The Toronto Rock may be on a two week hiatus, but there is still plenty to talk about. The Rock go into their bye with the best record in the National Lacrosse League at 9-2, are undefeated at home, and are on a 5 game win streak.

That most recent victory came to the sound of 15-10 at the Air Canada Centre over the Philadelphia Wings that tested Toronto’s defence and saw the debut of a rising star. The 18 year old Rob Hellyer, the youngest player in the NLL, made an immediate impact by contributing 1 goal, 4 assists, and collecting 3 loose balls as well as showcasing impressive speed. All this earned Hellyer the NLL Rookie of the Week Award.

Toronto head coach Troy Cordingley said that during the extended break he will have his club going through strenuous practices and training to assure they will be in the best shape possible when action resumes in Calgary on March 25. During training camp the Rock coaching staff prepared players with arguably the toughest regimen in the league, and from their success it looks like all the hard work paid off.

Last Friday’s game was “Black Out Breast Cancer”, which was the final day of a 3 week charity drive that saw Toronto Rock and Sunnybrook Foundation raise over $30,000! The Rock will now have an examination room named after them in the new Sunnybrook Breast Cancer Centre, which is scheduled to open this November. Through a Rock game worn jersey auction (fetching $11,950), raffles, 50/50 draws, and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment donating $1 from every ticket sold for the March 4 match, a terrific effort was put in by all for an amazing cause.

New rule change officially from the NLL: ”Players, coaches and or non playing personnel deemed to be deliberately obstructing fans are subject to an unsportsmanlike conduct bench minor penalty.” This was brought on by mass complaints by Philadelphia Wings fans when last Saturday, Calgary Roughnecks coaches were standing up on their team’s bench and obstructing the Philly faithful’s view. Thanks to Graeme Perrow for sending the article link.

National Lacrosse League announces the upcoming release of the new NLL 11 video game, exclusively available on Xbox 360 Indie Game Channel, brought to you by Crosse Studio and Stir Fry Games. Being a PlayStation 3 owner I’m a bit disappointed it is only on Xbox, but nonetheless the preview looks solid. All 10 teams will be included as well as franchise mode and for the first time fighting! The best part is that lacrosse fans only have to pay $5.

Rock Tweets of the Week:

@GraemePerrow: “Hellyer’s was one of the nicest goals I’ve seen all year. It was knocked away then he grabbed it again and scored a beauty #NLL”

@andibarnaba: “Truly an awesome game!!! I was way less nervious in the 4th then in past games can’t wait till April 1st “

@andibarnaba: “@AndyMc81 btw u sounded great tonight, heard a bit of it in the elevator (at Air Canada Centre) lol”

@briguy100: “WOOOOOO Highlight of the night for the Rookie on the @TorontoRockLax #GoRockGo”

@Shakes1: “Come on #Rock let’s Bar Be Q some Wings #lacrosse #Toronto”

@RockBeatToronto: “Catch ROCK BEAT w/ Jordan Maxwell Now with @AndyMc81 on the NLL NETWORK at NLL.com”

Send me your tweets on the Toronto Rock, the NLL, 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships, or lacrosse in general to @AndyMc81

NLL Weekly Awards:

Overall Player of the Week: Buffalo Bandits goaltender- Mike Thompson (2 wins over the weekend)

Defensive Player of the Week: Washington Stealth defender- Mike Grimes (11 loose balls, 2 forced turnovers, 2 goals, 1 assist)

Offensive Player of the Week: Washington Stealth forward- Lewis Ratcliff (4 goals, 5 assists, 4 loose balls)

Transition Player of the Week (2nd consecutive): Rochester Knighthawks- Jordan Hall (3 goals, 3 assists, 6 loose balls)

Rookie of the Week: Toronto Rock forward- Rob Hellyer (1 goal, 3 assists, 3 loose balls)

Games Around the NLL

Sat. March 12: Boston Blazers @ Buffalo Bandits

Sun. March 13: Calgary Roughnecks @ Washington Stealth

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/AndyMc81, keep an eye on the “Inside The Rock”  blog, and visit NLL.com for all the latest Toronto Rock and National Lacrosse League action.

Andy McNamara is a sports broadcaster for the Toronto Rock lacrosse on the NLL Network (www.nll.com), along with collegiate and minor league hockey, baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, and OCW pro-wrestling across the GTA on Rogers TV, Cogeco, and Durham College/UOIT. He will also be the play-by-play voice of the 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in Prague, Czech Republic this May.

In front of a rowdy Air Canada Centre crowd of over 10,000 on ‘Black Out Breast Cancer Night’, the Toronto Rock outlasted the feisty Philadelphia Wings 15-10.

The score would suggest a dominant Rock performance, but it was a defensive slugfest for the most part with Toronto only busting loose in the 4th quarter. Both squads had trouble penetrating inside and spectacular goaltending on each side kept things tight early.

Athan Ianucci of Philly lit the fuse of his club’s offense as he scored three of his four goals in the 3rd quarter to allow the Wings to tie the game on multiple occasions in the 2nd half. Toronto’s Garrett Billings showed why he was the February Player of the Month for the league with four points, and Stephan Leblanc continued leading his team in scoring adding 3 goals and 4 assists.

Calling the game up in the Gondola on the NLL Network (www.nll.com) I noticed that as the game wore on the strongest crowd reaction built for Rock rookie Rob Hellyer. At just 18 years of age Hellyer is the youngest player in the National Lacrosse League and was activated from the practice squad to the active roster this week. The youngster did not look out of place with the big boys as his speed and movement around the net initially threw off Philadelphia. After scoring a very Colin Doyle like behind the back goal, head coach Troy Cordingly, showed growing confidence in Hellyer as he was put out during key penalty killing situations and offensive rushes late in the game. He finished the evening with four points and looks to be another bright star in the making for Toronto.

While the Rock have two weeks off before heading to Calgary on March 25th, Philadelphia must regroup quickly as they play host to the same Calgary Roughnecks tonight at the Wells Fargo Center. With their 5th straight win Toronto maintain the best record in the NLL, now 9-2, and the Wings fall 4.5 games back in the East and certainly have their work cut out for them.

Games around the National Lacrosse League:

Fri. March 4: Minnesota climb above .500 with a heart stopping 11-10 road victory over the struggling Colorado Mammoth.

Sat. March 5: Calgary Roughnecks @ Philadelphia Wings; Rochester Knighthawks @ Buffalo Bandits; Washington Stealth @ Edmonton Rush

Sun. March 6: Buffalo Bandits @ Boston Blazers

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/AndyMc81, keep an eye on the “Inside The Rock”  blog, and visit NLL.com for all the latest Toronto Rock and National Lacrosse League action.

Check out my most recent NHL video report on ‘Why the Leafs Will Make the Playoffs’ here: http://www.unifysports.tv/watch_video.php?repeat=yes&id=974

Andy McNamara is a sports broadcaster for the Toronto Rock lacrosse on the NLL Network (www.nll.com), along with collegiate and minor league hockey, baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, and OCW pro-wrestling across the GTA on Rogers TV, Cogeco, and Durham College/UOIT. He will also be the play-by-play voice of the 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in Prague, Czech Republic this May.

The Toronto Rock return to the Air Canada Centre this Friday at 7:30 as they go for their 5th straight win and second consecutive victory over Philadelphia.

Coming off a wild shoot in Philly where they came out on top 16-13, the Rock know they cannot take the Wings lightly. Philadelphia have picked up 3 of their 4 wins on the road and the Wings offense finally clicked against a Toronto defense that has only allowed opposing teams to get into double digit scoring twice previously. Wings head coach John Tucker was pleased with parts of what his club did last week, but knows a better start is needed. “We cannot fall down by 5 against a team like Toronto early like last time. We want to continue to shoot the ball well,” explains Tucker.

Rock general manager/assistant coach Terry Sanderson was asked during the weekly NLL coaches conference call if his squad is finding it difficult to stay motivated seeing that they do have the best record in the league. “No trouble keeping motivated. Buffalo and Boston continue to win and our division is the tightest I have ever seen it.” He also commented on giving up the 13 goals in Philadelphia, “It was more of Philly’s offense getting on track rather than what we did wrong on defence. Allowing 13 is unacceptable.”

Penalty trouble was also an issue in the Wings contest. Sanderson stated that Toronto has to be more disciplined, however, he made a tongue and cheek comment about what he viewed as poor officiating. “Not only the teams have to show up.” The GM continued, “If I told you what I really thought I would be fined.”

Rock captain, Colin Doyle, led by example vs. Philly as he scored a hat trick, 6 assists, and collected 4 loose balls. This effort earned Doyle both the Overall and Offensive Player of the Week awards in the National Lacrosse League. Toronto’s Sandy Chapman continued the award dominence as he grabbed the Defensive Player of the Week honour for picking up 7 loose balls, forcing a turnover, and scoring 1 goal and 1 assist. Finally, Garrett Billings was named February Player of the Month with an incredible 13 goals and 12 assists.

Rob Hellyer has a big opportunity tonight as the Rock have brought him up from the club’s practice roster. Hellyer is not only the youngest player on Toronto, but at 18 is the youngest in the entire league! He was the West Division Rookie of the Year for his Jr. A Orangeville Northmen team and was selected in the 3rd round by Toronto in 2010. In other news, Tim O’Brien has been moved to the Physically Unable to Perform List for the Rock.

Be sure to come down to Friday evening’s rematch not only for the action, but because MLSE will donate $1 from every ticket sold to help “Black Out” breast cancer and the Rock auction off a game worn jersey.

Rock Tweets of the Week:

@KungPowLau “The boys are rockin’ it huge! RT @AndyMc81: #Toronto Rock win more awards! Garrett Billings wins Feb Player of the Month w/ 13G, 12A”

@Shakes1 “Congrats to Garrett he’s played well and deserves it #Toronto #Rock”

@snowkitten “I’m definitely jealous! You covering it, @fozzboggles playing in it…I just hope I can watch it! #Lacrosee #Nll #WILC” (In regards to my doing play-by-play for the World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in Prague, Czech Republic this May)

@LAXUNLIMITED “Get your Marv Albert, Walt Clyde on, but stray from Craig Sager’s sense of ‘style’ “

@briguy100 “Just gonna say this now…PlaybyPlay guy 4 this game is Def no @AndyMc81″

@GraemePerrow “Unfortunately I saw less then half the game (vs Philly) but i’d have to say Billings #Rock #MVP

Send your tweets on the Rock and lacrosse in general to be included in the Rock Tweets of the Week to @AndyMc81

News from around the National Lacrosse League:

- The NLL All-Star Game was a huge success last Sunday at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York as it showcased the best of the best in the league. Goals were a plenty as the East downed the West 30-26.

- Overall Player of the Week & Offensive Player of the Week: Toronto Rock- Colin Doyle

- Defensive Player of the Week: Toronto Rock- Sandy Chapman

- Transition Player of the Week: Rochester Knighthawks- Jordan Hall (4 assists, 5 loose balls)

- Rookie of the Week: Rochester Knighthawks- Cody Jamieson (1 goal, 1 assist, 6 loose balls)

- February Player of the Month: Toronto Rock- Garrett Billings (13G, 12A)

The weekly awards are determined by all the general managers and head coaches in the NLL.

Games from around the NLL:

Fri. March 4: Minnesota Swarm @ Colorado Mammoth

Sat. March 5: Calgary Roughnecks @ Philadelphia Wings; Rochester Knighthawks @ Buffalo Bandits; Washington Stealth @ Edmonton Rush

Sun. March 6: Buffalo Bandits @ Boston Blazers

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/AndyMc81, keep an eye on the “Inside The Rock”  blog, and visit NLL.com for all the latest Toronto Rock and National Lacrosse League action.

Check out my most recent NHL video report on ‘Why the Leafs Will Make the Playoffs’ here: http://www.unifysports.tv/watch_video.php?repeat=yes&id=974

Andy McNamara is a sports broadcaster for the Toronto Rock lacrosse on the NLL Network (www.nll.com), along with collegiate and minor league hockey, baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, and OCW pro-wrestling across the GTA on Rogers TV, Cogeco, and Durham College/UOIT. He will also be the play-by-play voice of the 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in Prague, Czech Republic this May.

The Toronto Rock are the class of the NLL with a league leading 7-2 record as they soar into enemy territory at Philadelphia on Saturday. The Wings are currently last in a very crowded East Division, yet sit a mere 2.5 games back of the first place Rock.

Each club is coming off a successful week as Philadelphia got back to .500 following an impressive 10-9 win over Buffalo, while Toronto swept a home and home pair of matches versus Rochester.

Wings head coach John Tucker is pleased of his squad’s fourth victory of the season, but knows there is still work to do. “We’ve been inconsistent on our home turf. At 4-4 we’d like to be a bit better; it’s good that we’re in the mix.” He continued, “Toronto has so many weapons and are very unselfish. Our 5 guys will need to be on guard the whole time.” Philly and Toronto will get to know one another quite well. Following this evening’s encounter they will square off again on March 4 on the Rock’s turf at the Air Canada Centre.

Despite their hot streak, Toronto general manager/assistant coach Terry Sanderson will not be taking Philadelphia lightly, “we won’t be over confident against this very athletic club who beat both Boston and Buffalo this year.” The Rock’s offense finally came back around last weekend, getting into double digit scoring and the power play showing signs of life. “All special teams are important down the stretch. Good to see our guys get rewarded a bit with the man advantage,” explained Sanderson.

Both teams are playing for success this year, however, each possess young stars who are turning into building blocks for the future. Philly defenceman Dan Hardy has impressed coach Tucker, ”He’s a young kid, but incredibly gifted. You can’t coach his size and soft hands. It was good to see him break out in the Buffalo game.” The Rock’s Terry Sanderson also has praise for his upstart rookie Aaron Pascas who twice was named NLL Rookie of the Week. “The staff is very pleased with Aaron’s work to this point. He’s scoring a bit more then we thought he would. He’s doing a lot of good work on the left side that sometimes goes unnoticed too,” said Sanderson.

The Wings will have to find a way to penetrate Toronto’s stingy defense and the stellar goaltending of Bob “Whipper” Watson. Game time is 8pm at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Rock Tweets of the Week:

@Shakes1 “great to see the Rock get into double digits the last 2 games with stellar defense #NLL #Rock”

@rawcomputers “@shankell hahaha i’d love to see that! Are you going to do another interview at the Rock game with @AndyMc81?”

@briguy100 “WOO I MADE IT IN! RT @AndyMc81: #Rock Tweets of the week on my @FAN590 blog” 

@LAXUNLIMITED “@AndyMc81 Reppin’ the Canucks”

To have your tweets on the Rock or lacrosse included send me a tweet @AndyMc81

News Around the National Lacrosse League:

The NLL holds their All-Star game this Sunday at the Event Center in the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York, presented by the Oneida Indian Nation. The battle of the league’s best starts at 2pm and will be captained by John Tavares of the Buffalo Bandits for the East and Colorado’s John Grant Jr. for the West. The Toronto Rock’s Colin Doyle will serve as assistant captain for the East All-Stars.

Overall Player of the Week: Toronto Rock goalie Bob Watson (two low scoring wins over Rochester)

Offensive Player of the Week: Toronto Rock forward Garrett Billings (6G, 3A, 11 loose balls in the pair of victories vs. the Knighthawks

Defensive Player of the Week: Washington Stealth defender Jeff Moleski (3G, 4 loose balls, 1 forced turnover)

Transition Player of the Week: Boston Blazer’s Ryan Hotaling (23 loose balls, 64% on faceoffs)

Games Around the NLL:

Saturday Feb. 26: Edmonton @ Rochester

Sunday Feb. 27: West vs. East All-Star Game

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/AndyMc81, keep an eye on the “Inside The Rock”  blog, and visit NLL.com for all the latest Toronto Rock and National Lacrosse League action.

Andy McNamara is a sports broadcaster for the Toronto Rock lacrosse on the NLL Network, along with collegiate and minor league hockey, baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, and OCW pro-wrestling across the GTA on Rogers TV, Cogeco, and Durham College/UOIT. He will also be the play-by-play voice of the 2011 World Indoor Lacrosse Championships in Prague, Czech Republic this May.

The fight for East Division supremecy went in favour of Toronto Friday night. The 10-5 score is a little misleading of the defensive battle that took place at the Air Canada Centre, which saw the Knighthawks fold late and their top point producers contained down the stretch. The Rock maintain their best record in the league at 6-2, while Rochester tumbles to fourth in the East at 4-4. The K-Hawks will get their chance at redemption this evening in Rochester for game two of this weekend’s home and home.

Bob Watson was his usual spectacular self in the Toronto goal and picked up a couple of impressive milestones. In the first quarter “Whipper” recorded his 10,000th minute played in the NLL and with the victory now is a 100 career game winner. Rock captain Colin Doyle also has an important stat to keep an eye on as he is only two points away from career 800.

Each club did a terrific job of keeping the usual key contributors off of the score sheet. Rochester’s Craig Point and Shawn Evans were held scoreless; while Toronto’s Colin Doyle had zero points and although Stephan Leblanc contributed four assists, failed to get a goal. It was the unlikely heroes who stepped up their performance. Knighthawks forward Jarrett Davis got his squad off to a hot start, popping two past Watson early. However, it was the Rock’s Kasey Beirnes who played out of his mind as he bobbed and weaved for five goals (including a penalty shot) after coming into the match with only six goals all season.

With the NLL as tight as it is, a second consecutive loss would be catastrophic for Rochester. Keys for this evening’s home game must be focused around penetrating Toronto’s defense and getting more screens in front of Watson. The power play also has a tough assignment as they were 0 for 4 yesterday and the Rock are ranked number one on the penalty kill. Toronto is still struggling with the man advantage going 1 for 6 Friday, but are showing signs of the overall offense coming around as they got back into double digit scoring.

Game time from Blue Cross Arena in Rochester is 7:35pm and can be seen only on the NLL Network.

Rock Tweets of the Game:

@briguy100: “Rochester not on their game to start the first @TorontoRockLax #goRockGo”

@Xander756: “@AndyMc81 Hey nice job calling Knighhawks game earlier. Only wish the outcome could have been different!”

@briguy100: “I love the excitement @AndyMc81 has when something amazing happens in the game! We better win just for him!! #goRockGo”

@StealthDragon: “What shoes will The Doylermaker be wearing?” (in response to Colin Doyle be forced to change his non Reebok shoes last week versus Calgary)

@Shakes1: “@AndyMc81 Great blog. should be a good show @ the ACC Rock need to improve their power play & getting into double digits on the scoreboard”

Send me your Rock and lacrosse tweets to @AndyMc81

Games Around the National Lacrosse League:

Fri. February 18: Colorado gets trampled 20-7 by the Stealth in Washington

Sat. February 19: Philadelphia @ Buffalo; Boston @ Minnesota

Sun. February 20: Calgary @ Edmonton; Minnesota @ Colorado

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/AndyMc81, keep an eye on the “Inside The Rock”  blog, and visit NLL.com for all the latest Toronto Rock and National Lacrosse League action.

Andy McNamara is a sports broadcaster for the Toronto Rock lacrosse on the NLL Network, along with collegiate and minor league hockey, baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, and OCW pro-wrestling across the GTA on Rogers TV, Cogeco, and Durham College/UOIT.

In the start of a home and home series that could reshape the East Division, the Rochester Knighthawks head north to Rock country for game one in Toronto. Rochester is in a three-way tie for second place and have revenge on their minds after falling for the first time ever at home during the regular season to Toronto, 12-9, back in game two of the season.

The Knighthawks were embarrassed at home against Boston 16-7 back on January 29 and since that defeat head coach, Mike Hasen, feels his club has turned a corner. ”This team has undergone a complete overhaul so it takes time to get used to each other.” He continues, “that loss to Boston was a wakeup call. We were embarrassed and changed things up after that.”

It certainly looks like Rochester have gelled as they rattled off two straight victories. Coach Hasen knows this weekend versus Toronto could be the defining point of the year, “The Rock are the best in the league so this will be a great test for us.”

The Rock played the role of the cardiac kids once again in front of the home crowd last Saturday as they squeeked out an overtime win over the Calgary Roughnecks. Toronto did lose a key component to their transition game during that match as recent addition Ryan Sharp went down to a knee injury. Sharp underwent an MRI this morning, however, team doctors are expecting the worse as a torn MCL and ACL is the anticipated diagnosis. General Manager Terry Sanderson of the Rock comments on the man to be activated from the practice squad to replace Sharp and that is Glenn Bryan. “Even though he’s a rookie he has a couple of games under his belt with us and we hope he can step in to fill the role.”

Although Toronto sits on top of the East mountain by a half game, GM Sanderson knows there is still work to be done. “The guys are working hard on offense. Every time in practice we look to improve. I am happy with how the defense is performing.” That defense will need to continue to play strong as Rochester’s offense is rolling.

Kudos to Rock rookie Aaron Pascas who snagged his second NLL Rookie of the Week award this past week following his huge overtime goal to put his squad over Calgary.

Saturday evening’s heavyweight tilt comes to you from the ACC in Toronto LIVE and only on the NLL Network at www.nll.com. I have the play-by-play call at 7:30pm.

Rock Tweets of the Week:

@shankell “@AndyMc81 I hope I don’t have to wear Reebok heels tomorrow!” (in regards to Colin Doyle being forced by an official to change his shoes late in the Calgary game)

@shakes1 “Pascas Wins it for the #Rock in OT to beat the Roughnecks 9-8 to stay in 1st and undefeated at home Woot Woot”

@KungPowLau “With all the loud, excited kids in the barn for Kids Night, it’s no surprise the boys had the motivation to push for the W! #Rock”

@Canadian09 “lets hope for the best for Sharpie!!! ” (in regards to Ryan Sharp’s knee injury) 

@rawcomputers “Only one place to watch tomorrows @TorontoRockLax #toronto #lacrosse game www.nll.com hosted by @AndyMc81 IT by @rawcomputers

Send your Rock or lacrosse tweets to @AndyMc81

News from around the National Lacrosse League:

Weekly Awards:

Overall Player of the Week & Offensive Player of the Week: Buffalo Bandits- FW John Tavares

Defensive Players of the Week: Boston Blazers- G Anthony Cosmo

Rookie of the Week: Toronto Rock- FW Aaron Pascas

Games around the League:

Friday Feb. 18: Colorado @ Washington

Saturday Feb. 19: Phliadelphia @ Buffalo; Toronto @ Rochester; Boston @ Minnesota

Sunday Feb. 20: Calgary @ Edmonton; Minnesota @ Colorado

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/AndyMc81, keep an eye on the “Inside The Rock”  blog, and visit NLL.com for all the latest Toronto Rock and National Lacrosse League action.

Andy McNamara is a sports broadcaster for the Toronto Rock lacrosse on the NLL Network, along with collegiate and minor league hockey, baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, and OCW pro-wrestling across the GTA on Rogers TV, Cogeco, and Durham College/UOIT.

With the Toronto Rock’s disappointing 9-7 loss to Boston last Saturday things have gotten a whole lot tighter in the National Lacrosse League. The Rock find themselves in a slim 0.5 game hold of 1st place in the East division with only one game seperating number one and last.

The visiting Calgary Roughnecks are riding a two game winning streak following a bye week, which came after they swept arch rival Edmonton in a home and home. However, they too are only holding on to top spot by a half game. This evenings battle will determine who will have the best record in the league and with the standings so close the action should be intense.

The Roughnecks and Rock know one another quite well as Toronto Head Coach Troy Cordingley and GM/Asst. Coach Terry Sanderson led Calgary to the 2009 Champions Cup before departing for their present club at the conclusion of that season. There is a mutual respect between both squads, “We have tight ties with the management team in Toronto and will give them the respect they deserve. We’ll do that by bringing our best game Saturday,” explained Calgary Head Coach Dave Pym. He continued, “the Rock are the #1 ranked team and are expected to win it all this year, it will be a huge step for us if we can beat them.”

With the bye, Calgary has been able to rest some weary bones, “We took a break during the off week, no practice, just lots of video analysis,” said Pym. On the other hand, Toronto turned up their practice regimen to try and refocus the struggling power play and sputtering offense. Rock GM Terry Sanderson explained on the NLL coaches call, “It is a concern, we have a pretty good offense here. Guys have to work every shift. This will be a true test for us against Calgary to see how we bounce back against one of the best defenses in the league”. In regards to the power play Sanderson commented, “We are working on it, we were one of the best last year and one of the worst this year. We need to get better ball movement.”

One of the weapons Toronto must try to contain is upstart rookie Curtis Dickson who was named January Rookie of the Month for his 10 goals and 15 points. Coach Pym said, “He brings his lunch pail everyday and has an incredible work ethic like all our players. Curtis is picking up good habits from his teammates. He’s a phenomenal kid.”

The NLL East and West All-Star lineups were released this past week with both Toronto and Calgary being well represented.

Calgary: Starters- Scott Ranger and Andrew McBride; Reserves- Geoff Snider and Jeff Shattler

Toronto: Starters- Colin Doyle (record breaking 9th All-Star selection); Reserves- Bob Watson, Garrett Billings, and Sandy Chapman

The action starts at 7pm at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. Tickets can be purchased on the Toronto Rock website or in person at the ACC. I’ll be calling the game from the Gondola on the NLLNetwork.

Rock Tweets of the Week:

@Shakes1: “#NLL lack of scoring is an issue, how can the Rock improve on that after last weeks loss?”

- “need to change things up a bit. They were scoring 15 now 8. And last game 7.”

@KungPowLau “I enjoy the new ‘Rock Tweets of the Week’ section, Andy. Great way to engage fans”

@shankell “I know how!! More goals no, not the answer?! Ooook.” – in response to Rock’s lack of scoring

Tweet your Toronto Rock or NLL comments to @AndyMc81 and be included in the next “Rock Tweets of the Week”.

News from around the National Lacrosse League:

Overall Player of the Week: Rochester Knighthawks forward Shawn Evans

Transition Player of the Week: Rochester Knighthawks Jordan Hall

Rookie of the Week: Rochester Knighthawks Cody Jamieson

Defensive Player of the Week: Washington Stealth goaltender Tyler Richards

Offensive Player of the Week: Boston Blazers forward Dan Dawson

Games around the NLL:

Friday Feb. 11- The Edmonton Rush pick up their 1st win of the season against defending league champion Washington at home 14-12

Saturday Feb. 12- Buffalo @ Philadelphia, Colorado @ Boston, Minnesota @ Rochester, Edmonton @ Washington

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/AndyMc81, keep an eye on the “Inside The Rock”  blog, and visit NLL.com for all the latest Toronto Rock and National Lacrosse League action.

Andy McNamara is a sports broadcaster for the Toronto Rock lacrosse on the NLL Network, along with collegiate and minor league hockey, baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, and OCW pro-wrestling across the GTA on Rogers TV, Cogeco, and Durham College/UOIT.

We are back to a log jam in the East Division with the Blazers holding on for a wild finish and a 9-7 win in Boston. Toronto head coach Troy Cordingley described his squad’s first half performance as “sluggish” and found the Rock down 6-2 at halftime.

In the Wednesday weekly NLL coaches call Cordingley recognized the obvious in that they had to contain ‘The Big 3′ as well as the booming shot of Kevin Buchanan. Unfortunately for Rock fans the club could do neither. Dan Dawson, Casey Powell, and Josh Sanderson combined for 13 points, with Dawson leading the way with 3G, 2A. Buchanan could not be held in check either as he fired in 3 goals on 5 shots. Blazers goaltender Anthony Cosmo also stepped up his play as he came up with some clutch saves when Toronto was surging late.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Rock as Garrett Billings made his return from injury felt in a huge way. Billings scored a hat trick, was the only multi goal scorer for the team, and ended the evening with 4 points total. Rookie Aaron Pascas continues to show that he is a bright light for the future by popping a goal past Cosmo and Stephan Leblanc posted a solid 1G, 3A performance.

Toronto went 2 for 5 on the powerplay, however, I noticed that the Rock were quite often trying to develop the perfect play. There were far too many passes down low and trick play attempts where a quick give-and-go would have been more effective. Rock passing lacked the usual crispness, which resulted in sloppy tosses and costly turnovers during high potential scoring opportunities. This will surely be addressed in practice as Toronto turned on the heat too little too late on the Blazers.

Toronto now lead the East by a slim 1/2 game and only 1 game separates first from last. The Rock look to get back to their winning ways this Saturday Feb. 12 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto versus the West Division leading Calgary Roughnecks. Game time 7:30 and I’ll have the call on the NLL Network.

Scores from around the National Lacrosse League:

Friday Feb. 4: – The Buffalo Bandits get back in the win column at home 15-12 over Minnesota

Saturday Feb. 5: – The Knighthawks soared over the Philadelphia Wings 11-6 in Rochester

- Defending NLL champion Washington Stealth snuck out a tight 10-8 road victory versus Colorado

**Make sure to send in your tweets on the Toronto Rock or the NLL in general to me @AndyMc81 as the top 3 “Rock Tweets of the Week” will make it into next week’s blog.**

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/AndyMc81, keep an eye on the “Inside The Rock”  blog, and visit NLL.com for all the latest Toronto Rock and National Lacrosse League action.

Andy McNamara is a sports broadcaster for the Toronto Rock lacrosse on the NLL Network, along with collegiate and minor league hockey, baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, and OCW pro-wrestling across the GTA on Rogers TV, Cogeco, and Durham College/UOIT.

A lot has changed since the Boston Blazers squared off in Toronto vs. the Rock back on January 21. Each club were an undefeated 2-0 and looked poised to take a strangle hold on the East divison. In the most exciting lacrosse game I have ever called, Toronto squeezed out a thrilling 15-14 overtime win.

Fast forward to today and we have a much different looking East. Boston has been inconsistent and looking to find an identity with their high power off season signings as they stand at a modest 3-3. Toronto sit on top of the NLL mountain with the best overall record of 4-1.

However, this rematch takes place in the wild TD Garden in Boston and the Blazers ‘Big 3′ of Dawson, Powell, and Sanderson will be looking for retribution and to continue the momentum from the road win against Rochester. “Toronto got a bounce in OT last time and we’ll try to be better. It’s time now for us to protect our home turf,” says Blazers head coach and former Rock assistant coach, Matt Sawyer. With the talent level on Boston, it seems like it is only a matter of time until they get back on a roll.

The Rock are rolling following an emotional grudge match victory over Buffalo in the Air Canada Centre last Saturday. The fight filled battle allowed Toronto to avenge their only loss of the season, as well as having them allow the fewest goals in a game for the entire league this season. “We were very pleased with the improvement of our defence and of course with how Whipper played in net,” commented Rock head coach Troy Cordingley.

Speaking of Toronto goalie Bob “Whipper” Watson, the nearly 41 year old dominated the National Lacrosse League award categories this past week. Watson grabbed top defensive player honours coming off of his 50 save performance versus Buffalo, and also was named the NLL Player of the Month for January. Whipper holds an impressive 0.815 save percentage, is 4-0 on the year, and is only 2 victories away from 100 career wins!

The Rock get some good news on the injury front as sophmore standout, Garrett Billings, returns to the lineup after sitting out Saturday’s game to due to a wrist injury and for precautionary reasons from a minor concussion suffered the week prior in Buffalo.

Although Toronto is riding high, coach Cordingley knows how dangerous the Blazers can be, especially at home. “We have to continue to be better going into Boston and facing the Big 3,” Cordingley continues, “But we also must watch out for the unbelievable shot of (Kevin) Buchanan as well as there big strong defence.”

It will surely be a battle of the goaltenders once again as two of the league’s best square off in Boston’s Anthony Cosmo and Toronto’s Bob Watson. If you’re a Rock fan be sure to keep an eye on the recently acquired gritty defenceman Ryan Sharp, who has already upped Toronto’s transition game, along with the possibility of the gloves dropping from the heavy handed Tim “The Surgeon” O’Brien. Game time from Boston is 7:30pm tonight on TSN2.

Twitter has lit up with Rock chatter over the past couple of weeks so this is a new section to the blog called, “Rock Tweets of the Week” where some of your tweets on Toronto lacrosse will be showcased. Just tweet me any of your Rock thoughts to @AndyMc81 So here are a few:

@GramePerrow on All-Star selections: “@AndyMc81 From the Rock, Whipper, Doyle, and LeBlanc. East non-Rock: Jamieson, Brandon Miller, Steenhuis, Self, CPowell, Dawson #NLL”

@Shakes1 on questions to ask on the weekly NLL coaches call: “@AndyMc81 @LAX_network @Inside_Lacrosse What can the @TorontoRockLax do to protect the lead in the ladder part of recent games? #NLL #Boston”

@shankell on her choices for Rock All-Star selections: “@AndyMc81 Whipper for sure! dont forget about Stephan too. Is Beirnes on? I’d vote him or Billings.”

News from around the National Lacrosse League:

-All-Star team head coaches were named this past week. It was the two finalists in the NLL title game for 2010. Toronto’s Troy Cordingley, and defending champion Washington Stealth’s Chris Hall.

Week 4 Players of the Week:

- Overall Player of the Week: Philadelphia Wings goalie Brandon Miller for his 87 save weekend performance going 2-0.

- The Calgary Roughnecks cleaned up the awards as Dane Dobbie nabbed Offensive Player of the Week; Jeff Shattler- Transition Player of the Week; and forward Curtis Dickson picks up Rookie of the Week

- As mentioned, Toronto Rock goaltender Bob Watson is the Defensive Player of the Week

Games around the National Lacrosse League:

Friday Feb. 4:

- Buffalo Bandits continued to rumble at home as they took down the Minnesota Swarm 15-11

Saturday Feb. 5:

- Toronto @ Boston, Philadelphia @ Rochester, Washington @ Colorado

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/AndyMc81, keep an eye on the “Inside The Rock”  blog, and visit NLL.com for all the latest Toronto Rock and National Lacrosse League action.

Andy McNamara is a sports broadcaster for the Toronto Rock lacrosse on the NLL Network, along with collegiate and minor league hockey, baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, and OCW pro-wrestling across the GTA on Rogers TV, Cogeco, and Durham College/UOIT.

Well we didn’t have to wait long last night to see if emotions would be kept in check at the Air Canada Centre. The answer was about 1 minute. That is all the time it took for arch rival Toronto and Buffalo to stop playing and start throwing. In a first quarter that took an astounding 50 minutes, Rock fans who like the rough stuff were treated to brawls that closely mirrored the massive pre-season brawl between these two squads. Multiple scuffles happened simultaneously and it seemed that as one situation was under control another would erupt as soon as play got back under way. 8 fighting majors and 5 game misconducts were distributed before 5 minutes had passed.

Oh ya, there was a lacrosse game to play too. It was an important one as well, since the Bandits only trailed first place Toronto by a half game in the East. In a surprisingly low scoring affair, coming off of Buffalo’s 15-14 OT victory the previous Saturday over the Rock, the score was only 3-1 in favour of the home team at the half. Although physical intense play was consistent through the entire match, there were no furhter fights. The Bandits looked off their game offensively with only the solid performance of backup goalie Angus Goodleaf, who was making his season debut, keeping Buffalo close.

Speaking of goaltending, Toronto’s Bob “Whipper” Watson got some redemption after being pulled in Buffalo on January 22, by performing back at his hall of fame level as he stopped an astounding 50 shots. A crowd of nearly 11,000 at the ACC thought the Rock had this one in the bag as the Rock held a commanding 6-1 lead heading into the final quarter. However, much to the dismay of GM Terry Sanderson the now all too common 4th quarter collapse of Toronto reared its ugly head again.

Buffalo finally started to find a rythm scoring 4 unanswered goals to make it 6-5. It looked as the the Rock could be going to their 3rd consecutive overtime. With set up man Garrett Billings out due to a concussion suffered in Buffalo, goal leader Stephan Leblanc had to modify his style and became the play maker as he tallied 6 points (1G, 5A). With 18 seconds left Rock captain Colin Doyle potted his 4th of the evening into an empty net to seal the deal for Toronto 8-5.

The Bandits continued to spread out the scoring as 5 different players got on the game sheet with goals, but will certainly have some regrouping to do before hosting the Minnesota Swarm at the HSBC Arena next week. While the Rock definitely have to make adjustments on both sides of the ball and the coaching staff will not be pleased with the overall performance, they do sit atop the entire National Lacrosse League with a 4-1 record. Toronto rides into Boston this Saturday to battle the always tough Blazers.

The Buffalo Bandits make one more regular season visit up to T.O. and that is April 8, in what will surely be another nasty war. It was not the prettiest of games, but boy was it a fun one to broadcast! Next Rock home match comes Saturday Feb. 12 versus the Calgary Roughnecks.

Scores from around the National Lacrosse League:

Fri. Jan. 28: – Philadelphia 11-5 over the Blazers in Boston

- Edmonton fall at home in part 1 of the weekend series vs. Calgary 15-11

Sat. Jan. 29- The Wings squeaked out back-to-back weekend wins in Philly  12-11 against Colorado

- Boston bounced back on the road to crush the Knighthawks 16-7 in Rochester

- Defending champions Washington lost a close one 11-10 as they visited Minnesota

- The home and home finished with 2 wins for the Roughnecks as they edged Alberta rival Edmonton 12-11 in Calgary

Be sure to follow me on Twitter @: http://twitter.com/AndyMc81, keep an eye on the “Inside The Rock”  blog, and visit NLL.com for all the latest Toronto Rock and National Lacrosse League action.

Andy McNamara is a sports broadcaster for the Toronto Rock lacrosse on the NLL Network, along with collegiate and minor league hockey, baseball, basketball, football, volleyball, and OCW pro-wrestling across the GTA on Rogers TV, Cogeco, and Durham College/UOIT.