The Links: Toronto tops Halifax, Colorado conquers Calgary in post-season openers
Toronto Rock vs. Halifax Thunderbirds, FirstOntario Centre (Photo: Christian Bender)
The Lax Mag collected all the major-media hits after last night’s post-season openers – Toronto 14-13 in OT over Halifax and Colorado 16-12 over Calgary. Here’s what everyone is saying…
“Rogers is far and away the best all-around player in the game of lacrosse. We ask him to do a lot for us. I’m glad he had that moment.” – Toronto Rock Head Coach, Matt Sawyer (Toronto Sun)
And although you’ve likely seen it several times by now, here’s that moment, now an NLL post-season classic, courtesy of Toronto Rock captain, Challen Rogers…
Here’s an even better look at the celly from behind the boards with the Rock City Dancers…
“I think everyone on our bench knew that as soon as (Rogers) tipped that ball and he had a breakaway the game was over. He’s pretty automatic. That’s why he’s our captain. And our leader. It’s a fun way to end it.” - Rob Hellyer, Toronto Rock (Hamilton Spectator)
“Rosey stood on his head with three seconds left and allowed us to get to overtime. Although we kind of lost it in the third and fourth, we always believe in ourselves. Hats off to Halifax to be able to fight back like that.” - Rogers (The Chronicle Herald)
Rock starting goalie Nick Rose, who most media have in contention for the NLL’s Goalie of the Year Award (the league will announce all award finalists and winners after the conclusion of the 2022 NLL Playoffs), allowed just three goals over the first 30 minutes of the game, but his most heroic moments most definitely happened late while the Thunderbirds attempted to comeback and roll the Rock…
That previously mentioned Halifax comeback was largely led by team captain Cody Jamieson. The team tweeted this emotional post-game speech from Jamieson, which has already been viewed 15,000 times as of publishing this post…
The Rock had a reported 7,241 in attendance for Friday’s nights first-round fight at the FirstOntario Centre, while 6,000 sat in the Scotiabank Saddledome to watch the Roughnecks’ and Mammoth’s much anticipated match.
FirstOntario Centre, Hamilton, Ontario (Photo: Christian Bender)
“It’s a tough way to end it. You always picture yourself hoisting that trophy at the end of the year, so any time you fall short, it doesn’t get any easier. With the way things were going and how we were playing down the stretch, we were expecting big things. It’s definitely unfortunate it had to end this way.” - Curtis Dickson, Calgary Roughnecks (Calgary Sun)
Dickson, who assisted on six goals but was held scoreless himself, wasn’t 100% pleased with his performance, further adding (Calgary Sun), “We figured their game plan was going to be to pay a little bit more attention to me. But still, I’ve got to be able to put the ball in the back of the net. That’s part of my job, and ultimately probably the difference on the night.”
Curtis Dickson, Calgary Roughnecks (Photo: Candice Ward)
Colorado forwards Connor Robinson (5 goals) & Eli McLaughlin (3 goals), as they have all season (Clutch Kings: Chase for the Championship), were money goal getters for the Mammoth again, the team’s long-time voice Andy Lindahl tweeting mid game…
Plus, here are all five of Robinson’s finishes from Friday night…
As mentioned in a recent edition of The Lax Mag’s NLL Power Rankings, Mammoth vet Joey Cupido has played nearly 160 games in the league but is still lacking a Cup. Colorado’s two-way threat had 7 loose balls and a team-leading 3 caused turnovers last night, but icing their clash against Calgary might have been his most memorable moment in the Mammoth’s massive W last night…
Super early, but the Mammoth’s Ryan Lee, who finished second overall in league regular season point scoring (119 points, fourth highest ever), ends night one as the top post-season point producer with 2 goals and 8 assists.
Ryan Lee, Colorado Mammoth (Photo: Candice Ward)