What to watch for vs. Ottawa Black Bears

Battle of Ontario Begins Tonight

Ottawa, ON – The Toronto Rock will open the season against the Ottawa Black Bears tonight at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, ON.  It will be the first regular season professional lacrosse game since the Ottawa Rebel were a part of the league from 2001-2003.

Fans can watch the game vs. Ottawa at 7:00pm ET on TSN and TSN’s digital platform TSN+ via TSN.ca and the TSN App as well as ESPN+.  To stream the game, you need a TSN+ subscription.

Here’s what to watch for in Friday’s matchup.

• Following Friday’s morning shoot around at Canadian Tire Centre, the Rock placed captain Challen Rogers on the Injured Reserve List with a lower body injury and moved Luke Robinson to the Active Roster.
• The Rock and Black Bears have never met before, but when the Black Bears were the New York Riptide, the Rock won five of six head-to-head matchups including last year’s epic battle in the NLL’s UnBoxed Series game in Laval, QC. A 16-10 Rock win.
• Key Rock departures include Dan Lintner, Sheldon Burns, and Brandon Slade. Key Additions include Elijah Gash, Jake Darlison, and Brian Cameron.
• Tonight marks the return of 2023 NLL Defensive Player of the Year Latrell Harris. The explosive defender missed the entire 2023-24 season recovering from a torn ACL.
• Rock Head Coach Matt Sawyer served as an assistant coach to Terry Sanderson behind the Ottawa Rebel bench in 2003. Rock Assistant Coach Bruce Codd was on the floor playing for the Rebel.
• Tom Schreiber will play his 100th NLL game tonight.
• Corey Small needs 6 points to hit the 900-point plateau for his NLL career.
• A Rock win tonight would be the 86th of Matt Sawyer’s NLL head coaching career which would pass Chris Hall for 9th all-time.
• INJURY REPORT: TD Ierlan is on the IR with a lower body injury. Zack Kearney is on the IR with an upper body injury. Brad Kri has been placed on the PUP List and Ethan Fisher has been moved to the Season-Ending IR List
• Next Saturday night, the Rock will play at Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga for the first time when they host the Albany FireWolves at 7pm ET. Fans can watch the game on NLL+ and TSN+.

Fans should also check out the latest episode of Rock City Unplugged, streaming now on the Rock’s YouTube Channel and on TSN+.

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.