The Toronto Rock announced their final roster for the upcoming 2008 NLL Season this afternoon.
Glenn Clark returns for his second season as Head Coach along with Terry Bullen and Greg VanSickle as assistant coaches.
“It’s a very exciting time,” says Clark. “We want to be a team that plays an aggressive up-tempo game and we have a really athletic group this year to accomplish that.”
Director of Lacrosse Operations Mike Kloepfer says the club is excited about the 2008 season as Jim Veltman returns for his final playing season and some new faces are introduced to the line up.
Along with Veltman, the Rock includes Bob Watson, Blaine Manning & Josh Sanderson as some notable players who will be returning to the line up for another season. Among those returning players is starting forward Ryan Benesch.
“Ryan came into training camp in great shape and appears to be determined to pick up from where he left off last year as the 2007 NLL Rookie of the year” said Kloepfer.
Some new faces to the Rock line up this year include former Chicago Shamrox Captain Cam Woods and former Arizona Sting Captain Peter Lough.
“Woods and Lough bring leadership and defensive strength to our club which will be counted on to give us an edge in accomplishing a winning record and a strong play off showing,” said Kloepfer.
Skilled shooter, Kasey Beirnes who was acquired from Minnesota in September also joins the new additions to the line up. “Kasey is a proven scorer in the NLL and will give us a very deep right side along with Blaine Manning”, Kloepfer added. “With the addition of Woods, Lough and Beirnes along with our core returning players, we feel that we are in a position to be a contender.”
This season will also see three NLL rookies join the roster with Mark Scherman, Jay Winder and recently acquired Orangeville native Nate Sanderson.
Mark Scherman, from Calgary, was selected by the Rock with their first pick (2nd round, 21st overall) in the 2007 NLL Entry Draft.
Mike Kloepfer notes that Jay Winder, who was picked up as a free agent this month “has been a pleasant surprise. “He is making great strides towards becoming a regular in our game night line up.”
Coach Clark says the addition of the new players have “improved our depth and the overall skill level of the team.”
The new roster will have the opportunity to take the floor officially for the first time together this weekend in pre-season action. The Rock are ready to faceoff against the Minnesota Swarm on Saturday, December 15th at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa. Game time scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST.
2008 Toronto Rock Roster
No. Name Position
6 – Dan Ladouceur – Defence
7 – Derek Suddon – Defence
9 – Jon Harasym – Forward
10 – Aaron Wilson – Forward
14 – Rob Marshall – Defence
15 – Mark Scherman – Forward
16 – Blaine Manning – Forward
18 – Nate Sanderson – Forward
19 – Josh Sanderson – Forward
20 – Jay Winder – Defence
21 – Ryan Benesch – Forward
22 – Cam Woods – Defence
23 – Matt Carroll – Defence
27 – Peter Lough – Defence
29 – Bob Watson – Goalie
30 – Mike Poulin – Goalie
32 – Jim Veltman – Defence
33 – Kasey Beirnes – Defence
37 – Scott Campbell – Defence
40 – Ian Rubel – Defence
42 – Jamie Taylor – Forward
93 – Chris Driscoll – Defence
94 – Matt Taylor – Forward
Practice Roster
13 – Chris Stewart – Defence
17 – Mike MacLeod – Forward
43 – Mike Attwood – Goalie
