01/11/03
Toronto native Gary Rosyski conjured up three crucial assists as his Albany Attack beat the Toronto Rock 12-9 in front of over 17,000 fans at the Air Canada Centre. After a frustrating spell at the top of the Albany power play, Rosyski has returned to his beloved shooter position, where he is going to put a lot of strain on NLL defences. Attack coach Bob McMahon says Rosyski's ability to score from way out while opponents are trying to key on Josh Sanderson has earned him the nickname "The Silent Assassin." A satisfied Rosyski talked it over with PLPA correspondent Ben Knight in the locker room after the game.
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Well, Gary, there's not a lot of teams that have come in here in the regular season and won. How did that feel?
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It felt great. We hadn't really ever come close to beating them here, and it's a big game for us just to get momentum rolling. It definitely felt good beating them in their home opener.
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You played Jr. A with Toronto Beaches. Does that add anything to the win?
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Of course. Being from Toronto, I have a lot of friends and family here that I don't usually get to play in front of. It has its advantages.
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People watch this team, and they see Josh Sanderson doing all the things he's doing, but it's always seemed to me that you give him a lot of options with all the dangerous things you can do. How would you describe your game?
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Well, it's not me giving him options. There are four other guys on the floor that are constantly moving when he's got the ball. Josh has got great hands and great eyes to pick things up that most people won't. He complements everyone on the floor. I guess I like to hold the ball more than most people. I don't have a problem with moving the ball, but I think my game is more holding the ball as much as I can.
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As a shooter, have the bigger nets helped you?
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At first we noticed a difference, but overall the goalies adjust and it's not really that big of a change.
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How does beating Toronto feel, given the way last season ended with the Rock winning the championship in Albany?
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Well, that was definitely on our minds tonight with them raising the banner and getting their rings. Definitely there was a bit of revenge on our minds, but ultimately it was two points no matter what team we were playing.
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There was a real risk, if you guys lost today, that 1-3 would be a very deep hole to come out of. Is this win a turning point for you guys?
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Hopefully. We came out of a bad loss last year against Rochester and we went, I think, on a 12-game run. I'm not saying we're going to do that, but this is definitely a win we can build on.
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How were things different last season, with Bob McMahon taking over as coach after Terry Sanderson moved to Montreal?
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There really wasn't much difference. The team was the same. Maybe everybody put in an extra bit of effort that wasn't there before. We always say that we didn't get a lot of good bounces the year Terry was here. Last year, we felt that every bounce went our way. Luck wins games, also.
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When you come that close to winning a championship - one goal! - is there really anything different you can do, or do you just keep right on going?
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Just keep doing what you're doing. We obviously had a great game plan, similar to Toronto's, and it all came down to the last goal. It could have been a last possession that won that game.
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What would it mean to help this team win it all?
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That would be an amazing feeling. Definitely, that's our goal here. It's something to look forward to.
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