Rush NLL title runs show how sports unifies a community

Sports teams could play key role in COVID-19 recovery

The Rush enjoy an NLL title winning goal in 2016 by Jeff Cornwall, centre.

    Do you remember the party at the SaskTel Centre on June 4, 2016?
    It is safe to say the 15,182 spectators who were in the building won’t forget that night.

    Playing their first season in Saskatoon after moving from Edmonton, Alta., the Saskatchewan Rush were looking to capture the National Lacrosse League title in Game 2 of the best-of-three championship series against the Buffalo Bandits.

    Locked in 10-10 tie with under 25 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, the Bandits had possession in the Rush zone. A hard point shot from a Bandits player rebounded high into the air off the back boards and was collected by Rush defenceman Jeff Cornwall near the edge of exiting the defensive zone.

A crowd of 15,182 celebrate a Rush NLL title win in 2016.

    With a clear path to the Buffalo goal, Cornwall dashed down the rink on a breakaway. He tucked home a shot low stick side with 12 seconds to play to put the Rush in front 11-10.

    At that point, the SaskTel Centre became a madhouse going bonkers in a good way. The cheers might have been the loudest the building had experienced in its history.

    The final 12 seconds ticked away allowing that 11-10 score to hold up as the final as the Rush swept the series 2-0 to capture the Champion’s Cup.

The Rush celebrate winning the NLL title in 2016.

    A large number of fans hung out for an hour soaking in the post-game celebrations. The championship party would go long into the Saskatoon night.

    Cornwall’s goal would go down as one the most iconic moments in the history of the SaskTel Centre along with John Slaney’s golden goal that won Canada top spot at the world junior hockey championship on Jan. 4, 1991 and Bret “The Hitman” Hart capturing the WWE heavyweight title on Oct. 12, 1992.

    On Thursday, the NLL officially cancelled the rest of the 2019-20 campaign due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The announcement came four years to the day after Cornwall scored his legendary goal.

Captain Chris Corbeil raises the Champion’s Cup in 2016.

    The NLL has suspended the regular season on March 12 due to COVID-19 and cancelled the games that were postponed and the rest of the remainder of the regular season on April 6. There was hope a post-season format could be arranged to crown a league champion.

    For the first time since the NLL first crowned a champion in 1987, the league will not be handing out its championship trophy.

    When the NLL suspended play, the Rush sat first in the West Division with a 7-3 record, and they were once again a contender to win a league championship. While the 2019-20 campaign will go unfinished, the Rush are one example of how a sports team can bring a community together.

    The Rush won the NLL title in their final season in Edmonton in 2015.

Tailgating at Rush playoffs games was a common sight.

    Upon relocating to Saskatoon in the off-season, the team’s brain trust elected to name the team the Saskatchewan Rush in order to brand itself as the province’s team like the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, who are based in Regina.

    The move worked as the Rush have season ticket holders drive into Saskatoon for games from all over the provinces along with some of their diehard fans from their Edmonton days including Joyce Souka, who is best known as “Grandma Rush” and is a cancer survivor.

    Official mascot Bruiser the Bulldog and unofficial mascot Rush Hulk became entertaining mainstays who gave fans joy and entertainment.

Jeff Shattler was the MVP of the NLL playoffs in 2018.

    The Rush’s first season based out of Saskatoon was a magical one as huge crowd flocked to the SaskTel Centre. At playoff games, fans would show up to tailgate sometimes six hours before the contest was to start.

    On May 21, 2016, the Rush drew a crowd of 15,192 spectators to see them win Game 2 of the West Division final 12-9 to sweep that best-of-three series 2-0. 
    The attendance from that night is still a SaskTel Centre record for a sporting event.

    It is likely 10 fewer people were permitted into the luxury boxes in the game where the Rush won the NLL title on Cornwall’s electrifying goal.

    The support for the Rush has remained solid since the first season. Owner Bruce Urban, head coach and general manager Derek Keenan, captain Chris Corbeil, high scoring forward Mark Matthews and gritty transition player Jeremy Thompson have all become household names.

“Grandma Rush” tells it like it is.

    Fans continued to pack into the SaskTel Centre with attendance usually hovering around 13,000 per game.

    The Rush returned to the NLL final in 2017 falling to the Georgia Swarm.

    Another home championship celebration took place for the Saskatchewan side on June 9, 2018. In a series-deciding Game 3 of the NLL championship, the Rush downed the Rochester Knighthawks 15-10 before 13,654 spectators.

    The fans at the SaskTel Centre stood and saluted the rush for the final two minutes of the game as the final outcome wasn’t in doubt and stayed for a lengthy stretch for the post-game celebrations. The Rush raised the newly minted National Lacrosse League Cup after that victory.
    The party again went long into the Saskatoon night.

The Rush celebrate winning the NLL title in 2018.

    Forward Jeff Shattler, who signed with the Rush as a free agent on Aug. 3, 2017, was named the MVP of the NLL playoffs in 2018, and he has put in a tonne of time working with the local lacrosse community in Saskatchewan trying to help grow the game.

    The Rush fell by a heartbreaking 11-10 overtime loss to the Colorado Mammoth in a single-elimination West Division semifinal contest in the 2019 NLL playoffs at the SaskTel Centre.

    While there was no deep run in the 2019 post-season, optimism was high for a team that has had a core group together throughout its time in Saskatoon.

    Despite the fact there was no opportunity for fans to get pumped for a post-season run this year thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rush franchise has been a shining example of how a community can rally behind a team during its run in Saskatoon.

    When the Rush do return to action, odds are high they will likely rally the community again with another long post-season run.

Hockey Canada resumes sanctioning events, other notes

Could Jaime Bourbonnais be in action in a rink near you soon?

    On Thursday, Hockey Canada lifted its national ban on sanctioned activities.

    Back on March 12, Hockey Canada announced it was canceling all of its sanctioned activities effective on March 13 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision ended all activities conducted under the Hockey Canada banner for the rest of 2019-20 campaign.

    In lifting the ban on Thursday, Hockey Canada said it was allowing each of its member organizations to determine when it is safe to return to play. The national body is still working with the regional organizations on return to hockey plans.

    The member organizations will work with their provincial governments and provincial health authorities to determine when a return to play should proceed.

    In a release, Hockey Canada stated, “Hockey Canada knows the game will look quite different, and the return will happen at different speeds and at different times across the country.

    “Be assured, we will continue to work on our multi-faceted return-to-hockey plan that includes health and safety regulations, communications and seasonal structure. As with so many people across the country, we look forward to return to the game when it is safe to do so, and we will support our 13 members as we continue to work towards getting back on the ice.”

Could teams like the Saskatoon Contacts get going again soon?

    It should be noted that this is one hurdle that has been jumped in order for Hockey Canada sanctioned events to get going. The game’s return is still basically in the hands of medical healthy authorities.

    Still, the governing bodies of most minor sports organizations watch Hockey Canada for cues regarding policy, because Hockey Canada has more resources than any of Canada’s other minor sports governing bodies.

    With Hockey Canada giving the green light to sanctioning in its sport, it is likely other minor sports governing bodies will follow Hockey Canada’s lead.

• On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott pronounced in an executive order a transition to Phase 3 of that state’s reopening plan. With that move, sports venues – among other businesses – are allowed to hold up 50 per cent capacity. That means some venues will be allowed to draw tens of thousands of fans in the professional and university ranks. The state of Texas has high school football stadiums that can seat 20,000.
• On Thursday, Murray McCormick, who is the veteran Saskatchewan Roughriders beat writer with the Regina Leader-Post, reported the community owned CFL team lost $210,064 for the 2019-20 fiscal year. McCormick wrote the deficit was revealed in a shareholders’ package that was issued in advance of the team’s annual general meeting set for June 24, at 7 p.m. The AGM will be conducted remotely for the first time in team history due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Radek Kucerik, who is a defenceman with the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades, was invited to a training camp to take a step to potentially earn a spot on the Czech Republic’s world junior team. The camp begins on June 14. Kucerik, who stands 6-foot-2 and weighs 210 pounds, appeared in 49 regular season games with the Blades last season posting three goals, 10 assists and a minus-five rating in the plus-minus department as an 18-year-old rookie. 
• To end on an uplifting note, a group of students from Medicine Hat High School in Medicine Hat, Alta., are part of a musical group named Brodie. They recorded a cover of the Michael Jackson number one hit song “Man In the Mirror” from the 1987 album “Bad” in isolation using phones and personal devices. The recordings from the Hat High students were mixed and mastered by local artists Ryan Massini and Rob Hardowa. The finished product was a great one and worth checking out. Posted on Thursday, it already has over 2,900 views.

    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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