With arguably the most well-rounded roster in the NLL, the Toronto Rock enter their 15th season focused on capturing their 7th Champion’s Cup title.
Leading the Rock offensively will be Garrett Billings. Billings has performed incredibly since beginning his career with the Rock in 2010. After a monstrous 2012 season that saw him set the franchise record in points with 114 and the NLL record for assists with 82, the Langley native is poised to remain the Rock’s offensive star for the future. Billings continued his dominance into the summer, leading all Mann Cup scorers with 31 points in 6 games despite a losing effort by his Langley Thunder.
Joining Billings in offense is fellow fourth year Rock member Stephan Leblanc. Despite finishing second in team scoring last season, Leblanc’s 65 point campaign was the lowest total of his career. With veteran scorers such as Colin Doyle, Josh Sanderson and Blaine Manning furthering into their careers, Leblanc will be expected to carry more of the offensive load in the future and will need a breakthrough 2013 season to do so.
The addition of Scott Evans will provide an additional scoring punch for Toronto. After posting three consecutive 70-plus point seasons between 06-08, the Peterborough native has seen those numbers plummet since a torn ACL sidelined him for the duration of the 2009 campaign. After recording 8 points in two exhibition games since joining the Rock, Evans has proved he can still perform. A fresh start with Toronto may lead to the resurgence of the Scott Evans of old.
After trading away Jamie Rooney and the retirement of Dan Carey, a crop of youngsters in Rob Hellyer, Brandon Ivey and Kyle Belton will be depended on in the secondary scoring department. Leading the trio is Hellyer, who despite missing much of last season to injury, has seen valuable experience in his short time with the Rock including notching 1 goal and 1 assist in the 2011 Champion’s Cup final as a rookie. Ivey joins Toronto as a free-agent after spending time with the Calgary Roughnecks as well as the Peel Avengers of the Canadian Lacrosse League (CLAX). A surprise to addition to the final roster, 3rd round pick Kyle Belton had an impressive pre-season showing including a hat-trick exhibition performance versus Edmonton.
Returnees on the defensive end include Sandy Chapman, Bill Greer, Stephen Hoar, Mike Hobbins, Rob Marshall, Patrick Merrill, Phil Sanderson and Cam Woods. The veteran D-core share a combined total of 17 Champion’s Cup rings, 13 of which were won in a Rock uniform.
Adding to this plethora of experience on defense is free agent signee Chris White. The former Buffalo Bandits captain adds another Champion’s Cup title to the Rock’s cumulative defensive resume and is also a 4-time All-Star.
After joining Toronto during the 2012 season, former CLAX defenders Damon Edwards and Scott Johnston will look to step up in their first full season as part of the Rock’s predominantly veteran defensive cast.
An area to focus on during the 2013 season will be the play of goaltender Nick Rose. Last season marked the first in the Rock’s history without Bob “Whipper” Watson at the helm as starting goaltender. After a 4-4 record by Matt Roik led to his release from Toronto, Rose was impressive since joining the Rock from Calgary midway through last year. Despite not starting an NLL game before joining Toronto, Rose posted a 5-1 record to finish the season. The Orangeville native continued this momentum with the Senior A Coquitlam Adanacs, being named both the Western Lacrosse Association’s Most Valuable Player and Outstanding Goalie for 2012. In his first full season as the starter for Toronto, Rose will need to perform exceptionally well in order establish himself as the Rock’s goalie of the future.
The Toronto Rock will begin their 2013 season on the road against Calgary, Saturday, January 12th.
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