Toronto Rock
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The Toronto Rock are a member of the National Lacrosse League, a North American professional sports league, since the 1999 season. They play at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario. In 1998 they were known as the Ontario Raiders and played their home games at Copps Coliseum in Hamilton, Ontario. In 1999 and 2000, they played at Maple Leaf Gardens before moving to the Air Canada Centre for the 2001 season.
Championships
LacrosseFight.jpg
The Toronto Rock won the Champion's Cup in 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2005.
The 2002 final was against the Albany Attack, and the 1999, 2000, and 2003 finals were against the Rochester Knighthawks. In 2001, the Toronto Rock went to the league title game but came up one goal short against the Philadelphia Wings. In 2004, the Rock earned a first round bye after clinching the East Division regular season crown. The Buffalo Bandits came to town and upset the Rock 19-10. Therefore, the Toronto Rock, since their installation in Toronto, have never missed the playoffs and have now gone to the championship game six times in the past seven years.
In 2005, the Rock defeated the Rochester Knighthawks in the East Division Final by a score of 12-10 in front of approximately 17,200 fans at the Air Canada Centre. The Rock went on to defeat the Arizona Sting with a 19-13 win in front of an NLL record crowd of 19,432, becoming NLL champions for the fifth time in seven years.
Les Bartley
Less then 18 hours after the Toronto Rock won their 5th NLL Championship, former coach and General Manager Les Bartley died on May 15, 2005 of cancer at the age of 51. Bartley is remembered as an exceptional coach, having led the Toronto Rock to win the championships in 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2003.
External links
- website (http://www.torontorock.com)