Chris Gill led the way with four goals and an assist, and fellow B.C. commuter Dan Stroup added a hat trick as the Toronto Rock earned a 9-5 win over the New York Saints, despite losing young superstar scorer Kim Squire to a broken ankle in the first half.

Announced attendance was 14,026, and while I have accused the Rock of padding the numbers in the past, this one was legit. Fans were packed right up to the back rows of Maple Leaf Gardens, with only a couple of thousand empty seats scattered throughout the building.

Gill scored both Toronto markers in the opening quarter, and his teammates also managed to rattle a goalpost and a crossbar behind Saints starter Chris Levis. At the other end, Bob Watson went largely untested in the Toronto goal, until Kevin Lowe got one back for the Saints at 13:16. 2-1 Rock after one.

Mark Frye then knotted the game at two, and almost ten minutes elapsed before anyone else scored. With three minutes left in the half, the Saints were looking very tentative on the power play when they got a couple of unexpected gifts from the league's best goaltender. Bob Watson corralled a loose ball, and made a totally unforced, unnecessary behind-the-back downfloor pass that flew into the seats. On the restart, an uninventive long shot from Mark Panos had the good fortune to catch Watson on the top of the shoulder, and squirt into the net to give the visitors what would be their only lead of the night. Dan Stroup got that one back for Toronto 21 seconds later, and the teams headed to halftime tied 3-3.

The Rock blew it open early in the third. Colin Doyle made a great slicing deke at the top of the crease at 2:28. Then, Stroup converted a diagonal charge through heavy, if disinterested traffic in the New York defence at 3:22. At 3:59, a perfect pass found Ryan O'Connor all alone at the edge of the crease. No chance for Levis, 6-3 Rock. Watson neatly quashed what little resistance the Saints put up, and Stroup finished off his three-spot when he cashed in a gorgeous Colin Doyle-Russ Heard man-advantage pass play at 9:38.

Toronto led 8-5 after three, and they both teams quietly played out the string, with only a Chris Gill close-out with 90 seconds left to wake up the official scorekeeper.

Squire was injured early in the second quarter. Everyone seemed to miss exactly what happened, but a small bone in his ankle broke, and he's expected to be sidelined from four to six weeks. It was a hell of a week for Squire. Just a few days before, a car carrying he and his brother/teammate Rod Squire was knocked off a back-country road by a vehicle that apparently ran a stop sign. The Squire brothers escaped serious injury, but the driver of the other vehicle was killed.

The Rock now journey down to Pittsburgh for their first look at the revamped, relocated Pittsburgh CrosseFire. The Saints, meanwhile, will look to get better at home against the expansion Albany Attack. A word of caution, Saints fans: if this team doesn't find a creative spark and start running hard at opposing defences, they could be looking at as long and bad a year as the Uniondale cousins, the New York Islanders.

BOX SUMMARY
                                  1  2  3  4     TOT
New York Saints (1-2)             1  2  2  0  --   5
Toronto Rock (2-0)                2  1  5  1  --   9

NEW YORK SAINTS               TORONTO ROCK
               G - A   PTS                   G - A   PTS
Colsey         1 - 2     3    Gill           4 - 1     5
Frye           2 - 0     2    Stroup         3 - 1     4
K Lowe         1 - 0     1    O'Connor       1 - 2     3
Panos          1 - 0     1    Doyle          1 - 1     2
Benedict       0 - 1     1    Toth           0 - 2     2
McCabe         0 - 1     1    Harrison       0 - 1     1
Panetta        0 - 1     1    Heard          0 - 1     1
                              Millin         0 - 1     1
                              Veltman        0 - 1     1

Shots on goal           43    Shots on goal           47
Saves made by           38    Saves made by           38
   Levis                         Watson
Penalties                6    Penalties                7
Penalty Minutes         12    Penalty Minutes         14
Power Play Chances       4    Power Play Chances       3
Power Play Goals         1    Power Play Goals         1
Shorthanded Goals        0    Shorthanded Goals        0
Faceoffs Won             9    Faceoffs Won             9
   Langton       ( 8- 6)         Graham        ( 9- 9)
   Derks         ( 1- 3)
Loose Balls             67    Loose Balls             90
   Naglieri           8          Veltman           16
   Langton            8          Clark             11
   Colsey             6          Stroup             8

*** ALL STATS OFFICIAL BY VERIFY WITH TORONTO ROCK ***