Busy Weekend Begins Tonight

Toronto – The storylines are aplenty this weekend as the Toronto Rock will have to endure the first of three pairs of back-to-back games this season.

Friday night, the undefeated Boston Blazers come to town with their “Big Three” in tow.  Former Toronto Rock sniper turned Blazer Josh Sanderson led the NLL in scoring a year ago and is flanked by 2010 NLL MVP Casey Powell and 2009 NLL MVP Dan Dawson.  The trio has been dubbed “The Big Three” playing off the moniker given to the Miami Heat’s trio of superstars.

“Everyone refers to the big three,” Rock GM Terry Sanderson said earlier in the week.  “Let’s get them in here and get things going.”

The Blazers have a familiar face behind their bench as former Rock assistant Matt Sawyer is now the head coach in Boston.  The ex-Toronto staff member was handed the Boston job just days before the 2011 regular season was set to begin.  Boston has defeated Philadelphia and Edmonton to open the season, and like the Rock are 2-0.

While the Rock will not be looking past Friday’s game, Saturday poses another interesting storyline.  The Rock travel to Buffalo to face the Bandits in their home opener at HSBC Arena.  The meeting between the two clubs is also the first since a preseason brawl that garnered a great deal of attention.

Rock GM Terry Sanderson agreed with Bandits Head Coach Darris Kilgour earlier in the week when alluding to the fact that neither team has thought much about the brawl since it happened.

Toronto eliminated Buffalo from the 2010 Champion’s Cup chase after the Rock rallied for a 13-11 win at Air Canada Centre last May.

Friday night’s game against Boston will be broadcast live on TSN2 at 7:30pm.  Saturday’s game in Buffalo can be seen on the NLL Network at NLL.com also at 7:30pm.

For tickets to Friday’s game against Boston at Air Canada Centre, log on to www.torontorock.com or call the Rock office at 416-596-3075.