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TORONTO BLAZES PAST BOSTON IN OPENER

Watson, Rookies help push Rock past Blazers 17-7 at TD Garden

01/09/2010

By Megan Robinson for NLL.com

It was out with the old and in with the new for the Toronto Rock, who beat the Boston Blazers 17-7 in the season opener for both teams Saturday at TD Garden. With five rookies among 12 new faces on the roster and Captain Colin Doyle returning to Toronto, it was clear that the Rock brought their best effort to begin the 2010 season.

Doyle, who scored one goal and added nine assists against the Blazers, gave the rookies every opportunity to score that he could, feeding them loose balls and constantly passing to open men.

"It was a really good start for our young kids," said Doyle. "They just injected so much energy into us."

One of the five rookies on the Rock game roster, defenseman Creighton Reid, who was signed as a free agent in November, opened the scoring and set the tone of the game for the Rock with a shorthanded goal at 4:22 in the 1st Quarter.

Offensive rookies Garrett Billings and Stephen Leblanc, both drafted by Toronto in the 2009 Entry Draft, made their presence known on the floor in their NLL debut with the Rock. Billings scored five goals and two assists while Leblanc added two goals and five assists in the win.

Head coach Troy Cordingley was pleased with the efforts of the rookies in Boston.

"They were amazing. The pressure defense was really good and they created some opportunities for us offensively," said Cordingley.

Billings, a Toronto fan growing up, found motivation for Saturday's win in the veteran players around him.

"You watch a guy like Colin Doyle play so unselfishly and you can't help but play that way alongside of him," said Billings of the Rock captain.

Leblanc, who led the Rock with nine shots on goal, was also part of the Rock's offensive rebuild and has teammates such as Colin Doyle noticing his skill.

"I've been impressed with him since the minute I saw him in training camp," said Doyle of the 6'5", twenty-three year old. "It was good for him to come out here and show it in live action."

Offensively, the Rock outpaced the Blazers by scoring 11 goals in the first half of the game and continued a strong attack until the final buzzer. Rock forward Blaine Manning had four goals while Josh Wasson, a late addition to the game roster, scored two goals. Colin Doyle, Kasey Beirnes and Mike Hominuck each added one goal to the Rock win.

Toronto goaltender Bob Watson made 51 saves to contribute to the win against the Blazers. Boston captain Dan Dawson led the scoring for the Blazers, scoring three goals and two assists in the loss, but it wasn't enough effort to lift the Blazers past Watson and the Rock defense.

"They out worked us in every aspect of the game," said Dawson. "They buried every opportunity they had and Bobby Watson was on his 'A' game tonight, so hats off to them."

"Our defense was really breaking down and giving up a lot of quality shots," said Blazers head coach Tom Ryan of his team. "We showed up and thought we could win by just showing up and we just got out worked."

Cosmo, who played three quarters in net for the Blazers, allowed 12 of the 17 goals. Mike Poulin gave up the remaining five.

Forward Daryl Veltman had two goals for the Blazers, while fellow forwards Brenden Thenhaus and Gary Bining each added one for Boston in the loss to Toronto.

Cordingley, who saw his coaching systems in play Saturday, was happy with the result of the first game.

"That's the style that we want to play," said Cordingley. "We want to play an upbeat up-tempo game. We want to be fast and always aggressive."

The Blazers travel to Toronto on Friday for another chance to take on the Rock in the first of Toronto's eight home games this season at the Air Canada Centre.