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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Second half from hell – Rush fall in Game 3 of NLL final

Bandits claim third straight league title

It was a “second half from hell” for the Saskatchewan Rush.

On Saturday, the Rush found themselves trailing the host Buffalo Bandits 7-6 at halftime in a series deciding Game 3 of the NLL Championship Series at the KeyBank Center, which is known as Banditland during lacrosse games. At that point, the wheels fell off for the Rush.

Just 34 seconds into the second half, Bandits forward Chase Fraser scored on a one handed behind the back shot to start a stunning chain of events. The Bandits took off and outscored the Rush 8-0 in the second half for a 15-6 victory playing before a euphoric sellout crowd of 19,070 spectators.

The win allowed the Bandits to claim the best-of-three series 2-1. The Bandits, who were playing in their fifth straight NLL final, also captured the NLL title for a third straight year and the seventh time in team history. Buffalo’s seven league titles are the most in the history of the NLL.

The second half of Game 3 was a stunning reversal from what had happened in the entire series to that point. Back on May 13, the Bandits took Game 1 of the series 12-10 at the KeyBank Center in a hard-fought battle.

Last Sunday, the Rush claimed an 11-10 victory in Game 2 at the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon in another slug-it-out affair. The first half of Game 3 had a five-goal run by the Bandits, a three-goal run by the Rush and was tightly contested.

Once the Bandits got the first goal of the second half on Fraser’s fancy play, they were off to the races. The Rush looked like they got run over by an 18-wheeler. Anything the Saskatchewan side tried to do made the Bandits momentum snowball that much more.

When the dust settled, two of the Bandits biggest stars finished with monster games. Forward Josh Byrne had nine points coming off four goals and five assists. Dhane Smith, who is an all-time great in the NLL, had eight points coming off three goals and five assists.

Transition player Ian MacKay had a goal and two assists and was named the MVP of the NLL Championship Series.

Chris Cloutier had a hat trick For the Bandits, while Kyle Buchanan had two goals in the contest. Defender Cam Wyers tallied the Bandits final goal of the game.

Bandits star goaltender Matt Vinc made 42 saves to pick the win. Another NLL all-time great, Vinc, who broke into the NLL in 2006, has been a member of six NLL title winners. Before being part of the Bandits three straight title winners, Vinc backstopped the original Rochester Knighthawks to three straight NLL championships from 2012 to 2014.

The Rush started Game 3 looking like they were ready for another heavyweight battle. Just 24 seconds into the contest, Rush star forward Austin Shanks dove out from behind the right side of the Buffalo net to tuck home the game’s first goal that gave the Rush a 1-0 lead.

The Rush were up 3-2 when Cloutier scored his first of the contest with 3:36 remaining in the first quarter to force a 3-3 tie heading into the quarter break. Cloutier’s tally started the Bandits on a five-goal run, which saw them score four times in the first 4:14 of the second quarter to take a 7-3 advantage.

After the Bandits scored their seventh goal, the Rush pulled star veteran goaltender Frank Scigliano for rookie Thomas Kiazyk. Kiazyk played just eight seconds as Scigliano mentally reset and returned to the contest.

The Rush proceeded to go on a three-goal run to cut the Bandits lead to 7-6 going into halftime.

Shanks had a pair of goals for the Rush, while veteran star forward Robert Church was in on every Rush tally recording a pair of goals and four assists. Zach Manns and captain Ryan Keenan picked up singles for Saskatchewan.

Scigliano turned away 38-of-52 shots to take the loss in goal for the Rush. Kiazyk didn’t face any shots in his brief appearance.

In the second half, the Rush offence completely dried up as the Bandits went on their romp. The entirety of the NLL Championship Series between the two clubs was expected to be tightly contested.

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 to finish first overall in the NLL, while the Rush were second overall.

The Rush were making their first appearance in the NLL Championship Series since their last league title win back in 2018. Only Church, Keenan, Mike Messenger and Matt Hossack remain from that 2018 title winner.

Saskatchewan missed the playoffs with respective 8-10 records in 2022, 2023 and 2024 going through a reload process. That reload allowed them to take off in 2025.

Following Saturday’s Game 3 of the NLL final, the Bandits proved they are still the masters on the circuit. The next handful of seasons will show if the Rush learned lessons from the series loss against the Bandits and once again rise to the pinnacle of the NLL.

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.”

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 continue to be perfect at home fit in Saskatchewan

The Rush celebrate winning the NLL Cup on Saturday.

    The honeymoon is still going strong between Saskatchewan and the Rush.

    On Saturday, the Saskatchewan Rush added to their continually growing list of magical moments at the SaskTel Centre winning their third National Lacrosse League championship in franchise history and third in the last four years. In a series deciding Game 3 of the NLL championship series, the Rush scored the last four goals of the contest to surge to a 15-10 victory over the Rochester Knighthawks.

    The win sent the gathering of 13,645 spectators into a joyful victory celebration. The celebration ran through that night and into a victory rally on Sunday morning at the Delta Bessborough Gardens with the newly minted National Lacrosse League Cup.

Rush goalie Evan Kirk sets to pass the ball to a teammate.

    The Rush captured their first league title in early June of 2015, when the franchise was still located in Edmonton.

    Unable to secure a long-term lease in the Alberta capital, owner Bruce Urban moved the team to Saskatoon in July of 2015. The club was branded as the Saskatchewan Rush aimed at drawing fans from all over the province following a model established by the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders.

    Now three years after that move, the Rush have become an established part of Saskatchewan’s culture. In the town of Chamberlain located about an hour drive north of Regina on Highway 11 heading to Saskatoon, you can find a billboard that says the road runs south for the Roughriders and north for the Rush.

    The Rush’s rise to prominence in Saskatchewan was aided by the fact the NLL’s championship team was heading to Saskatoon. In their title win in Edmonton, the Rush swept the Toronto Rock 2-0 in the best-of-three NLL title series.

Rush Hulk and Bruiser get the crowd fired up at the SaskTel Centre.

    The Rock have the reputation of being Canada’s most storied NLL team equaling the Philadelphia Wings for most titles in the circuit’s history at six.

    The Rush won their first championship in 2015 with one of the league’s youngest teams. While hope was high the title wins would continue in Saskatchewan, they were tempered with caution that the title win in Edmonton could be a one-year run type thing.

    There was good optimism the Rush could be a success, but the last three years have comfortably passed the most optimistic expectations.

    The Rush capped their inaugural campaign in the “Wheat Province” capturing a second straight NLL crown in 2016 sweeping the Buffalo Bandits 2-0 in the title series. Game 2 of that set at the SaskTel Centre provided a “where were you when” moment, when defender Jeff Cornwall went coast-to-coast to score the series winning goal for the Rush with 12 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.

Rush forward Robert Church (#17) charges towards the Rochester goal.

    Cornwall’s tally broke a 10-10 tie and gave the Rush an 11-10 victory. The noise made by the 15,182 spectators in attendance that night was likely the loudest that was ever heard in the history of the SaskTel Centre for a sporting event.

    Saskatchewan fans had their first opportunity to watch their team lift what is now the circuit’s former championship trophy in the Champion’s Cup on home turf.

    The Rush had a real chance to win the NLL title again in 2017. They advanced to the NLL title series again only to be swept 2-0 by the Georgia Swarm.

    That series ended with a heartbreaking 15-14 overtime loss in Game 2 played at the SaskTel Centre. They were painfully close to forcing a series-deciding Game 3.

Jeff Shattler cheers after scoring a goal for the Rush on Saturday.

    In the aftermath of that setback, the Rush set out to reclaim the NLL championship. They topped the overall NLL regular season standings in 2018 with a 14-4 record and dumped their archrivals the Calgary Roughnecks 15-13 in the West Division final.

    That set up the championship encounter with the Knighthawks, who claimed both head-to-head regular season matches with the Rush.

    The Rush took Game 1 convincingly at the SaskTel Centre 16-9 on May 26, and the Knighthawks returned the favour with a 13-8 victory in Game 2 in Rochester on June 2.

    Game 3 on Saturday was a back-and-fourth affair until the Rush’s final surge to pull out victory. The Saskatchewan side wasn’t going to be denied.

The Crush Dance team entertains the crowd at the SaskTel Centre.

    While the Rush are an exciting and athletic team, they are also a club that is easy to cheer for. All their players are very down to earth including captain Chris Corbeil, top scoring threats Mark Matthews and Robert Church, fan favourite Jeremy Thompson, Kyle Rubisch, Cornwall, Ryan Keenan, goalie Evan Kirk and the list goes on from there.

    Former Roughnecks star Jeff Shattler joined the Rush this season and was immediately accepted into the fold by the Rush organization and the fans for being a beauty character on top of a great player. He cemented his status as a favourite picking up NLL playoff MVP honours with the Rush winning it all.

    Head coach and general manager Derek Keenan is the ultimate player’s coach and success has followed him wherever he has gone in the sport.

Rush Nation has backed the Rush since they arrived in Saskatchewan.

    The 56-year-old has been a part of nine NLL championship wins as a player, assistant coach and head coach, and he has made a total of 13 trips to the league final. 

    Along with assistant coaches Jeff McComb and Jimmy Quinlan, the Rush have the best coaching staff in the NLL.

    Urban made all of this possible by bringing in the right people to coach his club and the right people to run the business side of the operation.
    That helped the Rush franchise become part of Saskatchewan culture with the numerous appearances the team makes across the province.

Mark Matthews raises the National Lacrosse League Cup.

    People have continued to pack the SaskTel Centre for games, and team merchandise has flown off store shelves.
    The Rush logo is showing up in all corners of the province.

    While there will be changes with the Rush set to lose a couple of players in the NLL expansion draft and regular turnover that happens in professional sports, the club’s run to the top likely isn’t over yet.

    Most of the players on the team are in the prime of their careers. The organization is solid in coaching and in the front office.

    The brand new National Lacrosse League Cup might be in for a longer stay in Saskatchewan.

Sight of Dahlgren, Wasserman set Game 3 tone

Kaleb Dahlgren, left, and Jacob Wasserman, centre, sparked the fans.

    The pre-game appearance of two members from the Humboldt Broncos junior A hockey team set the tone for the Saskatchewan Rush and Rush Nation on Saturday night.

    While the Rush put on spectacle during pre-game introductions to get fans into games at the SaskTel Centre, the biggest cheers went to Kaleb Dahlgren, 21, and Jacob Wasserman, 18, when they were introduced as heroes of the game before Game 3 of the NLL championship series. Dahlgren was a right-winger for the Broncos and Wasserman was a goalie.

    Both were on the team bus that was involved in a tragic crash on route to a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game in Nipawin on April 6 that resulted in the deaths of 16 players and team personnel.

    The loud cheers for Dahlgren and Wasserman went on for almost a minute.

    Of course, the Rush went on to claim the back-and-forth contest 15-10.

    The Rush were on board right from the start looking to do their part to help those involved in the Broncos bus crash. A day after the crash, the Rush hosted the Colorado Mammoth in a regular season clash at the SaskTel Centre.
    That April 7 game marked the first big community gathering in the province since the tragedy involving the Broncos. The Rush equipment staff quickly put Broncos logos on the helmets of all the Rush players, and stations were set up to raise funds to help aid those involved with the Humboldt club.

Chris Corbeil and the Rush players wore Broncos logos on their helmets.

    The Rush jumped ahead 10-4 early in the fourth quarter in that clash with the Mammoth and cruised to an 11-8 victory.

    The highlight occurred in the break between the third and fourth quarters when the crowd of 14,971 spectators broke into a chant of “Let’s Go Broncos.”

    During post-game media scrums, Rush captain Chris Corbeil said his team was playing for “our” community, the people of Saskatchewan and Canadians everywhere, and he hoped they did everyone proud.

    The contest provided a first real opportunity for people in Saskatchewan to gather together and collectively start helping each other through the tragedy and healing.

    The Rush took part in various events to help the Broncos as the season went on and visited Broncos players and families at their homes often bringing team merchandise as gifts.

    The Rush were stellar with their efforts in this area.

    On side note, Wasserman returned to the building on Saturday where it appears he might have picked up his lone win of his goaltending career in the WHL. On Feb, 23, Wasserman was called up to play for the Regina Pats against the Saskatoon Blades in a WHL regular season clash at the SaskTel Centre. He made 23 saves going the distance in goal for the Pats, who downed the Blades 7-5.

    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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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Rush Nation ready for a championship celebration

The scene after Jeff Cornwall’s NLL title winning goal in 2016.

    It was a madhouse at the SaskTel Centre.

    On June 4, 2016, the Saskatchewan Rush were looking to close out their first season in Saskatoon by capturing the National Lacrosse League championship. The Rush led the best-of-three series 1-0 over the Buffalo Bandits posting an 11-9 victory in Game 1 of the set in Buffalo on May 28, 2016.

    In Game 2 in Saskatoon, the Rush and Bandits were locked in a 10-10 tie, when a signature moment at the SaskTel Centre broke for the home side.

    Rush defender Jeff Cornwall picked up a loose ball in his own zone on a long rebound from a shot taken by a Bandits player. Cornwall broke into the clear on a breakaway and scored the winning goal off his coast-to-coast rush with 12 seconds to play.

Rush captain Chris Corbeil raises the Champion’s Cup in 2016.

    As the Rush went ahead 11-10, the sellout crowd of 15,182 spectators seemed to lose their mind celebrating into delirium. That moment might have been the loudest a crowd has ever cheered during a sporting event at the SaskTel Centre.

    The noise didn’t dissipate as the final 12 second ticked away and the 11-10 score in favour of the Rush held up as a final allowing them to sweep the series 2-0. The Rush had won their second straight NLL title with the first win coming in 2015 when the club was still located in Edmonton.

    The victory marked a rare time any local professional team from Saskatoon had won a championship on home turf.

    Tonight (Saturday night) at 7:30 p.m. at the SaskTel Centre, Rush Nation hopes to experience another championship celebration on home turf.

Rush Nation in action in Game 1 of this year’s NLL Championship series.

    The Rush, who are 16-5 including action in the regular season and playoffs, face the Rochester Knighthawks, who are 13-9 in the regular season and post-season, meet in a winner take all Game 3 of the NLL Championship series.

    The best-of-three series is tied 1-1 with each side claiming a victory in convincing fashion. The Rush posted a 16-9 victory in Game 1 on May 26 at the SaskTel Centre. The Knighthawks responded with a 13-8 win in Game 2 on June 2 at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y.

Rush Nation cheers a goal in Game 1 of this year’s NLL title series.

    The attendance for the Rush’s first two home playoff games has come in just shy of 12,000 in each of those contests. Now that the Rush near the end of their third season in Saskatchewan, it seemed some fans have been sitting on their hands during the post-season waiting for the game that will have a trophy presentation and a possible victory party at the end of the night.

    In Game 3 of the NLL Championship series, you will likely see Rush Nation at their raucous best. Attendance should approach or surpass 15,000 as people get the impulse itch to be part of something that doesn’t happen every day.

A couple of fans celebrate a Rush goal in Game 1 of this year’s NLL final.

    The Rush hold the SaskTel Centre record for a biggest crowd at a sporting event drawing 15,192 spectators on May 21, 2016, when they beat the Calgary Roughnecks to win that year’s West Division final.
    That win concluded a best-of-three series that the Rush swept 2-0.

    The fact their NLL championship clinching win drew 10 less spectators likely had more to do with how many people the fire marshall allowed into the box seats.

    With all that in mind, a Rush victory isn’t a guarantee as Knighthawks goaltender Matt Vinc and his defensive teammates will have a lot to say about the final outcome in Game 3. 

Ryan Keenan and Rush Nation hope Saturday night will be alright.

    Still, fans could be treated with another magical moment like the one Cornwall had two years ago that would lead to the Rush capturing the brand new National Lacrosse League Cup, which replaces the Champion’s Cup. Rush Nation will be satisfied with any type of victory by the host side be it a lopsided one or a barnburner type one in order to have a party once again that could go long into the night.

    No matter the end result, the deciding Game 3 of the NLL Championship series will provide a night everyone in attendance will remember for a long time.

    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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The spectacle of the Rush

National Lacrosse League team thrills Saskatchewan fans

Matt Hossack celebrates scoring a goal for the Rush.

    When it comes to providing the ultimate escapism for the sports fan in Saskatchewan, no one beats the Saskatchewan Rush.

    After winning a league championship in 2015 in Edmonton, the National Lacrosse League franchise relocated to Saskatoon for the 2016 season after owner Bruce Urban was unable to secure a long-term lease in the Alberta capital. In June of 2016, the Rush repeated as NLL champions, and local fans from around the province had the opportunity to experience the thrill of championship victory first hand.

    Leading the best-of-three NLL championship series 1-0 against the Buffalo Bandits, the Rush hosted Game 2 at the SaskTel Centre on June 4, 2016. Locked in a 10-10 draw, a crowd of 15,182 gleefully watched Rush defenceman Jeff Cornwall bolt coast-to-coast and tuck home the winning goal with 12 second to play to give the host side an 11-10 victory in the game and a 2-0 sweep of the series. 

A mini-monster truck shoots sparks at the Rush game.

    In the aftermath of that exciting finish, it seemed the Champions Cup found its way to numerous parts of Saskatchewan.

    Now in their second season in Saskatoon, the excitement around the Rush hasn’t diminished. On Saturday, they improved to 11-5 and locked up first place in the NLL’s West Division with a 15-10 victory over the storied Toronto Rock before a raucous crowd of 15,045 at the SaskTel Centre.

    During their nine regular season home dates, the Rush are averaging just under 15,000 per game, and the ticket buyer is enjoying every minute of the action.

    The action isn’t limited to the game itself. It also includes all the entertainment aspects surrounding the contest.

    Last year, I went to games were the Rush locked up the West Division final series and the NLL championship game as a ticket buyer. On Saturday, I ventured to the SaskTel Centre on the media end to get my feet wet with another side of the Rush experience.

Members of the Crush Dance Team entertain the SaskTel Centre crowd.

    I took my camera and expected to shoot photos of the game and likely write some sort of story about the night. The Rush victory allowed head coach Derek Keenan to become the all-time leader in NLL career wins at 122 surpassing the previous mark of 121 held by Darris Kilgour, who coached the Bandits from 2003 to 2013.

    Keenan’s record win provided the perfect bailout story for me. I became so involved with the picture taking aspect of the night I was really oblivious to the blow-by-blow of how the Rush won by a 15-10 final.

    I remember the Rush bolting out to a quick 2-0 lead, when Ben McIntosh scored 47 seconds into the contest and Mark Matthews tallied at the 3:03 mark of the first quarter. From there, half of pictures I took were of the game and half were of things that happened around the game.

Rush fans do the chest beat celebration after one of the team’s goals.

    I took cool shots of the mini-monster truck shooting out huge sparks during the pre-game and was taken in by the skill displayed by the Crush Dance Team during their performances. I found myself in the party zone set up in the one corner of the facility and wandering the concourse checking out the various displays the Rush staff set up through the facility.

    It was also a 1980s promo night on Saturday, and considering I love 80s music, I was grooving pretty good to the tunes Trystan Meyers , who is also known as “D.J. Anchor,” was cranking out. The Nightrain, which is a Guns N’ Roses tribute band, was pretty sweet as well.
    In between, I was able to capture a couple of shots of Bruiser the Rush bulldog mascot.

Rush mascot Bruiser waves a team flag.

    On the floor, I loved the up tempo pace of action the NLL presents. Being at the contest in a media capacity, I really took in and was in awe checking out how much the fans reacted and enjoyed the night. While there are obvious fan favourite players like goalie Aaron Bold, Jeremy Thompson, Matthews and Robert Church, the fans were soaking in the pure fun.

    Even if the Rush had lost, you felt like the fans wouldn’t be over dissecting the game, which commonly happens when the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders come up on the wrong end of the scoreboard.

    The announcers do their best to get the crowd revved up into the game like noting the Toronto Rock come from a city that considers itself “the centre of the universe.”

    When the Rush score, everyone get super intense into the chest beat celebration.

    Behind the scenes, the Rush game day staff are first class to deal with. It seem like they are upbeat all the time, which adds to the fun.

    At a Rush game, it feels like all your daily troubles go away for the two to three hours you are there.
    For the ticket buyers that are coming from all over Saskatchewan, that feeling of euphoria is priceless.

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

NLL champion Rush better than advertised

Champion’s Cup winner delivers thrills to Saskatchewan

Rush captain Chris Corbeil raises the Champion's Cup.

    It seems unthinkable to say a championship contending team exceeds expectations when it wins, but that is exactly what the Saskatchewan Rush have done.

    The Rush capped their first season in Saskatchewan on Saturday by sweeping the best-of-three National Lacrosse League championship series 2-0 with an 11-10 victory at the SaskTel Centre over the Buffalo Bandits. Locked in a 10-10 draw in Game 2 with 12 seconds to play, Rush defenceman Jeff Cornwall found himself on a breakaway and tucked home the championship winning goal to send a sellout crowd of 15,182 into delirium.

    The noise and sheer excitement from the crowd might have hit the highest high that has ever been seen for a sporting event held at the SaskTel Centre. The exciting finish was fitting way to cap a special season.

    The Rush followed and unprecedented path since winning their first NLL championship in June of last year while the franchise was based in Edmonton.

    Unable to secure a long-term lease in the Alberta capital, owner Bruce Urban moved the team to Saskatoon in July of last year to end a decade long run in that centre.

The Rush celebrate an NLL finals winning goal from Jeff Cornwall, centre.

    The NLL is an established professional league dating back to 1987. In a circuit like the NLL, it was almost unthinkable to see a club leave a city after winning a league title. To go on and repeat as a league champion in a new home city isn’t something that would be conceivable.

    When the Rush set up shop in Saskatoon, an obvious curiosity factor existed. Saskatoon had seen its share of professional teams come and go, but the Rush were the first team to arrive from an established circuit, and they had the Champion’s Cup in tow.

    The club took on the provincial moniker calling itself the Saskatchewan Rush in order to brand itself as the province’s team like the CFL’s Roughriders, who are based out of Regina.

    The strategy appears to have worked. If you wandered thought the tailgate parties that happened in the SaskTel Centre parking lots pre-game, you would have found a group of supporters from Prince Albert who arrived at 3 p.m. for a 7 p.m. start.

    While the biggest contingent of supporters comes from Saskatoon, you would have found supporters from all sorts of locations in Saskatchewan. You would have also encountered some diehard fans from Edmonton, who traveled in to see their former team play.

The Rush fans are ready to party at the SaskTel Centre.

    In the six months leading up to the season, the Rush really had to hustle to sell the sport of lacrosse and be in a position to deliver a great game day experience for the fans. On Jan. 15 of this year, the Rush played their first home game before 9,147 spectators falling 13-11 to the Vancouver Stealth. While the Rush lost, the fans were hooked, and they returned.

    The Rush hosted 11 home games between the regular season and playoffs, and attendance did not dip below 10,000 for the last eight of those contests. Over 15,000 people attended each of the last three home dates. That included a SaskTel Centre record for a sporting event of 15,192 spectators for a May 21^st home game that saw the Rush win the West Division final series against the Calgary Roughnecks.

    On the court, the Rush were expected to content for another championship. The club proceeded to top the West Division with a 13-5 record as the players quickly became comfortable playing in front of raucous home crowds.

Rush forward Robert Church drives to the net for a scoring chance.

    The fans loved the game presentation from watching the performances of the Crush dance team, getting pumped up by the music that blared continuously during play and doing the chest beat celebration every time the Rush scored a goal.

    To top things off, games were exciting, and the Rush were a fun team to watch. Goalie “Stone Cold” Aaron Bold and gritty transition player Jeremy Thompson became fan favourites as well as likeable team scoring leader Mark Matthews, who piled up 40 goals and 69 assists during the regular season.

    Matthews got the party rolling Saturday with an amazing diving goal that saw him get shoved into the Bandits goalie Anthony Cosmo just 74 seconds into the contest. It took a video review to allow the goal to count, but when it went up on the scoreboard, the crowd went into a frenzy.

    The Bandits were game too, and both teams went back-and-fourth on the scoreboard. The visitors led 9-7 going into the fourth quarter, but the Rush prevailed on one of their classic final frame outbursts.

The Rush celebrate winning their second straight NLL championship.

    It seemed fitting for Cornwall to get the series winner as a reward for playing an unselfish and sound defensive game, which included a big shot block on Bandits phenom Dhane Smith.

    Scoring the series winner with 12 seconds to play, Cornwall showed he had hands of gold around the net. After the final buzzer sounded, a large number of fans stuck around for about an hour soaking in the post-game celebrations. The championship party would go long into the Saskatoon night.

    Forget being as good as advertised, the Rush were even better than advertised. Time will tell how long the feel-good honeymoon will last.

    Saskatoon sports fans have a reputation for being fickle. One wonders if they will disappear the first time the Rush have a losing season.

    With that said, the Rush appear to have the potential to be a winner for the foreseeable future. More good times appear to be in store in the coming years.

Nogier’s NHL signing an uplifting story

Nelson Nogier springs into action for the Rebels.

    The Saskatoon hockey community and the city of Red Deer received a feel good story on Wednesday when Nelson Nogier signed a three-year entry-level NHL contract with the Winnipeg Jets.

    The Jets selected the Saskatoon product in the fourth round and 101^st overall in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. Nogier, who turned 20 in late May, played last season with the Red Deer Rebels posting four goals, 17 assists and a plus-27 rating in the plus-minus department in 69 games.

    He helped the Rebels advance to the Eastern Conference Championship series of the WHL playoffs for the first time since 2004. The Rebels hosted the Memorial Cup and Nogier helped them make the tournament’s semifinal game.

    Nogier started his WHL career playing two-and-a-half seasons for his hometown Saskatoon Blades and was dealt to the Rebels in a trade in December of 2014.

    When Nogier signed with the Jets, tributes poured in from social media from the hockey communities in Saskatoon and Red Deer. The big overall message was that everyone was happy for Nogier, because he is an outstanding individual.

    Of course, Nogier is my young cousin, and my family is really proud of him. I was always big time impressed he won the league award as the WHL’s scholastic player of the year while with the Blades during the 2013-14 season. To do so well in school while playing elite level hockey is impressive.

Nelson  Nogier protects the point for the Rebels.

    With that said, it will still heartwarming to see the tributes from everyone else.

Blades play-by-play voice Les Lazaruk said a lot of really glowing words over the radio waves which were repeated on his blog. Kind words also came from social media posts from Blades president Steve Hogle and Blades managing partner Colin Priestner.

    I recently visited with Blades and University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s hockey team alumnus Derek Hulak, who plays for the AHL’s Texas Stars, and he was happy to hear my cousin signed with the Jets. That was extremely cool to hear as Hulak is held in very high regard in Saskatoon’s hockey community.

    It was also so enjoyable to travel to Red Deer and see how much the Rebels fans really took Nogier in as one of their own.

    Nogier has always been the perfect gentleman even when he was a young boy. As he grew up, it always amazed me how well-mannered he was.

Nelson Nogier brings the puck up ice for the Rebels.

    It is also sweet to see how close he is to his younger sister Danielle, who just graduated as the captain of the two-time defending Saskatchewan Female Midget AAA Hockey League champion Saskatoon Stars. Danielle was the scholastic player of the year for the SFMAAAHL this past season and will join the University of Saskatchewan Huskies women’s hockey team in the fall.

    Nelson and Danielle love sharing stories about their hockey adventures with each other and are always in constant contact. They really enjoy spending time doing things together.

    Both are outstanding persons, and I am confident they will do well in the next chapters of their hockey lives.

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