The Toronto Rock had a statement win on Friday night against the Halifax Thunderbirds, beating them 15-12 on Friday night at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.
This was Toronto’s first game since trading 2024 goalie of the year Nick Rose, 2022 defensive player of the year Mitch De Snoo and others in an effort to rebuild. They responded with Corey Small scoring four goals, Josh Dawick scoring a hat trick and five points, and Zack Kearney and Tom Schreiber also picking up five points. Goaltender Troy Holowchuk played excellently in his first career start, stopping 40 shots and shutting out the Thunderbirds for the last 13:45 of the fourth quarter.
“It’s tough, we lost some key pieces, including our starting goalie,” said veteran forward Corey Small. “Troy has been with us for a few years, and we know he can step in and do a good job and I think for all of us, we just wanted to get him a win in his first start. That meant offensively grinding a little bit harder to get the goals that we needed and defensively tightening it up to shut them down. I think we were playing for him in a sense that we wanted to get a win for him in his first start.”
For the Thunderbirds, this loss snapped a five-game win streak. Captain Cody Jamieson was blunt about why they lost.
“I think they wanted it more,” said Jamieson, who led the Thunderbirds with four goals. “They traded some key players away, and other guys got an opportunity on their team, and they wanted to win more. Our team, you know it’s tough to stay motivated, and it’s tough to stick to your game plan when things are going so well, but we gotta play our game.”
The Rock winning their first game since the big trades wasn’t the only major story in this game. Thunderbirds defender Tyson Bell returned to home action for the first time since being suspended in December for seven games for attacking two fans who were sticking their middle finger and jeering him as he was leaving a game in Colorado in December. Bell returned last week in the Thunderbirds 9-5 win in Las Vegas. He declined to comment on the incident.
Bell didn’t play between December 21 and March 1, when the Thunderbirds won six out of seven games. He said he had a stick in his hand every day and consistently went to the gym to stay in shape.
“It was tough. If I said it wasn’t, I think I would be lying to you,” Bell said about sitting out. “Our team is a very supportive team, I was getting messages from the organization and players throughout the whole time, which is amazing. And me, as a person, I needed that. When I came back, we weren’t focused on what happened in the past; we were focused on what our task was during the weekend. Which was Las Vegas, and I think we did a good job in that game. I’m just happy to be back on the floor with this team because this is a championship team and the sky is the limit for us,” said Bell.
“He’s a great player, we’re happy to have him back. He’s just another body back there who can play. We did pretty good without him, but it’s always good having him,” said Jamieson.
Dan Craig opened the scoring for Toronto three minutes into the game.
Then, a battle of the duelling hat tricks took place between Jamieson and Toronto’s forward, Josh Dawick.
Jamieson scored first, firing the ball past Holowchuk’s glove. He added another 15 seconds later as his shot from the slot trickled past the line.
Dawick would answer back. Halifax missed the net, and the goal horn went off prematurely. So naturally, Dawick and Rock went down the other end to score.
Jamieson completed his hat trick on the power play. Afterwards, Dawick scored two goals from the right side to complete his hat trick.
“I think Josh Dawick had a great start, he’s had a great season,” said Small. “Him scoring three early kept us in it, but we’ve been playing pretty unselfish lately. I was fortunate tonight to capitalize on a few, but it seems like the ball is being spread out quite a bit lately, and that’s what makes a good offence.”
Graeme Hossack and former Thunderbird Chris Boushy rounded out the scoring, with the Rock up 5-4 at the end of the first.
Clarke Petterson scored two quick goals in the second quarter to put the Thunderbirds up 6-5.
However, Small scored to tie the game, and Boushy added another for Toronto to regain the lean.
The Rock kept coming. There was a scramble in the slot with three players running into each other. Tom Schreiber picked up the loose ball and passed it around his back on his forehand, known as “around the world,” to Nathan Grenon at the side of the net, and he scored.
Corey Small added another to put the Rock up 9-6 going into half-time.
Small wouldn’t let up, opening the scoring 25 seconds into the third quarter. Afterwards, Thomas Hoggarth for Halifax and Chris Weier for Toronto traded goals.
Cody Jamieson wouldn’t be denied. He received the ball high in the slot and fired it in for his fourth goal of the game. Jake Withers scored off the face-off to narrow Toronto’s lead to 11-9.
But Toronto wouldn’t let Halifax back in it. Small scored his fourth in the game. That was the end of Halifax goaltender Warren Hill’s night as Halifax put Drew Hutchison in the game.
Hutchison stopped Jake Darlison point-blank. However, the Rock wouldn’t let him get comfortable. Schreiber picked up a scramble loose ball right in front of the net and fired it around his back to stretch their lead to 13-9.
“Timely goals are really important. You can kind of see it when (Halifax) scored three in a minute and a half. That can happen. I think we just didn’t let any situation where they scored one or two, or even when they scored three, really affect our emotional stake in the game,” said Small.
Halifax came out hot in the fourth quarter. Clarke Petterson got into a scrum for the ball in the offensive zone. Thomas Hoggarth ran in behind to scoop up the ball and score. Hoggarth and Matt Robinson added two more under a minute to make the score 13-12.
Toronto answered in transition. Zack Kearney passed it down to Brad Kri on a 2-on-1 break. The defence played it well, moving right in front of Kri to prevent a shot, but he shot the ball behind his back to score.
The Rock locked it down for the final 10 minutes of the game, preventing the Thunderbirds from scoring. Jake Darlison scored the empty net goal to seal the win for Toronto.
“We had a couple there to pull it within closing distance, but they had an answer for us. We need to go back to the drawing board and make sure we show up ready to play our game,” Jamieson.
The loss drops Halifax’s record to 7-5, while it improves Toronto’s record to 4-8. Even with their poor record, the Rock aren’t losing hope of making the postseason.
“Matt Sawyer, our coach, said a really good thing to start the game that we’re focused on getting one at a time,” said Small. “It’s easy to let your mind wander and think you have to win six out of your last six or five out of your last six, but just focusing on the game at hand and being in the moment. I think having that mindset makes it a little bit easier. Everybody has counted us out already. We’ve traded some key pieces, and that is a big part of it, too. People are counting us out. The guys that are still here have a lot of belief that we can still get it done, and we want to prove some people wrong.”
