Red-hot Toronto Rock set to open playoffs against Thunderbirds

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After suffering an overtime loss to the Halifax Thunderbirds in an empty FirstOntario Centre in mid-January, there was concern about how relevant the Toronto Rock would be this season.

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Then it all clicked.

After that day, the Rock (13-5) went on their best run in several years, winning 11 of their final 13 regular-season home games. And now Toronto is among the favourites for the National Lacrosse League title as the playoffs begin on Friday (7:30 p.m.) against the same Thunderbirds (11-7) at FirstOntario Centre in Hamilton.

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The season highlights were plenty. Tom Schreiber finished in a three-way tie for top goal-scorer with 47 on the season in just 16 games. Dan Craig established his emergence as a scoring threat with 34. Challen Rogers has arguably established himself as the best two-way player in the sport.

And when the offence had struggled, there was the stingiest defence in the NLL giving up a league-low 166 goals with Rogers, Brad Kri, and Mitch de Snoo leading the way.

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Nick Rose also had another solid year as he moves up the all-time list in several goaltending categories. The veteran summed up the team’s move forward after it fell to 2-3.

“We as a group recommitted to each other in terms of preparation,” Rose said on the team’s podcast. “We dove into a lot of video. We did team workouts where we were holding each other more accountable.”

The team’s turnaround may be measured in its season performance against the Thunderbirds. That overtime defeat came in between a December loss in Halifax where the Rock were limited to seven goals and the April 16 game in Hamilton when Toronto limited the Thunderbirds to just seven.

But now Toronto’s focus shifts to a single-game playoff against Halifax. The Thunderbirds started the season 8-1 despite having to play two home games in Hamilton due to Nova Scotia’s strict COVID-19 restrictions early in the year. But then the team went 1-6 before two victories to secure the third seed in the East Division.

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Clarke Pettersen led the Thunderbirds offensively with 72 points. Austin Shanks had 31 goals to lead that category. Former NLL MVPs Cody Jamieson and Shawn Evans add to their potent lineup. Warren Hill can steal a game in net and he is backed up by former NLL champion Aaron Bold.

The game is one of four division semi-finals as the NLL holds its first post-season since 2019. The Buffalo Bandits (14-4) open up at home on Saturday against the Albany Firewolves (9-9). The Bandits took both regular season meetings against the state rivals.

The West Division playoffs open on Friday when the Colorado Mammoth face the Calgary Roughnecks at the Scotiabank Saddledome. Both teams were 10-8 as were the San Diego Seals, who had the tiebreakers in hand to finish first and will face the Philadelphia Wings on Saturday at Pechanga Arena. The Wings (9-9) earned the crossover spot which went to the fifth-place team in the east.