When the Toronto Rock and Washington Stealth face off in an exhibition game at the Langley Events Centre in December, it's not quite clear who will have more crowd support.
The Stealth are located just a couple of hours away in Everett, Wash. and boast a large number of Lower Mainland lacrosse players, including Coquitlam Jr. Adanac grads Matt Beers, Jason Bloom and goalie Tyler Richards.
The Rock, on the other hand, are one of three Canadian teams in the 10-team National Lacrosse League, and also have some B.C. connections with Tri-City ties to their roster, namely PoCo's Kyle Ross and Aaron Pascas. Plus, Rock scoring star and captain Colin Doyle is long-time former Coquitlam Sr. 'A' Adanac.
The game is also a rematch of the recent 2011 NLL championship game, in which Toronto beat the Stealth 8-7 in a thriller. But perhaps the thing that could tip the crowd in their favour is the fact Langley's Garrett Billings is a member of the Rock.
And Billings expects more than a few friends and family to come watch him play in the game on Dec. 10.
"I think people are going to get a completely different brand of lacrosse," Billings said, when contacted in Ontario.
Billings chose to stay east to play this summer for the Six Nations Chiefs of the Ontario Major Series following the Rock's title season. In 2010, it was the Stealth bettering the Rock. While both his parents have seen him play professionally, the exhibition game will give his friends a chance to watch him, too.
More importantly, it will be a chance for Lower Mainland lacrosse fans to show they support the game.
"I think anybody that loves lacrosse has to be at that game," Billings said. "This is our chance to show that as a lacrosse community, we support (the sport) and fill up the building."
The Vancouver Ravens played in the NLL from 2002-2004 out of GM Place (now Rogers Arena).
NLL commissioner George Daniel said the league is thrilled to return to B.C.
"British Columbia continues to be a hotbed for lacrosse," he said on a conference call with media and representatives for the Rock and Stealth.
David Takata, the Stealth president, said they have been trying to arrange something like this for a couple of years now.
Having seen the LEC already, he called it a "world-class facility."
"The architecture is great, the layout is great, they did everything right to bring lacrosse out there," he said.
"We are real excited to go out west," said Rock president/owner Jamie Dawick, who said it will be a great bonding road trip with the regular season just weeks away.
As for the NLL coming back to the Lower Mainland, Daniel said it is inevitable they will be back.
"There is no doubt in my mind," he said. "We know there is a lot of people watching the games on television because we get the TV ratings from British Columbia."
The league will monitor how many attend the December game.
"We would like to see some support from the lacrosse community and all the people who have been clamoring for us to come back," he said. "I think that is the first step in showing all the key stakeholders there is support here to bring a team back."
But coming to Langley is considered a long shot since the 5,200-seat facility would be the league's smallest, although he added he "wouldn't want to rule anything out."
Tickets for the game go on sale on Tuesday at 10 a.m. and range from $18 to $28 through www.ticketmaster.ca or call 1-855-985-5000.
Also, an autograph session featuring players from both teams will follow the 7 p.m. contest.
