Toronto – The defending NLL Champion Toronto Rock will play three exhibition contests before opening the 2012 NLL regular season on Sunday, January 8th at Air Canada Centre.
The first of two exhibition scrimmages will be played on Saturday, December 3rd at the Iroquois Lacrosse Arena (ILA) in Six Nations against the Edmonton Rush at 6pm. On paper, the Rush are a much improved team after having missed the playoffs in 2011 and will be looking to lay the groundwork for a run at the West Division title and beyond.
The following weekend, the Rock will travel out west to Langley, British Columbia to play an exhibition game against the Washington Stealth at the Langley Events Centre. The game is also a rematch of the 2010 and 2011 NLL Champion’s Cup Finals. Langley is the hometown of Rock sniper Garrett Billings and will serve as a homecoming for the 3rd year member of the defending champs and also for pro lacrosse to a province that is a hot bed for the sport in Canada.
“When the Vancouver Ravens were here, there was a spike in minor lacrosse registrations,” notes Billings. “Selling this game out would show that BC supports pro lacrosse and would be a win-win from the grassroots of the sport on up. Hopefully, it can translate into the province being just a few short steps away from having a team back in Vancouver.”
The west coast swing last year provided the Rock to have a pre-season bonding experience that GM Terry Sanderson feels helped his team get off to a good start last season.
“It will again help build team chemistry with all the changes we’ve made in the off-season,” remarked GM Terry Sanderson. “This road trip is going to be a bit different than last year. We’re looking at this as opening night preparation and we’ll be going to BC with a heavy amount of our season opening roster. We took everyone in camp last year to Colorado to give them the NLL experience. This will give everyone a chance to refresh themselves with the way Coach (Troy) Cordingley likes to do things.”
The pre-season schedule will wrap up with an unfamiliar foe in the Minnesota Swarm on Sunday, December 18th at 4pm at the ILA. The Rock and Swarm have not met in the regular season since 2009. The exhibition scrimmage falls just 5 days before the deadline for final rosters to be submitted to the league prior to the start of the 2012 NLL season. This will be a last look for both teams prior to settling on the final 23 players that will begin the journey towards the Champion’s Cup for each club.
“We see two key areas of competition,” said Sanderson. “The first one is finding an offensive righty to help solidify our right side. Secondly, it’s who lands on our roster and the depth positions on our defensive side. We think we’re real deep on our offensive lefty side and we’re quite content with what we have in the goaltending department.”
Each of the two scrimmages played at the ILA will give Rock fans a first hand look at the new faces that are trying to help the Rock to a second consecutive Champion’s Cup in 2012. The scrimmages are open to the public and there is no charge for admission.
The Rock will begin their official training camp on Saturday, November 26 at the ILA in Six Nations. An official training camp roster will be released in the coming weeks.
Training Camp Schedule
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Date
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Time
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Location
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Saturday, November 26
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2-4pm
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ILA – Six Nations
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Sunday, November 27
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4-6pm
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ILA – Six Nations
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Sunday, December 4
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8-10pm
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ILA – Six Nations
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Wednesday, December 7
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9-11pm
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ILA – Six Nations
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Saturday, December 17
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4-6pm
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ILA – Six Nations
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Wednesday, December 28
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9-11pm
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ILA – Six Nations
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The Toronto Rock begin defence of their NLL championship on Sunday, January 8th at Air Canada Centre as they take on the Calgary Roughnecks. Season and single game tickets are now on sale. For more information please call 416-596-3075 or visit www.torontorock.com.
