Thursday 7 June 2018

Rush and Knighthawks battle for history in Game 3 of NLL final

Rush D Matt Hossack, left, looks get past Knighthawks D Luc Magnan.
    The story on the turf will be as interesting as the spectacle that usually surrounds games, when the Saskatchewan Rush play at home.
    On Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre, the host Saskatchewan Rush face the Rochester Knighthawks in a winner take all Game 3 of the National Lacrosse League Championship series. The Rush took Game 1 by a 16-9 score at the SaskTel Centre on May 26.
    The Knighthawks evened the series with a 13-8 victory in Game 2 on June 2 at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y.
    Both teams are a win away from adding to their respective championship legacies. Both are hoping to capture the brand new National Lacrosse League Cup, which replaces the Champion’s Cup as the circuit’s championship trophy.
    The Rush are the team that is all about right now. Most of their players are in the prime of their playing days right now, have won in the past and are built to win in the present.
    They have an elite coaching staff led by head coach and general manager Derek Keenan.
    The Rush won their first NLL title in 2015 during the franchise’s final season in Edmonton, Alta. At the time, the Rush was as a very young team, and it was viewed the squad’s best days were still in the future.
    They repeated as NLL champs in 2016 during the club’s first campaign in Saskatchewan.
Defenceman Scott Campbell (#37) is a steady NLL veteran.
    Their run for three straight titles came to an end a year ago, when the Rush were swept 2-0 in the NLL title series by the Georgia Swarm. The sweep was completed with a Swarm 15-14 overtime victory at the SaskTel Centre.
    The Rush returned this season as a hungry club. When you win a league title in two straight seasons, you start expecting to win it every season. Last year’s loss to the Swarm was met with great disappointment.
    Saskatchewan rolled to a 14-4 record to finish first overall in the NLL regular season standings. The Rush are 16-5 including action in the regular season and the playoffs heading into Game 3 with the Knighthawks.
    The Rush are a team that is loaded with personable stars. Forward Mark Matthews topped the NLL in regular season scoring with 116 points and set a new NLL record for most assists in one regular season at 84.
    Forward Robert Church topped all Rush players with 47 goals in the regular season and placed second in the NLL scoring race with 107 points. Captain Chris Corbeil and fan favourite Jeremy Thompson pace the defensive and transition side.
    Matthews, Church, Corbeil and Thompson were all key members of the two NLL title wins by the Rush.
    Sophomore forward Ryan Keenan, who is Derek’s son, and sophomore defender Matt Hossack are looking to taste an NLL title for the first time.
    Veteran goalie Evan Kirk, who was acquired in a trade with the New England Black Wolves in the off-season, is trying to experience his first NLL championship in his seventh season.
Rush F Jeff Shattler (#77) passes the ball to a teammate.
    If the Rush win, they will cement their status as the NLL’s team of the present and add to a storied run they have built in the three previous campaigns.
    The Knighthawks are trying to return to their championship form that just existed a short time ago. Back in 2014, they competed a run of winning the NLL title in three straight seasons. They have won five NLL titles and are trying to join the Toronto Rock and the reborn Philadelphia Wings for most NLL championships won by one club at six.
    For a while, it looked like the 2018 campaign might be a write off for the Knighthawks, who stumbled out of the gate to start the regular season at 2-6. Since that start, the Knighthawks finished the regular season with a 10-8 mark, and they are 11-3 in their last 14 games including action in both the regular season and playoffs.
    Knighthawks head coach Mike Hasen and his staff have played a bit part in the turnaround. Hasen has been the team’s head coach since 2011.
    Matt Vinc, who won the NLL’s goaltender of the year award five times, and veteran star forward Cody Jamieson were integral to the Knighthawks run of three straight title wins from 2012 to 2014 and would love to return to the league’s mountaintop.
    Joe Resetarits led the Knighthawks in regular season scoring with 37 goals and 63 assists. He came to the Knighthawks in a trade with the Buffalo Bandits partway through the 2015 campaign. He is hoping to experience his first NLL championship in his sixth season in the league.
    Veteran defenceman Scott Campbell has continued to be steady on the backend for Rochester playing in his 14th season in the league. The 36-year-old hopes to experience his fourth league championship with the Knighthawks.
Knighthawks D Brad Gillies, left, defends against Rush F Mark Matthews.
    Campbell leads a tough defensive group that contains a pair of talented 25-year-old players in Luc Magnan and Graeme Hossack, who are both in search for their first NLL title win. Graeme Hossack is Matt Hossack’s older brother.
    So far, both teams have earned convincing victories in this series on their home turfs.
    Adding to the intrigue, this will mark the first time a full 60-minute contest with overtime will be held to decide a winner take all Game 3 in the NLL Championship series.
    The Knightshawks won a Game 3 in the NLL title series back in 2014, but that was by a 3-2 score in a 10-minute mini-game against the Calgary Roughnecks.
    The script for Saturday’s contest could play out in any type of fashion from a close game to a romp. In any way that it does play out, the spectators will see something special.

Trading Bridge would be unwise for Roughriders

Some Roughriders fans feel Brandon Bridge (#16) should be dealt for assets.
    The Saskatchewan Roughriders would be unwise to shrink their quarterback depth at this stage of the game.
    A number of the team’s fans saw a chance for the CFL club to add assets, when Winnipeg Blue Bombers star starting quarterback Matt Nichols was lost to injury on a non-contact play during a team practice on Wednesday. On Thursday, the Bombers announced Nichols was lost for four-to-six weeks with a right knee injury.
    Last season, Nichols was sensational for the Bombers completing 411 of 579 passes for 4,472 yards, 28 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Winnipeg finished second in the West Division with a 12-6 record. The Bombers fell 39-32 in the West semifinal to the Edmonton Eskimos.
    Almost immediately after Nichols went down, a number of Roughriders fans began to speculate on what the team might be able to acquire by trading backup quarterback Brandon Bridge to the Bombers. That move would not be wise.
    In most seasons, only about two to three quarterbacks on average in the CFL start all of their team’s contests during an 18-game regular season.
    In early January, the Roughriders acquired veteran starter Zach Collaros in a trade with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and signed him to a restructured contract. The 29-year-old is the odds on favourite to be the starter this season.
Zach Collaros is pegged to be the Roughriders starting quarterback.
    During his previous six seasons in the league, Collaros has only twice appeared in more than 13 regular season games. He lost his job as the Tiger-Cats starting quarterback halfway through last season completing 167 of 266 passes for 1,767 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Hamilton missed the playoffs with a 6-12 record.
    Last season with the Roughriders, Bridge won his one start and came off the bench in numerous other contests completing 92-of-138 passes for 1,236 yards, 10 touchdown passes and four interceptions. He also ran the ball 20 times for 127 yards and scored one major.
    During last year’s 25-21 Eastern Final loss to the eventual Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts, Bridge came off the bench for the Roughriders completing 11-of-21 passes for 141 yards and one touchdown.
    While it is expected both Collaros and Bridge will play well, there is still a possibility one or the other could falter besides the fact the injury bug could bit at any time over a long campaign. You need to have at least two good quarterbacks to make it through a CFL campaign.
    At the moment, the Roughriders would be wise to hold on to both Collaros and Bridge. Saskatchewan closes the pre-season hosting the Calgary Stampeders on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Mosaic Stadium.

Could Stanley be “Runnin’ Back to Saskatoon?”

    The Washington Capitals with captain Alexander Ovechkin finally won it, and hockey’s most cherished prize will likely be making a stop in Saskatoon.
    On Thursday in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Capitals defeated the host Vegas Golden Knights 4-3 in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup final. With the win, the Capitals claimed the best-of-seven series 4-1 to win the NHL title for the first time in the franchise’s 44 seasons of existence.
    The Golden Knights made it to the Stanley Cup final playing in their expansion season.
    Capitals 24-year-old centre Chandler Stephenson is from Saskatoon and star 28-year-old goalie Braden Holtby, who is from Lloydminster on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan, is an alum of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades.
    In a post-game interview with CBC, Stephenson said he was going to bring the Stanley Cup to Humboldt for sure. Stephenson said he knew a couple of people on the Humboldt Broncos bus that was involved in a tragic accident on April 6 heading to a junior A playoff game in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League in Nipawin to face the host Hawks.
    One of those friends was Broncos centre Brayden Camrud, who was in Vegas on Thursday night to see the Capitals win the Stanley Cup.
    A total of 16 players and Broncos staff members were killed in that crash and 13 players were injured. Since that crash, people worldwide have rallied to help those involved in the accident and the small city of Humboldt.
    Stephenson grew up playing his minor hockey in Saskatoon before joining the WHL’s Regina Pats. In four seasons with the Pats from 2010 to 2014, Stephenson appeared in 230 regular season games piling up 73 goals and 122 assists.
    From 2006 to 2009, Holtby appeared in 177 regular season games with the Blades posting an 82-75-15 record, a 2.87 goals against average, a .905 save percentage and seven shutouts. He still holds the Blades career record for most saves in the regular season at 4,576 and his 177 career regular season games played is also a record for most games played by a Blades netminder.

    If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.
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