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Rochester's Cody Jamieson says he didn't expect to be named to the NLL's All-Star team. (Photo: Larry Palumbo)

Cody Jamieson said being named a starter for the all-star game came as a surprise to him. He was likely one of the only ones. Sitting second in goals (16), third in assists (20) and second in points (36) this season, the 24-year-old was a logical choice among the majority of voters: Coaches, GMs, fans and media. “I was ecstatic,” said the Rochester Knighhawks forward on hearing of the honour. “I didn’t expect it at all being my second year in the league. Obviously I’m really excited to play in that game and represent the Hawks.” The 5-foot-10, 200-pounder has lived up to his 2010 No-1 draft-pick billing, transitioning seamlessly into the NLL and becoming a dominant player.

Becoming the face of the franchise after John Grant Jr. was dealt (whom he trails this season in goals and points), the Syracuse product had a great rookie season — finishing second to Calgary’s Curtis Dickson in ROTY voting — and is taking his place this season among the league’s elite forwards.

“I’ve been having a pretty good year so far,” said Jamieson. “I worked hard in the offseason to get ready for this year. A lot (of my success) goes towards how my teammates are playing. Hallsy (Jordan Hall) is playing really well. (Cory) Vitarelli on the left side with Johnny Powless are really opening up a lot of floor. Everybody is executing and I’m just trying to do my part.”

The K-Hawks are 2-3 this season. With all their turnover is the off-season (notably trading Shawn Williams and Shawn Evans a year after dealing Grant and Scott Evans), not a lot was expected of the club. Players excluded, of course.

“We knew right from the bat the kind of talent we had in our dressing room,” said Jamieson. “This is what we expected. In the end, we’re right where we want to be. We’re getting better every week.”

Jamieson said the vibe inside the dressing room is positive and the team is a close-knit bunch.

“We have a lot of fun, whether it be in games or in practices,” said Jamieson. “I think it shows in our play. We’re always laughing and smiling at what each other does out there. Everyone always talks about how young we are, but lacrosse-talentwise we’re loaded.”

LEBLANC HAS HIS BREAK-OUT

You knew it was only a matter of time.

Still, it likely felt like forever to many Rock fans — and Stephan Leblanc himself. Leblanc finally had his break-out game, scoring four goals on 10 shots and adding a pair of helpers for a six-point outing Saturday night in a victory over the Wings.

It seems the ‘addition by subtraction’ is working for Toronto, with Josh Sanderson continuing his dominant play in the absence of Blaine Manning and Colin Doyle with three goals and nine points, while Garrett Billings — known more as a sniper — also collecting nine points on the strength of a goal and 11 helpers.

Who would have thought that losing two future hall-of-famers would be the spark needed to get the Rock’s attack firing on all cylinders. You have to wonder, too, if the adversity of an 0-2 start, combined with losing a pair of stars and team leaders, wasn’t exactly the type of adversity needed for the defending champs to come together as a group and start executing coach Troy Cordingley’s gameplan?

DYNAMIC DUO FIND THEIR RANGE

The Stealth managed 52 shots Saturday night. As is the norm, half of those came from Rhys Duch (13) and Lewis Ratcliff (16). However, unlike last week, this time around both players found their range.

Duch scored four goals — including the OT winners — and added four helpers. Ratcliff — who had been snakebitten so far in the 2012 campaign — had three goals and six points. It goes without saying that for the Steath to have success both of those guys have to score. The fact they both did it, while on the road against a good Buffalo defence, is an encouraging sign for the team’s fans.

Somewhat lost in Saturday’s game was the impressive four-goal outing from Bufalo’s Luke Wiles in his first meeting against his former club, showing yet again what a bad call it was for Washington to trade him in the off-season.

HOW YOU LIKE ME NOW?

Matt Roik has been silencing his critics this season with his play. Saturday’s second-half shutout of the Wings offence was the equivalent of an emphatic “shut up” to any folks out there that still thought he wasn’t good enough to be Toronto’s starter.

Roik made 38 saves in the game, including 28 in the second half when he blanked the Philly attack. Twenty-three of the saves came during a fourth-quarter when the Wings pressed hard to get back into the game, then to simply score and avoid being shut out when it became clear they couldn’t pull one out.

Dan Dawson — who scored just once — had 10 shots in the game, most of them coming in the fourth quarter. He couldn’t beat Roik despite multiple good chances

QUICK STICKS: Extremely classy move by Rock owner Jamie Dawick to borrow a page from some NHL teams and bring along his player’s dads for the team’s roadie to Philly. They all sat together — sporting Rock jerseys — to cheer on their boys. Peter Merrill was likely the happiest of the lot, getting to watch both his sons — Patrick and Brodie — play. Injured forward Blaine Manning (with his arm in a sling after breaking his collar-bone) was seen on TV sitting with the group … Another Rock forward stepping up his play lately is Jamie Rooney. He scored twice in Saturday’s win, including an incredible outside blast. The rap on Rooney is that he isn’t in good enough shape, but he’s getting the job done in Toronto this season as a secondary scorer … Mark Steenhuis sure hasn’t had the offensive impact this season we have come to expect from the Orange-shoed Bandit. He had just one goal on seven shots in the loss to Washington and has just seven goals in five games this season. Teammate Tracey Kelusky has also seen his production dip with only three goals in five games. Buffalo needs more from those two if they want to start winning games again … Underrated is a word thrown around quite liberally when it comes to players that don’t get enough credit in the NLL. For my money, Rochester’s Cory Vitarelli is the most underrated player in the league right now. He scored four goals Saturday night and has 13 on the season already. He’s quietly having a helluva season … My only comment here on the all-star voting: Absolutely ridiculous Curtis Manning was not named as a starting West defender.

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