K-Hawks open season Saturday night

(Rochester) The Rochester Knighthawks open their 15th season against a longtime rival, the Philadelphia Wings, in an 8:05 p.m. East Division showdown at The Blue Cross Arena on Saturday, January 10th. . After the game, the Knighthawks will hold a full-team autograph session on the turf. TV Giveaway: One lucky fan will win a HD Flat Screen Television. Ballots can be picked up upon entry and turned in at the DemocratandChronicle.com Info Zone in the upper atrium. No purchase is necessary to enter. Head-to-Head: Rochester leads the all-time series with a mark of 17-14. The game on January 10th is the first of two games against the Wings this season. Rochester concludes the season on Saturday, April 18th with a home game against Philadelphia. Knighthawk Notes: Rochester enters the season after an offseason of change with a new majority owner (Curt Styres), general manager (Regy Thorpe), coaching staff and 11 new players on the active roster. The biggest news was the addition of the Gait brothers, Paul and Gary. Paul will make his head coaching debut on January 10th and Gary will make his return to the NLL after a three-year hiatus. Gary ranks second in league history in goals (596), third in assists (495) and second in points (1,091). The team will enter the season without two of its top scorers from last season as John Grant and Scott Evans recover from injuries. The Knighthawks will look for scoring from two-time NLL All-Pro Shawn Williams, Shawn Evans, Ken Millin, Joe Walters, Jason Henhawk and Mat MacLeod. On defense, the Knighthawks added more toughness back with the additions of Troy Bonterre and Kyle Laverty. Further newcomers include transition man Joel McCready, defense/transition players Mac Allen and Andrew Spack, and defenseman Brock Boyle. The Knighthawks last addition was goaltender Derek Collins, who enters his 10th season of pro lacrosse in 2009. He began his career with the K-Hawks back in 1996. Inside the Numbers: Rochester missed the postseason for the first time in team history in 2008 after a run of 13 straight seasons. Rochester is 7-7 all-time in home openers. Walters selected as one of the top rookies: Rochester Knighthawks forward Joe Walters was selected the fifth best rookie in the National Lacrosse League this week by Steve Kojima of the NLL insider. The Rochester native was a four-time All-American at Maryland and in 2008 he won a Major League Lacrosse title en route to Playoff MVP and All-MLL Team honors. Gait brothers return to where it once ended: Gary and Pauls last game in the NLL as players, which was a 13-12 loss to the Rochester Knighthawks at The Blue Cross Arena, was on April 15, 2005. Gary had five goals and one assist, while Paul chipped in one goal and one assist. Garys last professional goal was at 4:03 of the fourth quarter. Wings Notes: Philadelphia enters the game after losing its season opener, 15-11, to the Buffalo Bandits on January 3rd at HSBC Arena. Geoff Snider led the Wings with one goal, five assists, 17 loose balls and 26 faceoff wins. Drew Westervelt also chipped in three goals and two assists. Rob Blasdell made 25 saves in a relief effort. Thus, he moved just 19 saves away from becoming only the sixth goalie in league history to reach 4,000 saves. The Wings were without 2008 League MVP Athan Iannucci, who is recovering from an offseason knee injury. In 2008, he broke Gary Gaits single-season goals record of 61, by registering an astounding 71 goals. The game in Rochester is the second of three road games in four contests to start the season for the Wings. Philadelphia heads home to play the Boston Blazers on Friday, January 23rd before leaving to battle the Blazers the following night at TD Banknorth Garden. Last season, the Wings ended a five-year playoff drought, but were eliminated in the opening round by the Bandits.