The Buffalo Bandits endure as the NLL’s longest tenured franchise (in the same market as they began play), tracing their roots all the way back to the triumphant debut season of 1992, when the club announced it presence with authority, amid winning a league title in its first, second and fifth years of existence (1992, 1993, 1996). Fast-forwarding 33 years from the dawn of professional box lacrosse on the shores of Lake Erie, it is the very same Bandits who sit high atop the apex of NLL superiority, chasing a third consecutive championship this weekend, while continuing to serve as the gold standard in the all-important areas of attendance and overall standing within the community.
“It was a love affair right at the beginning in 1992, when the Knox family agreed to put a team in Buffalo,” remembers longtime Bandits play-by-play announcer John Gurtler. “Right at the beginning of the first game, they had to hold the start for 45 minutes because they couldn’t sell the tickets fast enough. The Bandits subsequently sold out every game all the way down the line until the early 2000s. It was an immediate love affair with the Buffalo-Niagara Frontier.”
Photo by Bill Wippert
Gurtler has served as the voice of the Bandits since 2004, tracking his connection to the organization straight through to its inaugural period, courtesy of a late 1980s through mid-1990s association with the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, who operate as a sister entity to the Bandits. Initially working as public relations director, the Colorado native moved to the broadcast side of the Sabres operation, including a multi-season stint calling games from the television booth position at Buffalo’s legendary Memorial Auditorium.
Gurtler migrated to The Empire State in 1984, becoming a staple of the sports community in the four decades that followed, contributing his unmistakable pipes to calling the action for the Bandits, Sabres and AHL’s Rochester Americans, while also formerly functioning as the in-stadium public address announcer for the Buffalo Bills.
The Western Colorado University alum is immensely proud of possessing the opportunity to apply his craft amid a Western New York sports landscape that wholeheartedly believes in a one for all and all for one philosophy of support.
“I think every team complements each other,” assesses Gurtler. “The Bills complement everybody else, as do the Sabres and Bandits. We had 10 or 12 Buffalo Bills at the game last Friday night. It was amazing seeing them wearing Bandit sweaters. This is one of the reasons Buffalo is called the city of good neighbors.”
Congratulations to John Gurtler, the long-time play-by-play voice of the Buffalo Bandits, on being awarded the Tom Borrelli Award for Media Person of the Year honors! 👏 pic.twitter.com/o98LL9EchW
— NLL (@NLL) May 12, 2025
Gurtler’s dedication to both the Bandits and the sports-crazed citizenry of Buffalo was recently recognized when the NLL awarded the broadcaster the prestigious Tom Borrelli Award, given to the league’s Media Person of the Year.
For the man behind the mic, earning this distinction was a truly full-circle moment when considering the impact the late Buffalo News reporter had on the public face of the Bandits.
“It was quite an honor, and probably twofold in the sense that I worked with Tom Borrelli right at the beginning, when I was hired by the Bandits in 2004,” beams Gurtler. “Tom was a great asset for me. I drew on him because of the intricacies of his statistics and the nuances of the game of which he explained to me.”
Gurtler further elaborated on Borrelli’s direct involvement with the announce team’s early storytelling of the Bandits saga.
“Randy Mearns and I always had Tom in at halftime, and he would give his two cents’ worth on the game, throw in a couple of statistics on some of the stuff that he kept on a regular basis. Tom was just an encyclopedia of information, with all of his scores, stats and game reports. He was a great guy, and I’m honored to be a part of that award this year. I think he’s very proud of his student.”
All these eons later, the broadcaster’s broadcaster still takes great delight in the roar of the crowd and the sensation that comes from witnessing a first-hand account of the action.
“SaskTel Centre is a fine place to call a game in their press box,” describes the famed game presenter. “It’s a real gondola. You have to walk high up the stairs and then across a little walkway and down in. The vantage point is just right to the game. You’re close, not as close as say the old Boston Garden, but the vantage point is truly excellent.”
Looking ahead to Saturday’s winner-take-all matchup between the Bandits and Saskatchewan Rush, the staple of Buffalo sports invokes a long-held business axiom when breaking down how the much-anticipated gathering may shake out.
“I opened the broadcast on Sunday night using sales terminology,” boasts the man who has called every game of the series for WWKB-AM. “Sales 101 is close early and close often. In lacrosse terms, score early and score often. I think the way to get ahead of the Saskatchewan Rush team is to put in as many goals as you can right at the beginning of the game. Similar to what the Rush did against the Bandits on Sunday night. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and certainly had a lot of confidence rolling into that score.”
The orator, who has called more than 400 consecutive Bandit games, continued his analysis by going into detail regarding the unreal abilities of the players competing for box lacrosse’s most sought-after prize.
“This is two entirely different styles of teams,” postulates Gurtler. “There is all the talent in the world on the Bandits, the most talented team that I’ve ever been a part of, over the course of my 21 seasons. The diversification of all the forwards, the heftiness of the defense and the excellent goaltending. But you’re facing a team like Saskatchewan, who looks at it like what the heck do we have to lose? They’re fueled by Austin Shanks, Zach Manns, Robert Church, Ryan Keenan and Jake Boudreau, who are all pretty special. They’re a great team!”
