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Dhane Smith Chris Corbeil Saksatchewan Rush Buffalo Bandits nll 2016 Photo: Josh Schaefer
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NLL Champion’s Cup Facts and Numbers!

Editor’s Note: Thanks to the help of the innovative team at SISU Guard, the Official Mouthguard of the NLL, we’ve beefed up our National Lacrosse League coverage! We hope you enjoy our look at the 2016 NLL Champion’s Cup Playoffs through a new lens with the aid of our partner SISU, continuing with the Buffalo Bandits and the Saskatchewan Rush.

The 2016 NLL Champion’s Cup kicks off on Saturday night in Buffalo, but I’ve already told you plenty about it in the Super Post. So, why am I here? Because Ryan Conwell and I are nerds. Nerds like facts, numbers and freaking out about stuff that hasn’t happened yet. Starting to catch my drift? Either way, might as well read on…

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Numbers Game

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BUFFALO BANDITS

1 – Champion’s Cup appearance since 2008 win
4 – Total Champion’s Cup victories
8 – Total Champion’s Cup appearances
8 – PPG in Playoffs by Ryan Benesch (First)
60% – Penalty kill success (First)
137 – Total points by Dhane Smith (First)
251 – Goals scored (First)
289 – Season FO wins by Jay Thorimbert (First)[/mks_one_half]

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SASKATCHEWAN RUSH

1 – Total Champions’s Cup victory
3 – Total Champion’s Cup appearances
5 – Consecutive seasons in the playoffs
40 – Season assists by Mark Matthews (Second)
47 – Powerplay success percentage (Last)
190 – Total goals allowed in the season (First)
1,042 – Totals floor time from Aaron Bold (First)
15,192 – Attendance at last Playoff game (First)[/mks_one_half]

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Facts and Figures

  • Saskatchewan’s defense combined for 27 goals in the regular season. The last time the #1 scoring defense won the Champion’s Cup was Rochester in 2013 and Calgary in 2009 before that.
  • Buffalo’s penalty kill stayed at the top of the league in the regular season, finishing with a 60.23% success rate, a stretch ahead of Saskatchewan in second place with 51.90%. The last time the best Man Down unit won the title was the Rock in 2011.
  • Currently tied with the Knighthawks at 4, a win from the Bandits will place them second on most titles list, behind the Rock (6).
  • Only successful on 47.06% of their powerplays, the Rush were dead last in the standings. The worst powerplay unit has never won a Championship in any of the seasons available on NLL.com (2005+).
  • Moving from Edmonton to Saskatchewan in the offseason, the Rush can become the first team to win a Champion’s Cup the same year they relocated the organization.
  • Dhane Smith led the NLL regular season in points with 137. The last time a leading scorer won the championship was 2014 (Cody Jamieson, Rochester). Before that, it was John Grant Jr in 2007, also in Rochester.
  • If the Rush come out on top, it will be the 6th time in NLL history that a team won Championships in back to back years. The last was Rochester’s 2012-14 three-peat, 2002-03’s Toronto before that.
  • The series will feature the first NLL Championship game played in the Saskatchewan province, the first Champion’s Cup for NLL Commissioner Nick Sakiewicz and the first time the two teams have ever met in the Finals.

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Still need more NLL content before the big games? Make sure to dive deep into the NLL Champion’s Cup Super Post we dropped earlier this week!