

Think about what it means that Smith set the assists record on a team where Byrne also had 134 points. That’s two guys operating at the absolute top of the offensive food chain simultaneously. Offensive Player of the Year was a formality. The real award is the ring, and Smith has that too.

The Championship Run Was Earned, Not Handed

Buffalo’s playoff bracket wasn’t soft. They opened against a San Diego Seals team that went 9-9 but clearly had some juice — a 5-4 quarterfinal win isn’t a blowout. That was a game. The Bandits had to earn it in the trenches before the series got comfortable.

Then came Vancouver in the semis. The Bandits swept them in two. The Warriors had beaten Rochester 15-10 in the quarterfinals and looked dangerous, but Buffalo dispatched them without dropping a game. Clean. Efficient. Dominant.

The Finals against Saskatchewan was the real test. Game 1 went to Buffalo 12-10. Game 2 went to overtime — the Rush tied it late and won 11-10 in extra time, exactly the kind of moment that breaks younger teams. Buffalo came back for Game 3 and made it look like a tune-up: 15-6. Series over. Dynasty intact.

Ian MacKay Took the Finals MVP and Nobody Should Be Surprised

Ian MacKay was the Finals MVP and it wasn’t a sympathy vote. When the series tightened after Game 2, MacKay showed up in Game 3 and helped bury any Saskatchewan comeback narrative before it could breathe. That’s what Finals MVPs do — they perform when the margin is gone and every possession feels like the season.

The Bandits have always been built around playmakers, but the ability to get different guys to step up in big moments is what separates good teams from dynasties. MacKay stepping up while Smith and Byrne commanded all the defensive attention? That’s a depth problem for the rest of the league.

What the Three-Peat Actually Means

Only the second three-peat in NLL history. Let that sink in. This isn’t a league where the same team rolls through unchallenged — parity is real, the salary structure forces roster turnover, and every team in the East and West has legitimate talent. The Bandits did it anyway. Three consecutive championships in a league built to prevent dynasties.

Seven titles total. The franchise now sits alone in the NLL record books at the top. Whatever debate existed about the greatest NLL franchise is over. Buffalo wins that conversation the same way they won the series — decisively, and without much drama about it.

The 2024-25 Bandits aren’t just champions. They’re the standard. Every team in this league is now chasing what Buffalo built, and the truly terrifying part is that Smith, Byrne, and the core are still here. Four-peat? The NLL better find an answer fast, because right now it doesn’t have one.