NLL Toronto Rock

Rock Looking For Revenge

Published on January 20, 2006 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Toronto Rock News Release


TORONTO - Winning a championship is certainly easier than defending it, so the Toronto Rock are learning early in the 2006 season.

The Rock, despite solid offensive production and gutsy comeback bids, are winless to start the `06 campaign as they enter the HSBC Arena tomorrow night looking to rebound from the shaky start.

Head coach and general manager Terry Sanderson said he is happy with the effort he's receiving and feels he has the right players on the team in the Rock's quest to win an unprecedented sixth title in eight seasons.

Optimism from coaching staff

As the talk of the league with the unexpected slow start, the Rock coaches are exercising patience.

"The only message you can give (the players) at this time is to keep working hard and doing the things we're doing," Sanderson said in the weekly NLL media call. "We had a good game against Buffalo, we played well. Things just didn't turn out how we wanted... In Rochester we were sluggish... The guys know they maybe need to bring a harder work ethic. We're happy with the effort we're receiving from these guys, hopefully this weekend we'll get out of this funk."

Sanderson said the only area he would like to see improvement in is on offence.

"I would just hope that offensively we start making a few more of our chances. If there is a sore point it's that we're generating a lot of shots but not finishing with regularity. If anything I'd hope we can get a little crisper in that area."

While many pundits have questioned the goaltending of Bob "Whipper" Watson, Sanderson is sticking with him.

"Bobby's our guy," Sanderson said.

"We've got all kinds of guys questioning that. But we're going with that guy. Everyone in that room believes in him. He had his nay-sayers last year, but he proved them wrong."

History on Rock's side

In 10 meetings at the HSBC Arena, Toronto has won eight times. The last five games between Buffalo and Toronto have been won by the visiting team.

"I don't think we go into Buffalo any more confident than we do with any other rink," Sanderson said about going in the cozy confines of the HSBC. "If you're not confident, you're not going to be successful, you'll get into a bad start right away... [But] I don't think there's any magic with that, it seems to be one of the buildings we do seem to play a lot better in but I don't put a lot of time into thinking about that."

Toronto hosts the Edmonton Rush on Friday Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. The game can be seen live on Rogers Sportsnet Ontario/East/West. Fans can also listen to the game on the Fan 590 (www.fan590.com) or watch live on B2 Networks. For more information, visit www.torontorock.com.

Notable Notes...

The Rock and Bandits met once already this season, last Friday Jan. 13 when the Bandits defeated the Rock 13-11 at the Air Canada Centre... Mark "Blue Shoes" Steenhuis led the way for the Bandits with five goals and four assists. The St. Catharines, Ont., native worked magic, defeating a series of Rock defenders one-on-one and tight-roping along the crease to beat goalie Bob Watson five times... Josh Sanderson (4G, 3A) and Colin Doyle (2G, 5A) were both excellent for the Rock, but the same can't be said for the Rock's penalty killing or special teams in general. Toronto allowed six powerplay goals on 9 Bandits opportunities... The Rock equaled a new high for goals allowed in a half on Saturday Jan. 14 in Rochester, when they allowed 12 first-half Knighthawks goals. The previous mark was 11 goals, and it was previously set twice (01/23/2004 vs. the Vancouver Ravens and 01/09/1999 vs. the Baltimore Thunder)... This is the first time the Rock has started the season 0-3 in franchise history. The only other time the Rock lost three consecutive games was in 2004 when the Rock lost three straight (01/31/04 - 02/13/04)... Last Friday Jan. 13 vs. Buffalo, the Rock also equaled its longest home losing streak (2 games) previously set in 2004 (02/07/04 - 02/13/04). The Rock's longest winning streak in franchise history is at 10 games, set between 03/13/1999 and 01/28/2000 under Les Bartley... In 18 previous games between the Bandits and the Rock, Toronto holds the season series 12-6 - in 10 previous meetings at the HSBC arena the Rock is 8-2; so much for home-floor advantage... The teams have split 4-4 in Toronto.

Upcoming Milestones

Coach Terry Sanderson

50th Regular Season Win - Enters the season with 43-41 Regular Season Record

Only four coaches with better records entering the season: Les Bartley (93-38), Paul Day (75-39, now with Edmonton), Tony Resch (53-25) and Darris Kilgour (49-29).

Team

100 Wins

Team Enters Season with 94 (including playoffs and Raiders) or 88 (including playoffs excluding Raiders)

Jim Veltman

2000th career playoff and regular loose ball / 1500th regular season loose ball / 300th assist

1967 loose balls to date in career with Buffalo and Toronto; 1498 in regular season alone.

Mat Giles

Played in his 100th game on Jan. 7 vs. Arizona

Matt Sawyer

And his fiancée April just had a baby girl on Wednesday Jan. 11. Her name is Talia Vale (7 lbs. 15 oz.)

Colin Doyle

Recorded his 600th career point on Jan. 13 against Buffalo at the ACC

Dan Ladouceur

Has 329 PIM entering the game and needs just 4 PIM to move into third all-time in career penalty minutes. Neil Doddridge is first with 362 PIM, Pat Coyle is second with 351 PIM and Tom Phair is currently third with 331 PIM.

Up next... Friday Jan. 27 - Edmonton Rush at Toronto Rock, Air Canada Centre, 7:30 p.m.

Sunday Feb. 5 - Toronto Rock at Calgary Roughnecks, Pengrowth Saddledown, 3:30 p.m. (Eastern)

Check out the Toronto Rock Statistics

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National Lacrosse League Stories from January 20, 2006


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