After their offense began struggling midway through the 2013 NLL season, the Buffalo Bandits organization came to the conclusion that injecting some fresh offensive blood was needed to help bring the franchise back from the brink. Bandits General Manager Steve Dietrich and then-current head coach Darris Kilgour believed that the best place to start this new resurgence would be the upcoming 2013 NLL trade deadline.
During the trade deadline, the Rochester Knighthawks and Buffalo Bandits came together on a package deal that would have the Knighthawks trading forward Alex Kedoh Hill for Bandits defenseman Scott Self.
When the Bandits acquired Hill, he was coming off of a very solid 2011 rookie season with the Edmonton Rush and a very promising sophomore season with the Rochester Knighthawks in 2012. Hill was acquired by the Knighthawks from the Rush before the start of the 2012 NLL season.
When Hill made his way into Edmonton Rush training camp for that 2011 NLL season, Rush General Manager Derek Keenan praised Hill for his scoring touch and his way of getting to the front of the net.
Hill joined the Rush starting roster on January 15, 2011. This special evening would truly be a monumental game for Hill as he faced the Boston Blazers on the road. In his first ever NLL career game, Hill would go on to record his first two NLL career goals and first two career assists in the Rush 10-7 loss.
During his tenure with the Edmonton Rush, Hill recorded 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) and 28 loose balls in nine games.
In his sophomore season with the Knighthawks, Hill saw limited action with only five starts in the regular season. In those five games though, Hill was still incredibly effective in his scoring ways. For his 2012 season, Hill recorded another 11 points (5 G, 6 A) with 13 loose balls.
When Hill finally made his way into the Bandits lineup after the 2013 NLL trade deadline, Hill contributed six points (3 G, 3 A) and 32 loose balls in five games. Hill eventually did give the Bandits the added boost of scoring power they needed but it wasn’t enough to turn around the Bandits fortunes. The Bandits eventually ended the 2013 regular season dead last in the standings.
During the previous three summer sessions with the Major Series Lacrosse Six Nations Chiefs, Hill recorded 64 points (35 G, 29 A) in 28 games during the regular season and 13 points (8 G, 5 A) in 11 games during the playoffs. The most important statistic that Hill will cherish the most in his time with the Chiefs is that in the previous two seasons he helped the team capture back-to-back Mann Cups.
Heading into the 2015 NLL season, Hill will hopefully receive a more permanent stay in the starting lineup and assist the already dangerous forward corps of John Tavares, Shawn Williams, Joe Resetarits and Ryan Benesch in ramping up their scoring totals. The last time that the Bandits offense tallied 200 or more goals was in 2009.
