Rock Stop Rush 13-11 In Pre-Season Action

Rob Hellyer And Tom Schreiber Combine For 13 Points In Win

Oakville, ON – The Toronto Rock opened the pre-season with a comeback 13-11 win over the Saskatchewan Rush on Saturday night at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville, ON in front of a packed house. Trailing 8-5 at the half, a seven-goal run that began in the third quarter and stretched into the third fuelled the win.

Rob Hellyer played his first game with the Rock since tearing his ACL in the summer of 2016, scoring twice and adding six assists for an eight point onslaught.

“It was a lot of fun, took a little while to get the rust off,” said Hellyer. “I’m not quite back to where I want to be, but I’ll be ready to go by the start of the season.”

It was also the first chance for Rock fans to see the duo of Hellyer and Tom Schreiber in action together. Something that also has Hellyer quite enthused.

“I’m extremely excited,” expressed Hellyer. “It was the first time, so we have a little bit of work to do together, but by the end of (training camp), we’ll be clicking pretty good. He’s a pretty dynamic player and I’m pretty excited.”

Rock head coach Matt Sawyer shares Hellyer’s excitement and also sees the potential for the development of a two-headed monster.

“We need to get them playing together some more both in practice and in games,” said Sawyer. “You can see the upside, but we all still have some work to do. We hope that evolves into a strong tandem over there.”

The Rock found themselves in a 3-0 hole early as the Rush made good on three of their first six shots on Rock starter Brandon Miller. The Rock chipped away at the lead with goals from Dan Lintner and Hellyer to draw within one as the first quarter came to a close.

The Rush stretched the lead to 8-5 at the half on the back of some power play goals. Toronto Battled back to 4-4, but the Rush scored three straight to build a three-goal lead. The two teams traded goals from there to end the half.

The Rock offence went on a tear in the second half of the game. With the score 9-6 Saskatchewan early in the third quarter, the Rock scored five straight goals to take an 11-9 lead after three quarters and added the first two of the fourth quarter to lead 13-9. The seven-goal run was too much for the Rush to overcome.

Brandon Miller started the game for the Rock and allowed eight goals in the first half. Rookie Riley Hutchcraft was steady in his pro debut allowing just three goals in the second half in the Rock cage.

Toronto Rock training camp continues on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. The Rock will play the second of three exhibition games on Saturday, November 18 against the Colorado Mammoth at the TRAC at 7 p.m. There is no charge for admission, but a reminder that seating is limited, so please arrive early to guarantee yourself a seat.

2017-18 Season Tickets are on sale now. Please visit torontorock.com/tickets or call 416-596-3075 to purchase or for more information.