The Toronto Rock

By Ted Montour

Toronto's dreams of an NLL Champion's Cup three-peat died last April right where they started, on the turf at the Air Canada Centre, with the game-winning goal by the Philadelphia Wings' Tom Marechek.

While the Rock were not in need of a re-build, Head Coach and General Manager Les Bartley would quickly face just that, after the expansion draft. With a protected list limited to 12, including goaltenders Bob Watson and Anthony Cosmo, Bartley had to watch as Chris Langdale, Jamie Taylor, Ryan O'Connor and Craig Gelsvik were taken in the first seven selections.

    


    
Les Bartley

The second assault on Bartley's line-up came via the telephone lines from Vancouver and Calgary. The Ravens and the Roughnecks were both looking to bring back as much of their home-grown talent as possible, and Toronto still held several coveted players, especially Chris Gill and Matt Dwane from British Columbia, and 2000 championship hero Kaleb Toth of Calgary.



The Rock made Forward Sandy Chapman (Brampton Excelsiors, OLA Junior A) their first pick in the 2001 entry draft, and then did a little 'bringing home' of their own, taking goaltender John "J" Preece of Mississauga, Ontario and the BCLA Victoria Junior Shamrocks in the third round. Fourth-round selection Chuck Doxtator of the OLA Junior A Burlington Chiefs would make the practice roster, sixth-rounder Matt Skinner (OLA St. Catherines Athletics) joined the defence, and eighth-rounder Rich Dommer of Grand Island, New York, an attacker from NCAA Division II champion Adelphi University (Garden City, N.Y.) became the first non-Canadian to crack the Toronto line-up.


Kaleb Toth did eventually end up with Calgary, but only after Bartley pried loose the Roughnecks' top draft pick, Alberta's Blaine Manning. Chris Gill's family and friends will also see a lot more of him this NLL season, as the Maple Ridge resident was dealt to the Ravens in exchange for defender Ian Rubel of St. Catharines, Ontario.


Toronto opens the 2001-02 season with a roster with no holes as a result of the shake-up, but one gap that was not expected was the loss of defensive stalwart Terry Bullen. Bullen will be on injured reserve, working to rehab off-season, non-lacrosse back problems that struck him on the eve of camp.

     
Bob Watson

The Rock will have Bob "Whipper" Watson (the nickname is from a famous Canadian professional wrestling champion of the 50's and 60's, Whipper Billy Watson) and Anthony Cosmo returning to handle the 'tending duties, along with the rookie Preece.


Veterans Pat Coyle, Dan Ladouceur, Glenn Clark and Rodd Squire will hold the fort defensively in Bullen's absence, joined by '00 draft pick Drew Candy, signee Darryl Gibson, and newcomer Skinner.

There will still be some familiar faces coming out the front door from the Rock bench. Colin Doyle and Kim Squire, with the best "two-man game" in the NLL, return fresh from a Mann Cup (Canadian Senior Major championship) victory with the Coquitlam Adanacs of the WLA. Ageless Captain Jim Veltman returns with his equipment bag full of very tangible "intangibles", Steve Toll and Ken Millin are still around to give opposing defenders whiplash, and rookies Manning and Dommer will make their contributions.


E-Lacrosse Holiday Gifts!


The inter-divisional part of Toronto's schedule includes Washington (twice), Rochester (twice), Montreal (twice), Buffalo and New York, and concludes with a home-and-home showdown with Philadelphia. This looks like eight games, half the schedule, against contenders, not the easiest row in the League to hoe. Brad Watters and the Toronto ownership group put their own emphatic punctuation mark on this 'fixing something that wasn't broke' off-season, by signing Les Bartley to a three-year contract extension. With the Rock expected to dominate the Northern Division and be among the three top seeds in the expanded 2002 NLL playoffs, Toronto fans are looking to break their own NLL play-off attendance record, and hoping to see the Champion's Cup circling the floor of the Air Canada Centre next spring.







The 2002 Toronto Rock Web Site!



11/20/01

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