The Toronto Rock finished 2015 as East Division champions, a great title but not the one they wanted to end with. The team has had several months to ruminate on their Champions Cup loss to the Edmonton Rush. The Rock management believes they have the right pieces in place to compete again in 2016 and finish with the trophy. As such, they have made few moves so far in this off-season.
Head coach John Lovell, winner of the 2015 Les Bartley award as Coach of the Year, signed a two year contract extension that keeps him with the Rock through 2017. This past season, Lovell led the team to a 14-4 record. Jamie Dawick, who took over the team as interim GM after Terry Sanderson’s passing, will remain on as GM and has promoted Matt Sawyer from assistant coach to assistant GM.
When they open training camp on November 28th, the Rock will be missing three key pieces from their 2015 team, but two only temporarily. Rob Hellyer and Damon Edwards are recovering from shoulder and knee surgeries, respectively. Hellyer may return in time for opening day while Edwards is hopeful for a mid-season debut. The third missing piece, Kevin Crowley, was traded back to the New England Black Wolves in exchange for Dan Lintner, the Black Wolves first pick in the recent draft.
Lintner joins a draft class that includes Turner Evans, Luc Magnan, Kyle Aquin, Jamie Batten, and Tyler Roche. All six were signed to one year deals. The Rock also have signed free agents Dan Keane and Mark Farthing to one year deals. With virtually everyone returning from last season, roster spots for youngsters will be hard to come by.
At forward, the Rock will once again rely on Josh Sanderson for both scoring and as a set-up man, and will count on Stephan Leblanc and a healthy Colin Doyle to light up the scoresheet as well.
Jesse Gamble and Brodie Merrill will lead on transition, and Brock Sorensen, with a year under his belt in front of the Toronto crowd, will surely be a force on the fast-break.
The defense will be led by NLL veterans Patrick Merrill, Sandy Chapman, Bill Greer, and Rob Marshall. They also added Mike Grimes for draft picks in a trade with Georgia.
Goaltending is set with fan favourite Nick Rose returning alongside 2015 Goaltender of the Year nominee Brandon Miller. The two split time in the Rock net last season posting a combined 10.03 GAA. Rose and Miller finished third and fourth in goalie standings.
The Rock will play three pre-season games, the first of which will be December 5 in Ottawa at TD Place versus the Saskatchewan Rush; in name, the Rock have never faced this team before, but in reality, the Rush are the same team that beat the Rock two games to none in the championship final. They’ll also play games versus Colorado on December 12 and Georgia on December 19, both at the TRAC in Oakville.
