Game Preview - Halifax vs Toronto
Mar 6, 2025
Following a pair of wins on the road, the Halifax Thunderbirds return home to welcome the Toronto Rock to Scotiabank Centre on Friday night to kick off a three-game homestand. Face-off is set for 7:30 p.m. AT.
Head to Head
The all-time season series between these two rivals sits at 5-4 in favour of Toronto, however, the home teams have had the upper hand. Halifax is 3-1 all-time against the Rock in The Nest.
Clarke Petterson has played some of his best lacrosse against Toronto, leading all players in this series with 40 points in nine career outings. Cody Jamieson has seven goals and 22 points in eight games with Halifax while Randy Staats has posted nine points in two outings.
Scouting the Thunderbirds
Despite being held to single-digits in goals for the first time during this current win streak, the Thunderbirds got scoring from eight different players while getting a standout defensive performance, with Warren Hill shining in Vegas a week ago.
Through 11 games this year, Randy Staats (17G, 49A) leads the Thunderbirds in scoring while sitting top-10 league-wide in both points and assists.
Clarke Petterson (18G, 33A) has been very solid for the team over this current streak, as has Thomas Hoggarth (18G, 18A). The team was without Dawson Theede and Bo Bowhunter in their last outing in Las Vegas. But Cole Kirst (3G, 6A) was able to chip in a goal and an assist as he got into the lineup.
Mike Robinson (12G, 15A) has also continued his strong play in his rookie year. His 60 loose balls on the year are also good for fifth on the Thunderbirds this season.
Once again, it was Ryan Terefenko (15G, 13A) putting on a show in Vegas, finishing with a goal and an assist. During this current five-game winning streak, Terefenko has 12 goals and 20 points, firmly cementing himself in the conversation for Transition Player of the Year.
Warren Hill has won five straight games and has turned his season around after a tough start. The Halifax starter sits with a 10.40 goals-against average and a .784 save percentage on the year.
Scouting the Rock
It will be a much different Toronto squad taking to the floor on Friday than many fans have ever seen before.
Sitting at 3-8 to this point in the year, the Rock made some big moves last week, sending goaltender Nick Rose to Calgary and defenders Mitch De Snoo and Chris Corbeil to Philadelphia.
But some of the marquee names remain as the Rock head into the final game before the trade deadline. Tom Schreiber (10G, 23A) continues to be one of the leading forces offensively for the Rock. But Josh Dawick (24G, 16A) and Chris Boushy (23G, 15A) lead the team in scoring through 11 games.
Dan Craig (7G, 22A) and Corey Small (15G, 13A) have also provided some veteran scoring this year for Toronto.
With multiple key vets out the back gate being shipped out, the Rock will lean heavily on captain Challen Rogers, as well as Brad Kri and Latrell Harris – both of whom have taken home Defender of the Year previously.
The biggest question for the Rock now will be in the cage. Without their longtime starter, it’ll be on the pair of Troy Holowchuk and Gowah Abrams to carry the Rock the remainder of the year.
Holowchuk has played just 34 minutes this season, posting a 10.49 GAA and a .793 SV%. Abrams has a 13.77 GAA and a .732 SV% this year.
Milestone Watch
- Jake Withers needs eight face-off wins to reach 2,000 for his career
- Graeme Hossack needs one game played to reach 150 for his career
- Thomas Hoggarth needs two assists to reach 100 for his career
- Nonkon Thompson needs seven loose balls to reach 100 for his career
- Tyson Bell needs 16 loose balls to reach 800 for his career
- Cody Jamieson needs 25 points to become the 17th player in NLL history to reach 1,000 career points
Broadcast Info
The Thunderbirds and Rock will face off as the NLL Game of the Week on TSN.