Rock Sign Free Agent Jamie Rooney

Toronto – Toronto Rock General Manager Terry Sanderson announced on Friday the club has signed unrestricted free agent Jamie Rooney to a one-year agreement pending league approval.

Rooney was claimed by the Washington Stealth in the Boston Blazers dispersal draft in September.  The four-year NLL veteran was released recently by the Stealth and was without a roster spot until today.  Rooney has spent time with Philadelphia, New York, Rochester and Boston during his tenure in the NLL.

“We thought we needed some depth on our right side,” said Sanderson.  “We were looking for a veteran presence.  There’s a lot of quality guys out there, but we thought Jamie was the right fit and I think he should help us”

To make room for Rooney on the 23-man active roster, rookie Pete Rennie was released and signed to the practice roster pending league approval.  Rennie was a 2011 NLL Entry Draft Selection by the Rock.

The Rock had a rare practice at Air Canada Centre on Friday afternoon which allowed a few of the new faces with the team the opportunity to step on the turf at their new home for the first time as a member of the Rock.

“I thought it was real good for us to get reacquainted with Air Canada Centre,” explained Rock Head Coach Troy Cordingley.   “For the guys that are new that haven’t practiced or played here before, it’s really valuable experience for them.”

The Rock also received some good news today as Canadian Press announced that the defending NLL Champions had won the online voting portion of the Canadian Press 2011 Team of the Year balloting.  The Rock garnered 34 percent of the online votes cast by the country’s sports fans through Yahoo! Canada.

The Canadian Football League’s BC Lions were named the official CP Team of the Year for 2011 voted on by sports editors and broadcasters from across Canada.

The Toronto Rock will continue preparations for the 2012 season when they resume practice next week.  The sixth championship banner in franchise history will be raised to the rafters at Air Canada Centre on Sunday, January 8th at 6pm when the Rock host the Calgary Roughnecks to open the NLL season.