With the Buffalo Bandits ranking second to last in the Eastern Conference in the statistics of goals scored for the second year in a row, Bandits GM Steve Dietrich and head coach Troy Cordingley knew that drastic changes had to be made offensively to keep the team viable for the upcoming 2015 NLL season.
The Bandits first showed signs of true change when Dietrich and Cordingley headed into the 2014 NLL draft and secured nothing but lefty forwards and transition specialists. The second major change was addressed during training camp this past weekend when it was announced that with the departure of forward Shawn Williams to the Toronto Rock and the strength at transition with Mitch Wilde and the returning Alex Kedoh-Hill, Dhane Smith would be moved to forward on a full-time basis.
The coaching staff’s reasoning for moving Smith up from transition to forward was best expressed by Cordingley in that “We know he can play defense. It was an experiment that we tried and I thought worked pretty well for us. But Dhane’s got that scoring touch and we need a little bit more of that.”
Smith’s burgeoning career in the NLL is distinguished not only by his size and strength but also his profound sense of versatility, adaptability, and motivation to build the skills needed for success.
The 6-foot-3 195lb. forward from Kitchener, Ontario really is a general manager and head coach’s dream player. His former Kitchener/Waterloo Kodiaks general manager and current Bandits GM Steve Dietrich summed it up rather nicely. He says, “Dhane might be our most talented pure offensive player. Last year when we put him back at transition, we thought Dhane would get some loose balls and then lead in transition. But, when Dhane moved up to forward and played there, he was fantastic. We really need Dhane to basically take the next step forward and be one of our offensive leaders.”
Smith’s reputation as an offensive scoring machine can be traced back to the summer before Smith was drafted fifth overall in the 2012 NLL draft by the Bandits. Smith at that time was gaining major traction from the Bandits scouting department back during his playing days as a member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Braves. During the 2012 season, Smith led all Ontario Junior “A” players with 107 points (38G, 69A) in 19 games. His incredible offensive efforts that season earned him the Bobby Allan Award for being the league’s top scorer and the Dennis McIntosh Award for being the league’s most valuable player. At the time he was drafted, Dietrich already began to see the offensive promise that Smith would someday deliver to the Bandits. “Dhane’s the complete package,” Dietrich said. “He’s got great vision and great hands, and he’s proven in junior that he can score a lot of goals.”
While they may be superstars in their respective leagues, the major question that is always asked of in every draft pick selected into the National Lacrosse League is their evolutionary ability to adapt to the big time, incredibly fast paced style of the league.
When Smith cracked the Bandits starting roster in 2013, the coaching staff threw him out there in various positions of offense, transition and a bit of defense to truly see where his strengths and weaknesses truly lied. Overall in his first season with the Bandits, Smith played extremely well overall but also suffered a little bit of some growing pains in spots due to the adjusting and adapting in the league. 2013 was still an impressive year for the rookie from Kitchener as he ranked third on the team with 44 points (24G, 20A) and was the only rookie in the Eastern Conference to make the 2013 NLL All-Rookie Team.
When the Bandits came together to start the 2014 NLL season, Dietrich and Cordingley decided to move up Mark Steenhuis to forward from his previous position of transition in the hopes of moving Smith from forward to transition so he could really use the experience he gained in his rookie season to help him redevelop his overall game and truly breakout during the upcoming season.
Before the start of the 2014 NLL season, the name and playing ability of Dhane Smith had only been known to the fans in Banditland and the select few who truly study and keep up with the NLL. When the 2014 season was all said and done, if you still didn’t know the name of Dhane Smith by then, you definitely knew it now.
In his sophomore season with the Bandits, Smith ranked third again in team scoring with 59 points (20G, 39 A) while scooping up 79 loose balls and forcing 17 turnovers.
In 2014, Smith used every weapon in his arsenal to dominate every opponent he faced. Smith’s greatest weapon is his speed. With his long legs and long arms, he’s able to cover more ground in a shorter time, scoop up the loose balls and push forward to create chances while in transition.
While Smith was having himself an incredible winter session with the Bandits, his current success followed him as well to his summer stint with the Kitchener-Waterloo Kodiaks of Major Series Lacrosse.
In just 6 games with the Kodiaks, Smith tallied 26 points (12G, 14A) before his rights were acquired by the Victoria Shamrocks of the Western Lacrosse Association. Smith’s regular season continued on with 21 more points recorded (8G, 13A) in 9 games for the Shamrocks as they headed into the playoffs. During the playoffs for the Shamrocks, Smith kicked it into overdrive and scored a team-high 41 points (10G, 31A) in 9 playoff games to help them return back to the Mann Cup finals against the Six Nations Chiefs. Unfortunately for Smith and the Shamrocks, they were eventually defeated by the Chiefs even though Smith had 17 points (9G, 8A) in 6 games.
The reasons why Smith is still an incredible scoring threat to this day is has to do with his cunning style of play in the offensive zone. When Smith has the ability to take the shot, he will use all of his heart and strength to muscle in and deke the defender to take the open shot. His bread and butter is also his ability to draw defenders out in a double team and dish the pass to the open teammate who can bury a quick stick opportunity. He can shoot five-hole, bounce shots, top shelf corner shots with tremendous accuracy and proved that he is also a very dangerous shot from 15 feet away.
Indeed transition has been the key so far for Smith’s progressive developments to his game and will hopefully continue to be in his upcoming duties with the Bandits. His experiences thus far have shown us that persistence and the ability to adapt will take you a long way.
Bandits GM Dietrich is extremely hopeful in Smith’s possible transition to superstardom in the NLL with “I think Dhane Smith has a chance to be the best player in the league,” Dietrich said. “If he wants to be, it’s all up to him.”
