Rush in driver’s seat in chase for first in NLL

Captain Ryan Keenan and the Rush sit first overall in the NLL.

For anyone who hasn’t heard, the good days are back for the Saskatchewan Rush.

Last season, the Rush finished second overall in the NLL posting a 13-5 record. That ended a reload stretch for the Rush where they just missed the post-season posting respective 8-10 records for three straight campaigns.

In the 2025 NLL Playoffs, the Rush advanced to the best of three NLL Championship Series where they fell 2-1 to the Buffalo Bandits, who claimed a third straight league title and their record seventh NLL championship in team history. In the series-deciding Game 3 on May 24, 2025 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y., the Rush trailed 7-6 at halftime only to see everything go the Bandits way in the second half outscoring the Saskatchewan side 8-0 to roll to a 15-6 victory.

After returning to the NLL final in 2025 since last winning the league championship in 2018, the Rush entered the current campaign with the belief that it will be a special season. They jumped out to a 10-1 start thanks to a nine-game winning streak.

Their last two outings were heartbreakers. On February 27, they fell 11-10 in overtime to the three-time defending NLL champion Bandits in Buffalo, and one night later, the Rush came out on the wrong end of a 13-12 overtime decision to the Knighthawks in Rochester.

Still, the Rush still sit first overall in the NLL with their 10-3 record. They are holding off the Colorado Mammoth and Vancouver Warriors, who are both 9-4 and the Georgia Swarm, who are 8-4.

Going into the final stretch of the NLL regular season, the Rush are sitting in a good place when it comes to the race for top spot as they play four of their final five games in the friendly confines of their home venue in the SaskTel Centre. The Rush are 5-0 at home this season.

On Saturday, the Rush begin that final sprint when they host the San Diego Seals (6-6) at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. The Seals are battling for their post-season lives sitting in a tie for seventh and eighth overall in the league with the Bandits. The top eight teams in the NLL’s overalls standings qualify for the post-season.

Robert Church has 67 points for the Rush so far this season.

The Rush last played at home on February 14, when they slipped past the Warriors 9-8 in overtime before a season-high crowd of 7,319 spectators at the SaskTel Centre. That should set the anticipation appetite for the upcoming clash with the Seals.

Leading the way for Saskatchewan are two of the team’s legends in Ryan Keenan and Robert Church. Keenan, who is the team’s captain, sits sixth in league scoring with 74 points coming off 31 goals and 43 assists. Church, who debuted with the Rush when the franchise was still in Edmonton back in the 2013-14 campaign, is ninth in league scoring with 67 points coming off 24 goals and 43 assists.

Veteran forwards Zach Manns and Austin Shanks are both having big years again for the Rush. Manns has 63 points coming off 29 goals and 34 assists, while Shanks has 57 points coming off 23 goals and 34 assists.

Long time transition player Mike Messenger and grizzled defender Matt Hossack have made their presence known. Messenger sits fifth in the NLL collecting 109 loose balls and third in blocked shots at 19. Hossack is tied for fourth in the NLL with caused turnovers at 20.

Young transition player Jake Naso continues to be a battler when it comes to faceoffs winning 203-of-301 faceoffs for a 67.4 per cent success rate.

In net, reliable star goalie Frank Scigliano leads the NLL with 10 victories posting a 10-2 record, a 9.08 goals against average and a 80.0 per cent save percentage.

Back on January 2, NLL icon Derek Keenan, who is the co-head coach and general manager of the Rush, became the first person in the history of the league to coach in his 300^th game. Along with co-head coach and associate general manager Jimmy Quinlan, the Rush have no worries when it comes to coaching.

The Rush have a real shot to win their fourth NLL title in team history and first championship since 2018. If anyone hasn’t been on the Rush bandwagon for some time, now is the time to get back on.

Title run for Huskies women’s hoopsters impressive

Gage Grassick and the Huskies are U Sports champs once again.

The U Sports women’s basketball championship trophy – The Bronze Baby – is finding a regular home on the University of Saskatchewan campus grounds.

On Sunday at the Amphitheatre Desjardins-Universite Laval in Quebec City, Quebec, the fifth-seeded Huskies took the title game of the U Sports Championship Tournament 77-68 over the second seeded University of New Brunswick Reds. That marked the second straight year the Huskies have won the U Sports title.

The Huskies have now won four U Sports titles in their team history with the first championship coming in 2016.

In Sunday’s win over the Red, Huskies fourth-year star guard Logan Reider led all scorers with 19 points, which included making 4-of-9 shots from three-point range. Fifth-year forward Ella Murphy Wiebe recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Fourth-year guard Maya Flindall fired home 17 points, while superstar point guard Gage Grassick posted 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists and four steals.

The Huskies were up 52-50 after three quarters before pulling away for the win.

Murphy Wiebe was named the tournament MVP and a tournament all-star, while Grassick, who was named the Canada West Conference player of the year in each of the past two seasons, was also named to the tournament all-star team.

In 2025, the Huskies downed the Carleton University Ravens 85-66 in the U Sports title game in Vancouver. Those two squads met in the 2024 U Sports championship game in Edmonton, where the Ravens prevailed 70-67. That was the Ravens second straight U Sports title win.

The Huskies went through the 2025-26 U Sports regular season with a perfect 20-0 record to finish first in the Canada West Conference. Dating back to the 2024-25 campaign, the Huskies put together a program record 51-game overall winning streak.

Their winning streak came to an end on February 21, when they fell 61-58 in a Canada West semifinal to the University of Calgary Dinos on home court at the Physical Activity Complex on the U of S grounds. The Dinos went on to win the Canada West title.

The Huskies were awarded an at-large wildcard berth to the elite-eight U Sports Championship Tournament. In a quarter-final on March 5, they downed the fifth-seeded University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 71-55. In a semifinal on March 7, the Huskies grinded out a 55-43 victory over the eighth-seeded and tournament host Universite Laval Rouge et Or.

That set the stage for the title game victory over the Reds.

After that win, Grassick, Murphy Wiebe, forward Tea DeMong, guard Andrea Dodig and guard Anna Maelde all exhausted their respective U Sports eligibilities completing their fifth-years at that level. Going into the off-season Huskies iconic head coach Lisa Thomaidis will be faced with a reload.

With that said, the Huskies have set an impressive positive culture, so the reload might not take that long.

Last medal hurrah for Canada at Winter Olympics? Other notes

A Canadian flag.

For the sixth straight Winter Olympics, Canada won 20 or more medals, but one has to wonder if it will be the end of the line for that string of success.

At this past Winter Olympics that ran February 6 to 22 in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Canada collected a total of 21 medals including five gold, seven silver and nine bronze. First, I have to say I was proud of all the athletes who represented Canada, and I enjoyed watching those games.

With that said, I wonder if these most recent Winter Olympics will mark the last time Canada gets 20 or more medals at those games.

Back in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, B.C., Canada had the most gold medal wins at those games at 14 and the third most total medals at 26. The highlight, of course, was winning gold in both women’s and men’s hockey.

The performance at those games could be credited to the Own the Podium program running in strong form. While you can pick apart the horrible parts in the world of politics, I always felt like sports was a priority when Stephen Harper was the prime minister of Canada and the Conservatives ruled at the federal government level.

At this point in my life, the last prime minister I actually liked for Canada was Paul Martin and the Liberals under his watch, and they were last in power in early 2006. Actually, the last time core federal funding was increased for Canada’s 62 federally funded national sport organizations was in 2005 under that federal government.

When Harper was the prime minister, it did feel like there was an attitude from the federal government of wanting to win. Under the current federal government with the ruling Liberal party that is not like the Liberal party under Martin’s watch, it feels like the attitude is to just be in the mix and be a try hard nation when it comes to sports.

While I understand current Prime Minister Mark Carney has more than enough issues to occupy his time, it has felt like the Liberals have had the just be in the mix and try hard attitude for sports for some time.

Even after the Liberals became the ruling party at the federal level in 2015, Canada posted its highest metal total win at a Winter Olympics in 2018 at Pyeongchang, South Korea, with 29 medals including 11 gold, eight silver and 10 bronze. It seemed like those totals were a residual result from the push that happened in 2010 in Vancouver.

The total medal count has decreased in each of the next two Winter Olympics for Canada. For the Winter Olympics that just wrapped up, it seemed like a large number of athletes who won medals for Canada were in their 30s. While that is cool to see, you start wondering if those athletes will be part of the picture in four years time and wonder when the younger generation is going to come in.

As far as the Olympics go in either the Summer or Winter games in Canada, it seems the bulk of the country is on the bandwagon when Canada is winning medals. If Canada isn’t winning medals, there is apathy unless gold medal wins are not coming in women’s and men’s hockey.

I do believe there is a desire to get more young people into sports in Canada playing more of a recreation fashion, and I am all for that. Actually, I am all for getting people of all ages involved in all sorts of activities that gets them away from screen time on phones, computers and televisions. I believe the amount of time people spend on those devices is ridiculous.

If there is no new core federal funding for sports or no new avenues for funding for sports in Canada, I can’t see any want in the sports realm getting satisfied. At this point, I am expecting to see another drop in total medals won by Canada at the 2030 Winter Olympics to be held in the French Alps in France from February 1 to 17 of that year.

• The Prince Albert Raiders and the Medicine Hat Tigers are engaged in a sprint for first overall in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. Both teams have 100 standings points with the Raiders sporting a 47-10-5-1 mark, while the Tigers have a 46-10-5-3 record. The Raiders have a game in hand on the Tigers and currently hold the standings tiebreaker due to having more wins.
• With teams having anywhere from four to six games remaining on their respective regular season schedules, the WHL’s four division winners have been determined. At the moment, they all sit in the top four of the circuit’s overall standings. The U.S. Division champion Everett Silvertips (52-7-2-1) are first, the East Division champion Prince Albert Raiders (47-10-5-1) are second, the Central Division champion Medicine Hat Tigers (46-10-5-3) are third and the U.S. Division champion in the first-year Penticton Vees (41-13-5-4) are fourth. If those squads remain in the top four, it will mark the first time the WHL’s division winners have occupied the top four spots in the overall standings at the end of a season since the 2021-22 campaign.
• Medicine Hat Tigers star twin forwards Markus and Liam Ruck could finish in the top two of the WHL scoring race. At the moment, Markus leads the WHL scoring race with 98 points coming off 19 goals and 79 assists. Liam is second with 97 points coming off 41 goals and 56 assists. Both turned 18-years-old on February 21 and are expected to be high-level picks in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft.
• A salute has to go to Saskatoon Blades manager Tanner Chubey for overseeing the great production his team puts on for their Victory Plus online home broadcasts. Chubey hosts a pre-game show as well as segments during both intermissions. He has done catch up interviews with a number of Blades alums on those broadcasts including alums that are coaches or managers with other WHL teams. The Blades home broadcasts I have seen have looked really good on Victory Plus. On top of doing that, Chubey coordinates all the post-game interviews and all the website and social media updates that the team needs done at game’s end too. A lot of that work ends up being really thankless, but the fans benefit the most when it is done.
• Naim Cardinal put together an outstanding piece on the Indigenous Rookie Cards site making the case that Prince Albert Raiders icon forward Dan Hodgson should be on the CHL’s Top 50 Players List for top 50 players in the last 50 years that was announced on February 10. The list attempts to weigh the impacts a player had in both his CHL days and professional days. Part of Cardinal’s case includes giving Hodgson’s professional accomplishments in Europe more weight. It is a great piece to check out, and it can be found right here.
• Due to battling illness over the last 10 days of February, I wasn’t able to get this teased earlier. On February 9, I had new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a story on pitcher Garrett Hawkins heading to Spring Training as a member of the San Diego Padres MLB 40-man roster. Hawkins earned that opportunity after coming back from injury and having a great season in the minors in 2025 .The piece on Hawkins can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by images of familiar local area football faces playing in the Saskatoon Adult Flag Football League. That post can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a post that saluted forever Saskatoon StarPhoenix sportswriter Darren Zary heading into retirement on the blog. That piece can be found by clicking right here.
• On March 9, I had my most recent new content appear on the Howe Happenings blog that supports the Gordie Howe Sports Complex. I put together a feature on Nicole Ostertag making a triumphant return to track and field. In the piece, Ostertag talked about how she almost quit the sport after a rough couple years on the injury and illness front. The piece on Ostertag can be found by clicking right here. I also put together a photo roundup that is anchored by images of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies Football Team doing off-season training at the Indoor Training Centre. That post can be found by clicking right here.
• On Friday, I am going to have another back to the future moment with the independent Prince Albert Daily Herald. I’ve been back in the pages of the Daily Herald for some time including writing a regular WHL column for the longtime outlet since 2021. I was the main sportswriter there from 2001 to 2004 before moving on to the Medicine Hat News. On Friday night, I will be doing my first Prince Albert Raiders game story for the outlet since an exhibition contest in September of 2004. The Raiders host the Moose Jaw Warriors at 7 p.m. on Friday at the Art Hauser Centre. With the Raiders busy schedule, the gamer is going to be just online from my understanding. I might bring back my “Stanks’ Three Stars” for that night from my days with the News, which I did for WHL game stories for that outlet. I just never thought of doing that in my run with the Daily Herald from 2001 to 2004. Anyways, feel free to check the Daily Herald site on Saturday morning for my Raiders gamer, which can be found by clicking right here.

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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Rush rose back to NLL title contender status in 2025

Reload efforts have paid off for Saskatchewan

The Rush celebrate a goal by captain Ryan Keenan.

At the start of the 2024-25 NLL campaign, the Saskatchewan Rush wanted to return to the post-season.

In their three previous seasons, they posted respective 8-10 records and just missed qualifying for the post-season in each of those campaigns. The Rush were going through a reload, but they didn’t totally bottom out.

As the 2024-25 campaign motored on, the hopes of the players on the Rush grew. The goal of returning to the post-season changed to aiming to make the NLL Championship Series and capturing the fourth NLL title in team history.

Early on in the campaign, there was a sense around the Rush that 2024-25 had the potential to be special and that the rebuild from the previous campaigns was starting to pay off. The Rush won their first three straight games and started out 4-2. While lots of teams in the history of the NLL had better starts, one wondered how good the Rush could be.

After the 4-2 start, a five game winning streak followed. By the end of the regular season, the Rush compiled a 13-5 record, which was their best mark in the regular season since 2018 when they topped the NLL standings with a 14-4 record and won their third NLL title in franchise history.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Rush on May 18.

The Rush’s record in 2024-25 placed them second overall in the NLL. The Buffalo Bandits, who entered the campaign as the two-time defending NLL champions, also posted a 13-5 record and took the standings tiebreaker for first place having beat the Rush 9-7 at the SaskTel Centre on March 1 in the lone regular season head-to-head encounter between the two sides.

When the post-season started, it felt like 2018 again around the Rush. The confidence was there the post-season run would be a long one and the belief was truly real that they could win the NLL title.

Only Robert Church, Ryan Keenan, Mike Messenger and Matt Hossack remain from that 2018 championship winner. Keenan currently serves as the club’s captain The Rush were going into the post-season relying on a new generation.

The O16 Electric Crew performs during a break between quarters.

A couple of veteran pickups were key in the revival of the Rush. They picked up veteran goaltender Frank Scigliano in a trade with the San Diego Seals in July of 2023. On September 7, 2024, the Rush signed forward Austin Shanks.

Scigliano and Shanks were stars at their respective positions, and both were in search of being members of an NLL championship team for the first time in their respective careers.

The Rush roster was filled with young players who are coming of age in Zach Manns, Clark Walter, Brock Haley, Levi Anderson, Bobby Kidd III, Jake Boudreau, Jake Naso and Ryan Barnable. Rookie goaltender Thomas Kiazyk showed real big self-belief in his first season with the squad.

In another cool development, Messenger, Manns, Boudreau, Haley, Anderson and Jerrett Smith all lived in Saskatoon full time during the season.

Ryan Keenan had a strong season as the captain of the Rush.

Manns came to the Rush in a trade in July of 2023 that sent all-time great Mark Matthews to the Toronto Rock. During the 2024-25 regular season, Manns, who is 26-years-old, topped the Rush in scoring with 74 points coming off 35 goals and 39 assists.

The Rush piled up a number of major league awards at the end of the regular season. Scigliano was the NLL’s goaltender of the year, Hossack claimed honours as the NLL’s defensive player of the year, defender Keegan Bell was the NLL’s teammate of the year, co-head coach Jimmy Quinlan captured the award as the NLL’s coach of the year and co-head coach and general manager Derek Keenan was tabbed as the NLL’s general manager of the year.

In the NLL Playoffs, the Rush downed the Georgia Swarm in a single-elimination quarter-final 13-9 at the SaskTel Centre on April 26.

Saskatchewan swept the Halifax Thunderbirds in a best-of-three semifinal series 2-0. On May 3, the Rush hammered the Thunderbirds in Halifax 16-7 in Game 1. The Rush needed a thrilling come-from-behind 10-9 win in overtime to lock up the series victory in Game 2 on May 10 at the SaskTel Centre.

Frank Scigliano was the NLL’s goaltender of the year.

Saskatchewan then faced the Bandits in the best-of-three NLL Championship Series. The first two games of the series were heated battles.

The Bandits claimed Game 1 at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, 12-10 on May 16. The series shifted to the SaskTel Centre for Game 2 on May 18 with the Rush claiming an 11-10 victory to force a series-deciding Game 3 back at the KeyBank Center.

The first half of the winner takes all Game 3 played on Saturday saw the intensity from the first two games continue on. The Bandits went into the halftime break holding a slim 7-6 lead.

In the second half, the Bandits showed their recent championship pedigree and took their game to another level. They outscored the Rush 8-0 in posting a convincing 15-6 victory to the delight of a sellout crowd of 19,070 spectators.

It might have been at that point the youth on the Rush team started to show. As the Bandits lead grew, you started to see the body language on the Rush players start to sag and a realization grew that they weren’t going to get the NLL Cup at game’s end.

Matt Hossack was the NLL’s defensive player of the year. 

The Bandits would be crowned NLL champions for a third straight year and for the seventh time in team history. Their seven NLL titles are the most for a franchise in the history of the NLL.

The passion of the Buffalo fanbase showed through too, if you looked at the comments on the posts on the Rush’s social media accounts that piled up in the six hours after the game. A number of Bandits fans took exception to Shanks saying the Rush were going to win Game 3 and Boudreau saying playing in the Bandits home rink wasn’t that big of a deal.

A number of Bandits fans left disparaging comments about the Rush and their fans including comments that said the Rush only had 50 fans and the team would leave Saskatoon and the province of Saskatchewan in three years. You had to admit the comments were pretty harsh but also in the bounds of fair play.

If you check out the accounts of the Bandits fans that left comments on Rush social media posts, it was pretty clear they are full out Buffalo professional team supporters also backing the NFL’s Bills and the NHL’s Sabres. Those fans have seen their share of heartbreaks and go all the way in letting people know when the Bandits win it all.

Zach Manns led the Rush with 74 points in the regular season.

Still, the Rush have jumped up to once again be one of the NLL’s top teams. When players arrive for training camp at the start of the 2025-26 campaign, they will have the goal and legitimately believe they can win the NLL championship. The feeling will be what the Rush franchise had during the 2010s when contending for the NLL title was a legitimate reality.

Of course, the elephant in the room for the Rush this season revolved around attendance. The highest attendance figure the Rush posted for any of their home games in 2024-25 was 8,216 which came in their Game 2 win of the NLL Championship Series.

When the Rush won the NLL title in 2018, they averaged 14,639 spectators per game in their nine regular season home dates and 12,351 spectators per contest in their three post-season home dates.

After the Rush franchise moved from Edmonton following the 2015 campaign to Saskatoon for the 2016 season, it was decided the club would be dubbed the Saskatchewan Rush to try and mirror picking up a provincial following similar to the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Austin Shanks was a big off-season addition for the Rush.

A sizable media contingent used to cover the Rush with media staffers coming from various parts of the province. 

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that started in March of 2020 and the shutdowns that followed saw the number of sports reporting positions in Saskatchewan cut to what would be considered less than a skeleton crew. The media following that used to cover the Rush has been cut down significantly.

When the Rush began their run in the 2025 NLL Playoffs, I saw someone comment on social media on being a resident in Regina and that you barely heard anything about the Rush in the Saskatchewan capital city. 

The Rush were known at one time for the ability to draw fans from all over Saskatchewan.

The challenges the Rush face in drawing fans and getting media exposure to break into the minds of potential casual fans are shared by all sports teams across Canada outside of NHL teams, the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, and the CFL’s Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. There are no easy answers to navigate those challenges.

The Rush salute their fans at the SaskTel Centre.

On the floor, the Rush have been built into a winner and a contender once again. That in theory should help in drawing interest back towards the team.

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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Shanks comes up clutch, Rush force Game 3 in NLL final

Saskatchewan downs Bandits 11-10 in Game 2

Austin Shanks reacts to scoring the winning goal for the Rush.

Austin Shanks is playing like there is no tomorrow.

The 31-year-old star forward with the Saskatchewan Rush is determined to make good on his second opportunity to win an NLL title. On Sunday at the SaskTel Centre, the Rush went into Game 2 of the NLL Championship Series needing a win against the two-time defending champion Buffalo Bandits to push the best-of-three set to a series deciding Game 3.

Shanks piled up three goals including the winner and five assists to power the Rush to an 11-10 victory before a campaign high 8,216 raucous spectators at the Rush’s home facility. The win allowed the Rush to even the series at 1-1.

Austin Shanks had three goals and five assists on Sunday.

Game 3 is slated for this coming Saturday at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, at 4:30 p.m. local time.

The Bandits claimed Game 1 of the series 12-10 last Friday before 16,761 spectators at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Shanks had three goals and five assists in that contest as well. The Courtice, Ontario, product was pumped his squad evened the series in Game 2.

“It took a full 60 (minutes),” said Shanks, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 175 pounds. “That is what we have been kind of grinding and doing all year.

“Getting the chance and having this opportunity is awesome, but it is hard work and it is sacrifice. We’re excited for Game 3.”

Bandits G Matt Vinc stops Rush F Austin Shanks.

Shanks began his NLL career in 2018 with the original Rochester Knighthawks, who fell to the Rush in that year’s best-of-three NLL final 2-1. He remained with the original Knighthawks when they moved to Halifax to become the Thunderbirds before the start of the 2019-2020 campaign until this past off-season when he signed with the Rush.

When teams focus on taking away his chances to be a shooter, Shanks has no problem distributing the ball. He said that is easy for him to do in the Rush’s offence.

The SaskTel Centre faithful cheer on the Rush.

“We’re a team office, so if they want to pressure and pressure and push me out, then, I’ll start passing,” said Shanks. “I’ll start setting more picks.

“In this team, we just want to win, and we don’t care who shoots the ball, who scores the goals, who does what, but we all grind for each other. We’re so happy for each other’s success. I just stepped back from shooting a little bit and made some more passes.”

In Sunday’s clash, Jake Boudreau, captain Ryan Keenan and Zach Manns each had a pair of goals for the Rush, who also received singles from Brock Haley and Clark Walter. Robert Church had three assists for Saskatchewan.

Dhane Smith (#92) had two goals and three assists for the Bandits.

Star forward Dhane Smith topped the Bandits with five points coming off two goals and three assists. Ian MacKay, Clay Scanlan and Chase Fraser all had two-goal nights for the Bandits, while Josh Byrne and Kyle Buchanan each had singles.

Frank Scigliano, who is the NLL’s goaltender of the year, stopped 40 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rush. Matt Vinc turned away 41 shots to take the setback in net for the Bandits.

Sunday’s game was a back-and-forth battle that saw the Rush jump out to a 3-0 lead. The Bandits battled back and got ahead 6-5 near the end of the second quarter before both squads went into halftime locked in a 6-6 tie.

Chase Fraser had a pair of goals for the Bandits.

The Bandits entered the fourth quarter holding a 9-8 lead. With 8:54 remaining in the fourth quarter, Manns wired home a mid range shot for a power-play goal that evened the score at 9-9.

Shanks proceeded to sneak in his second of the night close in at the left side of the Bandits net to put the Rush ahead 10-9 with 7:16 remaining in the frame. With 3:08 remaining in the fourth quarter, Manns hit Shanks with a pass as Shanks was streaking in from the left side to the Buffalo net. Shanks quickly loaded a shot to complete his hat trick to give the Rush an 11-9 advantage.

Buchanan would score for the Bandits with 65 seconds remaining in the frame to trim the Rush’s lead to 11-10. The Bandits got that tally having pulled Vinc for an extra attacker.

Zach Manns had a pair of goals for the Rush.

The Bandits continued to pressure and a final shot by Fraser was blocked by Rush defender Holden Garlent right before the full-time buzzer to allow Saskatchewan to hold on to the one-goal win.

“Shanksy (Shanks) and a couple of our (offensive) guys made some really smart plays in the fourth quarter when we felt they had a couple of guys who had been up and down the floor and were a little fatigued,” said Rush co-head coach and general manager Derek Keenan, who is the NLL’s GM of the year. “We attacked them and took advantage of that.

“That is just smart lacrosse. It was a hard game. I didn’t think we were our best at times, but we just kind of hung around long enough for these guys to make some plays in the fourth quarter.”

The O16 Electric Crew performs during a break between quarters.

With 6:44 remaining in the second quarter and the Rush holding a 5-3 advantage, Buchanan thought he scored at that point in time for the Bandits. The Rush coaches challenged the goal call. It was determined Buchanan had a toe in the crease of the Saskatchewan net just before he released his shot, and that caused the tally to be disallowed.

Despite that development, the Bandits scored three straight goals to go ahead 6-5. With 0.9 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Boudreau tallied for the Rush to send the two teams into the halftime break locked in a 6-6 tie.

Robert Church had three assists for the Rush.

“I also thought the goal that Boudreau got at the end of the half was huge,” said Keenan. “He just made a great play and tied it up.

“At the end of the day, it is a one-goal game, so it is big.”

That set the stage for the Bandits to take a 9-8 lead into the fourth quarter only for the Rush to score three times in the fourth to pull out victory. In Game 1 last Friday in Buffalo, the Rush were unable to score in the fourth quarter, and the Bandits scored once into an empty net.

Keenan said there isn’t much separating his Rush and the Bandits.

“I thought we played really well Friday night actually,” said Keenan. “I thought (Scigliano) was outstanding as he always is.

Frank Scigliano makes one of his 40 saves in goal for the Rush.

“We just couldn’t get that goal in the fourth quarter whereas tonight we did. That is just about making plays. If you compare the two games, Friday night Buffalo made some plays in the fourth quarter when they really needed it, and we didn’t.

“That is really the difference. It is a very, very fine line. It is going to be tough in there next week, but we’ll be prepared.”

The Rush and Bandits both finished the regular season posting 13-5 records. In the one head-to-head encounter between the two sides, the Bandits claimed a 9-7 victory on March 1 at the SaskTel Centre. That allowed the Bandits, who are the two-time defending NLL champions, to finish first overall in the NLL, while the Rush were second overall.

Rush fans cheer and do the chest thump after one of the team’s goals.

Shanks said the Rush’s goaltending and defence allowed his squad to pull out the win on Sunday.

“Our goalie and our defence, they’ve been the heart of this team and the backbone of this team all year,” said Shanks. “They make huge stops, they push the ball, they bring a tonne of energy, and they allowed us to get some more opportunities.

“It was a full team effort – that is all it was – for 60 minutes.”

Now, the Rush and the Bandits head to their series-deciding Game 3 this coming Saturday in Buffalo. The Rush are searching for their fourth NLL title in team history, while the Bandits want to capture their seventh NLL championship.

Keenan is looking forward to the opportunity that awaits his squad.

“I think these guys - and (co-head coach) Jimmy (Quinlan) talked about it a lot – it is another weekend they get to spend together,” said Keenan. “That is huge for them.

The Rush players enjoy their Game 2 NLL final victory on Sunday.

“It was a tough game tonight. They (the Bandits) are a handful. They got some serious weapons on offence, and we just kind of hung in.”

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Boudreau catches fire for Rush in 13-9 win over Swarm

Saskatchewan takes NLL quarter, advances to semifinal round

The Rush celebrate a fourth quarter goal by Jake Boudreau (#43).

Jake Boudreau admitted he might have let his defence slide to give his squad a boost offensively.

On Saturday, the 26-year-old transition player had the most memorable night of his young NLL career. The Brampton, Ont., product piled up four goals and one assist to power his Saskatchewan Rush to a 13-9 victory over the Georgia Swarm in an NLL quarter-final contest before a raucous 5,434 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.

Boudreau, who is in third season with the Rush, was playing in his first career NLL post-season contest as Rush were making their first appearance in the NLL Playoffs since 2019. His main focus is on making stops on the defensive end, but he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to score all four of his goals in transition.

Jake Boudreau had four goals and one assist for the Rush.

“It was definitely my best game scoring wise,” said Boudreau. “I wouldn’t say it was my best game defensively.

“Getting a goal from the back end is just huge for the team, so that was pretty nice.”

With the win in the single elimination round of the NLL Playoffs, the second seeded Rush advance to play a best-of-three semifinal series against the third seeded Halifax Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds advanced to the semifinal round downing the sixth seeded Calgary Roughnecks 16-12 in a quarter-final contest on Saturday in Halifax. The Thunderbirds were 11-7 in the regular season, while the Roughnecks were 10-8.

Boudreau said his team is pumped to be advancing on in the post-season.

Jake Boudreau (#43) reacts to scoring an empty-net goal.

“It feels good,” said Boudreau, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 200 pounds. “It would have sucked to work hard all year and lose tonight.

“You could kind of tell we played with everything we had tonight. We want to enjoy the fruits of our labour. They are still not ready to be picked yet.”

Star forward Austin Shanks had two goals and two assists for the Rush. Captain Ryan Keenan and Clark Walter both had two-goal nights for the Rush, while Zach Manns, Mike Messenger and Jake Naso all had singles. Robert Church had three assists for Saskatchewan.

Fans at the SaskTel Centre cheer on the Rush.

Captain Jordan MacIntosh had two goals and two assists for the Swarm, and Lyle Thompson contributed one goal and three assists for the Georgia side. 

Brendan Bomberry and Bryan Cole both had a pair of goals for the Swarm, while Jacob Hickey and Shayne Jackson had singles.

Frank Scigliano stopped 39 shots to pick up the win in goal for the Rush, who were 13-5 in the regular season. Brett Dobson turned away 47-of-58 shots to take the setback in net for the Swarm, who were 9-9 during the regular season.

Brendan Bomberry scored twice for the Swarm.

The Swarm jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the first quarter. The Rush closed the frame with a run of four straight goals to hold a 4-2 advantage after 15 minutes.

Saskatchewan would never trail or be tied again for the rest of the contest. Including play in the regular season and post-season, the Rush are 10-1 when their opponents score the first goal of the game.

During the four-goal surge, Boudreau scored his first goal of the night on the Rush’s second tally. 

Working a transition two-on-one rush, Boudreau received a pass from defender Matt Hossack and buried a backdoor chance at the right side of the Georgia net to force a 2-2 tie at that time.

The O16 Electric Crew performs during a quarter break.

“We had a little bit of a slow start, but I thought we were actually getting some pretty good looks on offence,” said Rush co-head coach and general manager Derek Keenan. “Their goalie made a couple of saves.

“Then, we got going there and got our legs underneath us. The one and dones in the first round of the playoffs, they are stressful. We have a pretty young group.

“Fortunately, we have a number of veterans that have been here before. For the most past, we had probably more than two-thirds of our team that haven’t been here and haven’t been to the playoffs in these stressful situations. I think it took us a little while to get our legs underneath us.”

Austin Shanks (#33) had two goals and two assists for the Rush.

The Rush pushed their lead out to 6-3 by the end of the second quarter before running into a little adversity at the start of the third quarter. First, Thompson scored 46 seconds into the third quarter to trim the Rush advantage to 6-4.

Just 22 seconds after Thompson’s goal, Walter was given a major penalty for cross checking. Cole scored quickly in the power play for the Swarm to cut the Rush lead to 6-5. Just 20 seconds after Cole’s tally, Shanks netted a short-handed goal for the Rush to push their edge out to 7-5.

After Swarm defender Jeff Henrick was penalized for holding inside the final two minutes of Walter’s major, MacIntosh scored during four-on-four play to slice the Rush lead to 7-6 with 10:06 remaining in the third quarter.

Frank Scigliano makes one of his 39 saves for the Rush.

A short time later, the Swarm had a huge chance to pull even on the scoreboard. Thompson put a midrange shot net that rebounded out to the right of the Saskatchewan goal to Jackson.

Jackson put a diving shot toward a seemingly open part of the Rush net only for Scigliano to flash up his stick to deny the scoring chance.

“We faced some adversity tonight too,” said Keenan. “We had a few penalties and the five-minute major.

“We got through that kind of unscathed. We got one and only gave up one. All in all, we stuck with our game plan.”

The Rush proceeded to go on a three goal surge that allowed them to control the contest the rest of the way. Walter scored with 37.6 seconds remaining in the third quarter to give Saskatchewan an 8-6 advantage.

Captain Ryan Keenan had a pair of goals for the Rush.

Just 85 seconds into the fourth quarter, Ryan Keenan put home a backdoor chance at the right side of the Swarm net on a five-on-three power play to push the Rush lead out to 9-6. Bourdreau completed the surge scoring a power-play goal on a transition breakaway to make the Rush lead sit at 10-6.

“We knew they were going to run,” said Boudreau. “That is our game is running, so we kind of took that personal.

“We made sure we were fast, and I think they kind of tired out as the game went on. You could kind of see us pushing forward, and they kind of dozed off a little bit, and that was basically the game.”

Boudreau scored his third goal on another transition breakaway into an empty-net and completed the game’s scoring with a transition breakaway tally with 5.7 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Rush faithful do their chest thump celebration after a goal.

While offence took centre stage in Saturday’s contest, Derek Keenan praised the work put in by the goaltenders on both sides in Scigliano and Dobson.

“You’ve got to get saves,” said Derek Keenan. “Our goaltender was really good, and their goaltender was really good as well.

“All in all, it was a good effort by our whole team.”

Scigliano, who has played in the NLL since 2012, thought the Rush had a good outing to open the 2025 post-season.

Matt Hossack (#94) defends against Lyle Thompson (#4).

“I think it was an exciting week,” said the 33-year-old Scigliano, who is still searching for his first NLL title win in his career. “You kind of prepare for this all year.

“I kind of said to the boys earlier the regular season kind of flew by. We had a lot of success. In a single elimination game, anything can happen, so there is kind of a lot on the line.

“We played a pretty complete game for the most part. There were a couple of hiccups, but I thought we did our job tonight. You see the results on the scoreboard.”

The Rush faithful get the rally towels going on Saturday night.

The other best-of-three semifinal series sees the top seeded Buffalo Bandits, who were 13-5 in the regular season, take on the fourth seeded Vancouver Warriors, who were 11-7 in the regular season. The Bandits, who are the two-time defending NLL champions, slipped past the eighth seeded San Diego Seals in a quarter-final on Friday night in Buffalo 5-4. San Diego had a 9-9 record in the regular season.

The Warriors downed the fifth seeded Rochester Knighthawks 15-10 in a quarter-final on Saturday in Vancouver. The Knighthawks were 10-8 during the regular season.

The dates and times of the two best-of-three semifinal series are still to be announced.

Before Saturday, the Rush’s last post-season win came back on June 9, 2018, when they won the NLL title with a 15-10 victory in a series-deciding Game 3 at the SaskTel Centre over the Knighthawks in the NLL Championships Series.

The Rush celebrate their win on Saturday night.

Boudreau wants to see the Rush make their current post-season run a long one. After posting respective 8-10 records in each of the three previous regular seasons during a reloading period, Boudreau believed his squad was ready to take off in the current campaign.

“I came around three years ago, and a lot of the guys came the same year as me or after,” said Boudreau. “We always kind of said in 2025 we should be pretty primed.

“To have it kind of come to fruition and we still have more lacrosse to play, it is awesome. You can’t (be satisfied). The celebration will be done in the morning.”

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Rush spectacle still there

NLL squad’s game nights remain a tonne of fun  

The Rush head to the SaskTel Centre turf for pre-game intros.

Saskatchewan Rush game nights are still the most entertaining put out by any sports organization in the province.

When the Rush franchise first came over from Edmonton and set up shop in the SaskTel Centre before the start of the 2016 NLL season, their game nights became a spectacle that you had to see. From performances from the dance team, various pre-game festivities with videos and pyrotechnics, fun in game promotions and theme nights, Rush contests had it all.

Plus, the style of box lacrosse played by the NLL is fast paced, and an in house DJ is always pumping tunes that match and add to the hectic pace of the action.

In the current day, Rush games are still the best time out. They are sitting there waiting to be rediscovered by fans.

This past December 28, the Rush hosted their second home game of the current campaign, and it was the team’s “Sask Vegas Night” that was presented by the Dakota Dunes.

Fans play casino games during the Rush’s“Sask Vegas Night.”

The O16 Lounge in the SaskTel Centre was set up with various casino style games, where those attending the contest got to play for prizes. Singer, songwriter and guitar player Kris Klyne was on hand to provide music that created an upbeat mood.

Leading up to game time, everything you have come to expect from Rush games is still there. The O16 Electric Crew dance team started all the pre-game festivities with an energetic dance routine. It can’t be understated how good those ladies really are, and they perform a couple of other times as the night goes on.

The Rush had their classic pyrotechnics and light show going as they came out for pre-game introductions. They also had a “burn song” to introduce the visitors, who happened to be the Philadelphia Wings on this night.

The O16 Electric Crew performs before opening faceoff.

The rink also had a couple of party zones to watch the contest from including the “Outlaws Corral.” The “Outlaws Corral” has been the traditional party zone for Rush games set up in the Zamboni entrance in the southwest corner of the facility. That area includes the DJs who play music throughout the action of the game.

The NLL game itself is still as fast paced as ever. Of course, fans in attendance love getting to do the trademark chest thumping celebration that is performed every time the Rush score a goal. They also have unique food items at their concessions like bison burgers.

 The Rush ultimately fell 12-11 in overtime on this night with Wings forward Holden Cattoni potting the winner 95 seconds into extra time. Even with the loss, fans could come away from the contest feeling both their time and their money was well spent.

Following the contest as has been a tradition since the Rush arrived in Saskatoon, fans could go down to field level and autographs from various players that night. The Rush also have a cool mascot to mingle with in Rowdy the Bison.

Ryan Keenan is the veteran captain of the Rush.

Despite the fact Rush game nights are still a great time, their games haven’t had the hype they have had in the past. One of the big factors for that comes from the fact the Rush haven’t been winning like they did when the first came to Saskatchewan.

The Rush arrived in Saskatoon after winning the NLL championship during their final season as the Edmonton Rush playing out of the Alberta capital city in 2015. Unable to secure a long term lease deal for the brand new Rogers Place in Edmonton, then owner Bruce Urban relocated the Rush to Saskatoon and the club was branded as the Saskatchewan Rush for the 2016 campaign.

The Rush arrived in Saskatchewan with one of the best teams the NLL had ever seen. They were in one of the best runs the circuit had ever seen too.

Another NLL title followed for the Rush in their first season calling Saskatchewan home in 2016. They fell in the league final in 2017 and reclaimed the NLL title in 2018.

Zach Manns is one of the top scorers on the Rush.

Over that time, players like Zack Greer, Aaron Bold, Mark Matthews, captain Chris Corbeil, Jeff Cornwall, Jeremy Thompson, Robert Church, Ryan Keenan, Jeff Shattler and Evan Kirk all became household names along with head coach and general manager Derek Keenan. Thanks to the fan following around Thompson, most Rush supporters, who had never seen box lacrosse until the NLL came to Saskatchewan, picked up an eye-opening appreciation for all the little gritty things a good transition player does for a team.

The party was seemingly going on every night as an average of over 13,400 spectators regularly came out per game.

On a provincial level, the Rush truly became a provincial team and were like a miniature version of the province’s CFL franchise in the Saskatchewan Roughriders based out of the province’s capital city of Regina. It was common for Rush games to be covered by nine to 15 media members from various communities around the province.

The town of Chamberlain located on Highway 11 between Saskatoon and Regina used to have a billboard that stated, “This highway flows; south for the Riders, north for the Rush.”

Rush fans do their traditional chest bump celebration after a goal.

A very small number of folks might have wondered at the time how things would look when the franchise had to undergo an inevitable rebuild. Those thoughts were quickly forgotten, and it was easy to get wrapped up in the success of the time.

Everything got disrupted when the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit in March of 2020. The Rush were 7-3 at the time and looked poised to make a run at another NLL title. The rest of that NLL campaign was cancelled along with the 2021 season.

On May 10, 2021, Urban sold the Rush to the Priestner family, who owned the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades. The Rush, Blades and WCBL’s Saskatoon Berries are operated under the umbrella company of the Sask Entertainment Group.

The sale of the Rush allowed the Urban family, who are based in Calgary, to focus on running the Western RV Group of Companies. The Priestners had more staffers living in Saskatoon including Colin Priestner, who is best known as general manager and president of the Blades. The presence of staffers helped with a restart after the pandemic.

Mike Messenger in one of the Rush’s long time veterans.

When the NLL got going again for the 2022 campaign, the rebuild started for the Rush. Actually, it was more like a reload as the club never bottomed out and posted 8-10 regular season marks in each the 2022, 2023 and 2024 campaigns, where they just missed out on the playoffs.

Average attendance fell to 8,743 in 2022, 8,606 in 2023 and 8,085 in 2024. In three home dates in the current campaign, the Rush have attracted attendances of 5,661, 6,016 and 5,558 spectators.

The media gatherings have shrunk to about two or three persons outside of Rush team staff and the staff of the visiting squads on game night.

The holdovers from the 2018 championship team include Church, now captain Ryan Keenan, Mike Messenger and Matt Hossack. Derek Keenan is still the general manager and is a co-head coach along with Jimmy Quinlan. The Rush have new stars who are turning heads in Zach Manns, Austin Shanks and Brock Haley.

Two youngsters lead a Rush autograph session happy.

They have gotten out to a 4-2 start and host the 2-5 Albany Firewolves on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre. The Rush will be hosting a retro night promotion where the team wears special jerseys, and there will be retro arcade games, a photo booth and tattoos from tattoo artists available on the concourse. Overall, another fun night out should be on tap.

The Rush are waiting to be rediscovered. Their game days continue to be worth the price of admission.

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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