Coaches don’t make any difference to a team’s success or failure, right? It’s the 20 guys on the roster that win or lose games, not the coaching staff. That certainly seemed to be the prevailing attitude in Toronto last summer when the Rock decided to fire head coach Troy Cordingley only three weeks after he won his second Les Bartley Award as coach of the year. Cordingley had compiled a…
Shamrocks Sign Duch, Ranger
With all of the transactions in the National Lacrosse League the past few days, there has also been some in the Western Lacrosse Association. The Victoria Shamrocks have signed Rhys Duch (Vancouver Stealth), Scott Ranger (Calgary Roughnecks), Corey Small (Edmonton Rush) and Karsen Leung (Calgary Roughnecks). All four of the NLL players signed were a part of last year’s team that went to the Mann Cup. “It’s shaping up to…
NLL Announces Seven Games on Universal Sports
The National Lacrosse League has announced that Universal Sports Network will broadcast seven NLL games over the remainder of the 2014 regular season. Universal Sports will showcase an NLL “Game of the Week” every Thursday from the previous week’s action beginning tonight at 5 p.m. ET with the Colorado Mammoth at Buffalo Bandits game from Saturday, March 15. “We are proud to be partnering with Universal Sports Network to showcase the NLL to even…
Speck Blog: Last Push for Playoffs
Well it’s hard to believe that the end of the regular season is just around the corner for us, but here we are 7 games in sitting at 2-5 with one game remaining against Barrie this Sunday at the Molson Center. As a team we are looking to finish the season on a winning note heading into playoffs as we have lost our last 3 games, losing to Barrie in…
Rock Sign Jimmy Purves and Kevin Ross
Toronto Rock General Manager Terry Sanderson has announced a series of roster moves including the signing of free agent forward Kevin Ross and free agent defenceman Jimmy Purves to the active roster. A day after acquiring goaltender Brandon Miller from the Philadelphia Wings in exchange for Kyle Belton and a pair of draft picks, Sanderson was at it again shoring things up prior to Thursday’s 12:00pm ET roster freeze. To…
Team USA Profile: JoJo Marasco
Position: Midfield College: Syracuse Professional: New York Lizards JoJo Marasco has been making headlines in the lacrosse world for years now. In high school, he decided to recant his commitment to Ohio State and moved to Syracuse University. He walks into the Carrier Dome his sophomore year and dons the fabled 22 jersey, long known for greatness in lacrosse. Marasco worked tirelessly on his game and in time may…
Wings Trade Away Miller; Where They Go From Here
The trade deadline has now passed and all was quiet until the final two minutes when the league announced that the Toronto Rock and Philadelphia Wings agreed on a deal. The Rock send second year transition player Kyle Belton along with a conditional 2nd round and 4th round pick in the 2014 entry draft. In return the Rock acquire 14-year veteran Brandon Miller to back up Nick Rose. The conditional pick works…
Loyola Looks to Extend Winning Streak Against Georgetown
WHERE: @ Georgetown WHEN: Wednesday March 19 @ 6:00 Loyola is one of, if not the hottest team in the country right now. After losing their season opener by one goal in overtime to Virginia, the Hounds have won six straight games, four of which have come against ranked teams. If the defense hadn’t collapsed worse than the Titanic in open ocean waters, the Hound would be 7-0 right now…
Hofstra Four-Game Win Streak Snapped In OT
For the second year in a row, No. 17 Hofstra saw its four-game winning streak snapped by St. John’s in an 11-10 overtime loss. With the loss Hofstra drops to 4-3 overall on the season while St. John’s moves to 4-2. “It leaves a bad taste in our mouth,” Hofstra Head Coach Seth Tierney said about the loss. “I thought we had opportunities to win.” Hofstra was led in scoring…
Was Goaltending Really the Need for Toronto?
Looking at team statistics for the 2014 season, the Rock are actually very solid on the defensive side of the ball. Therefore, why trade for a goaltender? Though opponents playing Toronto are averaging a save percentage of .764, the Rock have a similar rate of .753. That exemplifies the goalies’ efforts in saving 75 percent of the shots they take, and it’s within 1 percent of the opponent. The Toronto…