Toronto Rock - Championships/Dynasty Era

Championships/Dynasty Era

In 1999, their first year in Toronto, the Rock won their first NLL Championship, defeating the Rochester Knighthawks 13-10 in Toronto. The next year, the Rock became the first team since the 1994-95 Wings to win back-to-back championships, once again defeating the Knighthawks. That game featured Kaleb Toth's dramatic game-winning goal with a second left on the clock, in the last-ever professional sporting event held at Maple Leaf Gardens.

2001 saw the Rock follow the Leafs to the Air Canada Centre, where they advanced to the championship game once again. But the visiting Philadelphia Wings held the Rock to just eight goals, and won their sixth championship. The next season, the Rock recovered from the championship game loss by finishing first overall for the fourth straight year. They advanced to the championship game once again, but for the first time as the visiting team. The Rock defeated the Albany Attack in Albany 13-12. 2002 was also one of the most productive years for the Rock in terms of awards; in addition to winning the Champion's Cup, three players were honoured by the league. Blaine Manning was named Rookie of the Year, Pat Coyle was named Defensive Player of the Year, and captain Jim Veltman was given the Sportsmanship Award.

In 2003, Toronto advanced to the championship game for the fifth straight year, once again as the visitors. The game was held in Rochester, where Rock had never won a game, but they prevailed in the lowest-scoring championship game in NLL history, winning 8-6.

Shortly before the 2004 season began, head coach and GM Les Bartley announced that he was fighting colon cancer, and was stepping down. Assistant coaches Ed Comeau and Derek Keenan were named interim coach and interim GM respectively. After a 2-4 start to the season, Comeau and Keenan were fired, and the Rock hired Terry Sanderson to try to turn the team around. The Rock went 8-2 the rest of the season, earning a first round bye after clinching the East Division regular season crown. However, the Buffalo Bandits came to town and upset the Rock 19-10, sending the Bandits to the first NLL championship game not featuring the Rock since they joined the league. Jim Veltman was honoured by the league by being named league MVP. This was the first year in the 10 year history of the award that it did not go to Gary Gait, Paul Gait, or John Tavares and the first Toronto Rock player to be named league MVP.

In 2005, the Rock defeated the Rochester Knighthawks in the East Division Final by a score of 12-10 in front of approximately 17,200 fans at the Air Canada Centre. The Rock went on to defeat the Arizona Sting with a 19-13 win in front of an NLL record crowd of 19,432, becoming NLL champions for the fifth time in seven years and solidifying their distinction as an NLL dynasty. Colin Doyle was named league MVP, the second straight year that the award was won by a Rock player.

Despite the championship, the season ended on a sad note for the Rock franchise, as Les Bartley died of cancer at the age of 51 the day after the championship game. Bartley is remembered as an exceptional coach, having led the Toronto Rock to NLL Championships in 1999, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

In 2004, the NLL Coach of the Year Award was renamed the Les Bartley Award in honour of Bartley.

In 2007, the Toronto Rock established an award also called the Les Bartley Award, given to "the Rock player that best exemplifies Les' emphasis on the importance of character and commitment to the team". The first winner of this award was team captain Jim Veltman.

In 2011 the Toronto Rock won the NLL championship again, beating the Washington Stealth 8-7. This victory ties them with Philadelphia for most NLL championships won, at 6.