At the 2022 National Lacrosse League Draft, the Rochester Knighthawks shook things up in the first round on more than one occasion.
Originally, the Knighthawks were supposed to only have the first overall selection in the draft, rounding out their first-round selections shortly after the draft began. However, that presented opportunity for Knighthawks general manager Dan Carey to make some moves and shake things up in order to acquire another pick in the round. Carey decided to do just that by acquiring the 18th overall pick from the Las Vegas Desert Dogs in exchange for goaltender Joel Watson and Rochester’s second-round pick in the 2024 NLL Entry Draft. Subsequently, the Knighthawks then went on to select forward Austin Hasen, the son of Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen, at 18th overall to conclude their picks in the opening round.
After the picks were in and the announcements were made, the two first-round picks, consisting of Hasen and Thomas McConvey (selected first overall) met at center stage for a picture. A picture that saw the two first-rounders dawning the Knighthawks new jerseys they’ll be wearing at home and on the road this season.
Rochester’s previous home jerseys were army green with black and white striping on the sleeves and the Knighthawks lettered logo across the chest. While their road sweaters had the same emblem on the front, they were white with green striping on the sleeves.
Now, the Knighthawks will be rocking a different look at home, highlighted by a predominantly all-black jersey with the primary logo on the front. The jersey will be accentuated with green trimming around the neck and the striping on the sleeves not only has green but adds a touch of gold. On the road, Rochester will still wear white, however, these too have a green trim around the color and green on the sleeves with that little bit of gold. At the center of the road sweaters will be the flying hawk, the team’s secondary logo.
And Knighthawks veteran Dan Coates thinks they’re awesome.
“I honestly I think they’re awesome,” said Coates when seeing the jerseys in person for the first time. “You don’t really try to compare yourself to other jerseys around the league, but we’re the only ones with the color scheme. The fact that we got to tie in some of the green, and now gold, into those jerseys, it’s pretty cool and pretty unique. All in all, it’s a great look and I think our fans are going to be really excited.”
Coates’ favorite addition to the new jerseys is the hint of gold.
“I think it’s the gold in there. I just think the combination of green and gold is who we are as an organization and I think we were missing that,” commented Coates when asked what his favorite part about the new look was. “Our players, and my teammates, are going to be really excited to wear them and I think our fans should be super excited to see them from the stands.”
We’ll get to see the Knighthawks repping their new jerseys soon as Rochester sets out on its third season in the NLL on Saturday, Dec. 3 on the road against the Georgia Swarm before returning home to host the Toronto Rock on Opening Knight on Saturday, Dec. 10.
The on-sale date for all Knighthawks single-game tickets on-sale will be announced in the coming weeks. Season Tickets for the Knighthawks for the 2022-23 season are on sale now and start as low as $18 per seat per game. More information on Knighthawks season tickets can be found at www.rochesterknighthawks.com/memberships.
