The National Lacrosse League today announced the selection of Buffalo Bandits goaltender Steve Dietrich as the 2006 Jet Blue Most Valuable Player.

2005   Colin Doyle
       Toronto
2004   Jim Veltman
       Toronto
2003   Gary Gait
       Colorado
2002   Paul Gait
       Washington
2001   John Tavares
       Buffalo
2000   John Tavares
       Buffalo
1999   Gary Gait
       Baltimore
1998   Gary Gait
       Baltimore
1997   Gary Gait
       Philadelphia
1996   Gary Gait
       Philadelphia
1995   Gary Gait
       Philadelphia
1994   John Tavares
       Buffalo

He is the first netminder ever to win the award, and the first Bandit since John Tavares in 2001.

"It's a tremendous honor to even be thought of for an award of this nature, yet alone win it," Dietrich said.

"But like any individual award, you can't do it without the help of your teammates."

Dietrich, in his fifth season with Buffalo, was named last week as the RBK Goaltender of the Year and bagged his fourth career All-Pro selection yesterday.

In front of Dietrich, the Bandits romped to a league-best 11-5 record and home-floor advantage throughout the playoffs, with "Chugger" posting a 10-4 record in fifteen games.

"Steve has been the backbone of this team since I returned to Buffalo [in 2003]," Bandits head coach Darris Kilgour said. "His performance this season has been outstanding, and we wouldn't be playing for the championship without him."

Dietrich's goals-against average (9.97) was the lowest by any full-time goaltender since Bob Watson's 8.89 in 2001, and his save percentage (80.8) was the best since Tom Manos posted an 84.7 percent rejection rate for Baltimore in 1992.

"We have a great coaching staff, a great organization in Buffalo and a great bunch of guys that I play with," Dietrich said.

"I'm the beneficiary of playing behind probably the best defensive unit in the league."

In his fourteenth professional season, Dietrich has 4,633 saves, second only to Dallas Eliuk. Prior to the Bandits, he played one season each for Baltimore and Detroit and seven seasons with Rochester.

The Most Valuable Player Award is voted on by the executives, general managers, and head coaches of the eleven NLL clubs.