Buffalo, NY – The Toronto Rock (2-1) travel south of the border to take on the Buffalo Bandits (2-0) tonight at 7:30pm ET at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, NY.
Fans can watch the game live at 7:30pm ET on TSN4 and TSN’s digital platforms via TSN.ca and the TSN App. To stream the game, simply login to TSN Direct with your cable or satellite provider’s credentials or your TSN Direct account info if you’re a subscriber to the streaming service.
Here’s what to watch for in tonight’s matchup.
- Mitch de Snoo, former long-time Bandit, will play his first game against his old team. He was always a thorn in the side of his opponents, tonight his old team should learn a little bit about what that’s really like. He’s the ‘love to have him on your team, hate to play against him’ guy that every team in the NLL covets.
- The Rock have trailed after the first quarter in each of their three games they’ve played. While they’ve won two of those three, it’s not something they want to get into a habit of doing, especially here tonight in Buffalo.
- With one goal tonight, Rob Hellyer will move ahead of Rock legend Josh Sanderson into sole possession of 5th place on the Rock’s all-time goals list. The two are tied at 217 heading into tonight’s game. Hellyer reached 217 goals in 22 fewer games than Sanderson.
- The Rock will be without Tom Schreiber tonight as he was placed on the Short Term Holdout List on Friday. He and his wife are expecting the birth of their first child. Schreiber has the second highest points-per-game average in Rock franchise history at 5.20. Garrett Billings has the highest PPG at 6.06.
- Unavailable and on the COVID-19 Protocol List are Dan Dawson, Riley Hutchcraft and Phil Mazzuca. Troy Holowchuk and Chris Weier have been placed on the Active Roster.
- Holowchuk will backup Nick Rose tonight. It will be the first time Holowchuk has dressed for an NLL regular season game. Rose, on the other hand, will make his 71st consecutive start in net for the Rock. It’s the longest active streak in the NLL among goaltenders.
- Challen Rogers is at 96 career points and with Schreiber and Dawson both out of the lineup, he’ll have a chance to hit the century mark tonight.
- Associate Coach Colin Doyle will run the Rock offence tonight in Assistant Coach Rusty Kruger’s absence due to personal reasons.
The Rock will be wearing Tucker Out Lymphoma jerseys that were designed by the Bandits for this always special evening. The jerseys and shorts will be auctioned off with net proceeds going to pediatric cancer care in memory of Tucker Williams, son of former Bandit and Rock Shawn Williams. Fans can bid now, with the auction closing on Tuesday evening.
The Rock’s next game will be Saturday, January 15 against the Halifax Thunderbirds at Hamilton’s FirstOntario Centre. Per recent Ontario government restrictions, the game will be played without fans. However, the game will be televised as the NLL’s Game of the Week on TSN at 7pm ET.
For more information on Toronto Rock tickets, please contact a Toronto Rock account executive by phone at 416-596-3075, by email at tickets@torontorock.com or visit torontorock.com.
