The Buffalo Bandits announced today that head coach Darris Kilgour has signed a two-year contract extension.

With the team holding a third-year option, the defending NLL Coach of the Year could remain behind the Bandits' bench through the 2006 season. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"Winning the Coach of the Year award was well deserved and we're happy to have him back for the next several seasons," Bandits general manager Kurt Silcott said. "Darris is the right coach to lead us to a championship."

A leading member of the Bandits during their glory years of the mid-1990s, Kilgour returned to the team last summer after two seasons coaching the Washington Power. When the Power relocated to Denver, he decided to remain on the East Coast and rejoin the Bandits.

In his debut season skippering the Bandits, Kilgour posted a 12-4 record, significantly improving on the team's 8-8 mark the previous season and putting the Bandits into the postseason for the first time since 2000.

By losing its season finale in Calgary, Buffalo missed securing home-floor advantage throughout the playoffs on a tiebreaker. The Bandits ultimately lost to Rochester in the semifinals.

Kilgour recorded an 18-12 regular-season record in Washington, reaching the playoffs both seasons.

Prior to that, Kilgour was a star player in the Major Indoor Lacrosse League and the National Lacrosse League. Buffalo's first-ever draft choice, in the Fall 1991 Entry Draft, Kilgour was a member of all three Bandit championship teams (1992, 1993, and 1996) and was named to the league's All-Pro Team three times (1992, 1997, 1998).

Late in the 1999 season, with the Bandits out of the playoff race, Kilgour requested and received a trade to the Rochester Knighthawks, where he reached the NLL Champion's Cup final.

Kilgour remained in the league for one more year, joining the Albany Attack in 2000 and leading the first-year club with 38 assists.

For his career, Kilgour scored 144 goals, dished out 168 assists and totalled 285 penalty minutes in 76 regular-season games. In 15 playoff games, he added 26 goals, 35 assists, and 69 penalty minutes.