20-Player Active Roster Is Set
Oakville, ON – The Toronto Rock announced the team’s final roster this morning as the season opener is rapidly approaching on Thu., Dec. 29 against the Rochester Knighthawks at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, NY.
The Rock have six new faces on the active roster that will pull on a Rock sweater for the first time this season and five of them will make their NLL debuts this season. Tom Schreiber, Kieran McArdle, Connor Buczek, Latrell Harris and Challen Rogers will all make their NLL debuts in 2017. Of the six new faces, forward Mikey MacDonald is the only player with any NLL experience, having played two games for the New England Black Wolves in 2016.
“We’re breaking camp with five rookies on the active roster and three guys going into their second year in Mikey MacDonald, Dan Lintner and Turner Evans,” said Rock head coach Matt Sawyer. “We took the best available guys and five of them are rookies. All three of our practice roster players are also rookies. We’re looking to get better as a team for now and for the future.
“There’s new guys and a lot of players returning. There is a different atmosphere any time you make this many changes. We have a good mix of skill and athleticism amongst our young players and we feel we have that same mix of skill and athleticism in our veterans. We’ve had a good four weeks of training camp and we are excited to open up in Rochester at the end of the month.”
The Rock have released Reid Reinholdt, Jordan Magnuson and Brodie Tutton from the active roster and signed them to the practice roster. This means the Rock are one player below the maximum number limit of four practice roster players, leaving one spot open.
Goaltender Brandon Miller, who is still recovering from off-season hip surgery, has been placed on second-level injured reserve. Veteran defender Rob Marshall suffered a lower body injury in training camp and was also placed on second-level injured reserve. Players on second-level injured reserve must serve a minimum 10 days on the list before being eligible to be activated.
Star forward Rob Hellyer was placed on the physically unable to perform list as he continues to recover from off-season knee surgery to repair a torn ACL suffered during the summer playing for the Oakville Rock of Major Series Lacrosse. Hellyer is progressing well in his recovery but is still expected to miss the entire 2017 regular season.
Defenders Brock Sorensen and Patrick Merrill also begin the season on the injured reserve list with no definitive timeline for their respective returns.
Below is the Rock active roster, broken down by position:
Forward: Kasey Beirnes, Turner Evans, Brett Hickey, Stephan Leblanc, Dan Lintner, Mikey MacDonald, Kieran McArdle, Tom Schreiber
Defence: Connor Buczek, Sandy Chapman, Damon Edwards, Jesse Gamble, Jeff Gilbert, Latrell Harris, Bill Hostrawser, Bradley Kri, Brodie Merrill, Challen Rogers
Goaltender: Steve Fryer, Nick Rose
Toronto Rock Single Game Tickets and Season Tickets are on sale now. For more information about Toronto Rock tickets, please call 416-596-3075 or visit www.torontorock.com.
