NLL Insider

With Jim Veltman off the floor and now permanently on the Toronto Rock’s bench, a lot of fans and critics seem to be questioning what kinda leadership the Rock will sport now that their ultimate leader is wearing a tie and jacket on game nights.

Although the franchise recently named Chris Driscoll as the team’s new captain, Rock defender Cam Woods is the kinda guy that has a C on his chest no matter if the fans can see it sewn on his sweater or not.

Former teammates of Woods have said that he’s the guy they followed and listened to without hesitation on-and-off the court, while Woods’ smash mouth style of D has been a staple in the league since he first cracked the big show with Albany in 2000.

After several years of playing under a pretty dim spotlight in places like Albany and San Jose, Woods’ game was finally profiled in front of a jacked crowd in Toronto, starting the year with a bang in the now infamous Minny Swarm home opener.

Although Cam mighta taken some lumps on his dome courtesy of Travis Hill that first night playing in TO for the Rock, Woods, as usual, had a pretty consistent winter as far as pure D guys go in this league.

The former NLL Defender of the Year played a beyond crucial role in the Rock’s rebuilt back-end, all while maintaining his rep as one of the sport’s hardest hitting, and some might say dirty, defenders. Woods has that ability to let a guy think he’s beaten him 1v1, and then blasting him into the rug and scoopin’ up the loosie. It might not be as pretty as Dan Dawson’s swim drives to the cage, but Woods’ technique in one-on-one situations is almost down to a science, even though it may come off as otherwise at times.

Woods’ play in 08 helped tighten up the Rock’s, at times, porous D from 2007, and in combination with some solid tending from Bob Watson, had Toronto’s goals against the lowest it’s been since the team won it all in 2003. Coincidence that those low digits happened the same year Woods and Peter Lough signed on with the Rock? Don’t think so.

Woods spent his summer helping anchor a Mann Cup winning D that held New West to a real stingy 4.75 goals per game while the Excels swept aside the best the West had to offer.

Playing with and leading arguably the most talented D he’s been apart of in his pro career, can Woods win his first NLL title in 2009?

Does Woods belong in the NLL Insider Top 50? Hit the boards and let us know what your Top 50 looks like heading into the 2009 NLL season…

#50 Matt Roik, San Jose Stealth
#49 Jon Sullivan, Minnesota Swarm
#48 Billy Dee Smith, Buffalo Bandits
#47 Steve Toll, Rochester Knighthawks
#46 Jarett Park, New York Titans
#45 Bruce Murray, Colorado Mammoth
#44 Shawn Evans, Rochester Knighthawks
#43 Peter Lough, Toronto Rock
#42 Matt Vinc, New York Titans
#41 Jeff Shattler, Calgary Roughnecks
#40 Craig Point, Minnesota Swarm
#39 Scott Ranger, Calgary Roughnecks
#38 Brian Langtry, Colorado Mammoth
#37 Sean Pollock, Minnesota Swarm
#36 Jake Bergey, Boston Blazers
#35 Pat O’Toole, Rochester Knighthawks
#34 Kyle Sweeney, Philadelphia Wings
#33 Luke Wiles, Toronto Rock
#32 Ryan Boyle, New York Titans
#31 Chris White, Buffalo Bandits
#30 Jordan Hall, New York Titans
#29 Shawn Nadelen, Philadelphia Wings
#28 Cam Woods, Toronto Rock

Hit this link for NLL Insider’s Top 50 archive and keep checkin’ back every week as we countdown the top 50 best in the pro game, with #1 being named just before the NLL season kicks off.

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