NLL Champions Cup Preveiw: Stealth vs Rock

It's time for the National Lacrosse League Champions Cup. This years matchup features the team with the best regular season, the Washington Stealth. They face a team in the Toronto Rock who look to tie the Philadelphia Wings record of six championships. Fresh off his rookie of the year, Stephen Leblanc look to knock off Rhys Duch and the Washington Stealth.

Leading Point Scorer(Playoffs): Was:Rhys Duch, 14 pts
Tor: Stephen LeBlanc, 12 pts

Goaltender: Was: Tyler Richards
Tor: Bob Watson

Injuries: Was: Travis Gillspie
Tor: None

Game Notes:

* The Rock look for their sixth championship in a year that was meant for rebuilding.

* A sub-plot in this game will be the return of Colin Doyle to the Stealth. Both Lewis Ratcliff and Doyle, the two center pieces in that deal, have not done much these playoffs

* The Stealth held the Rush to one goal in thirteen shots on Saturday

* The Rock were 0-4 on their power play

* The game can be seen Saturday night at 10:30 on NLL.com, or Sunday at 2pm on Versus. I will have an open thread to chat tomorrow night and Sunday.

A look back at the trade that shaped the Champions Cup

The face of the Stealth had been Colin Doyle all the way back to when they were the Albany Attack. He was the captain of the Stealth franchise and stood for everything for it. But last off season the Stealth traded Doyle to the Toronto Rock for Lewis Ratcliff, Joel Delgarno and Tyler Codron. The center piece for the Stealth was obviously Ratcliff, who went on to lead the NLL in goals with 46. Delgarno, a rookie, scored sixteen points in the first half of the season. Codron did not see much action this season due to a knee injury.
Early it looked like the Rock got the better part of the deal. Doyle was a great addition to a Rock team that was supposed to be in rebuilding. An interesting story line this series is Doyle faced the Toronto Rock in the 2002 Champions Cup as a member of the Attack.
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The Champions Cup will air live on NLL.com and TSN2 in Canada. You watch the game via tape delay the next day on Versus at 2pm.