Keenan made his mark as coaching icon with Rush

Oshawa, Ont., product leaves bench boss role, remains GM

Derek Keenan with the NLL Cup in 2018.

    In a world that has very few certainties, it seemed like Derek Keenan would coach the Saskatchewan Rush forever.
    With that noted, change seems to be inevitable in life. On Friday, the Rush announced Keenan was stepping down from his role of head coach.

    The 58-year-old product of Oshawa, Ont., will remain with the powerhouse National Lacrosse League club as general manager.

    Taking over as head coach will be Jeff McComb. The 51-year-old McComb, who is from Pickering, Ont., has been with the Rush for the last seven seasons and was their assistant coach responsible for offence.

    Former Rush captain Jimmy Quinlan has been hired as the team’s new assistant coach responsible for offence. The 38-year-old Quinlan last played for the Rush in 2013, when the franchise as still located in Edmonton.

    His #81 is retired by the team.

    Following his playing career, the Sherwood Park, Alta., product proceeded to spend five seasons with the Rush as an assistant coach responsible for defence.

Derek Keenan checks out action from the Rush bench in 2018.

    Jeremy Tallevi, who is from London, Ont., remains on the Rush staff as the assistant coach responsible for defence.

    Way back in June of 2009, Keenan was hired by the Rush to be the team’s head coach and general manager. He guided the club to an NLL championship in 2015 in the squad’s final season in Edmonton.

    Keenan led the Rush to another NLL title in 2016, which the franchise’s first season playing out of the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon as the Saskatchewan Rush. The Rush captured the NLL crown again in 2018 under Keenan’s leadership.

    As the Rush bench boss, Keenan was viewed as the ultimate player’s coach. He treats his players with so much respect that the players don’t want to let him down.

Derek Keenan speaks at a Rush rally in 2017.

    In a lot of ways, Keenan is viewed as a kind father figure with the Rush.

    As Rush general manager, Keenan focuses on bringing in good people and his goal is that those players become better persons during their time as Rush team members.

    Keenan came to the Rush with boatloads of positive experiences in the game. As a player, he was a member of the Buffalo Bandits when they won NLL titles in 1992 and 1993.

    He doubled as a player and assistant coach when the Toronto Rock won the NLL crown in 1999. Keenan was an assistant coach for the Rock’s NLL championship wins in 2000, 2002 and 2003.

    Keenan was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2012 before the Rush moved on to win their three NLL titles. As both a player and a coach, Keenan has been a part of nine NLL title wins.

Derek Keenan speaks to the media after a game in 2017.

    Just how big of an impact did Keenan have on the Rush?

    The Rush franchise posted a 16-48 regular season record in their first four campaigns of existence before Keenan came on board. In Keenan’s first season with the team in 2010, the Rush made the playoffs for the first time with a 10-6 record.

    The effect Keenan had on the Rush players showed through in the 2015 campaign. The Rush entered that season with expectations to contend for the NLL title with their only drawback being their youthfulness at the time.

    Keenan’s wife, Wendy, passed away on Jan. 2, 2015 due to her battle with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Derek had taken a leave of absence from the Rush to tend to Wendy in November of 2014.

    After she passed away, Derek returned to the Rush bench to resume his duties as head coach and general manager for a regular season game on Jan. 24, 2015. The Rush rallied around their coach for the rest of that campaign resulting in the team’s first NLL title win.

Derek Keenan gives a Rush player encouragement on the bench.

    Keenan views that first championship as his most memorable time with the team.

    “It was a very difficult year for our family, because we lost my wife and my kids’ mom and that was difficult, but we won that year,” said Keenan in a 2018 interview. “I think the amount that our players put into that season in terms of kind of her memory was so strong with our group.

    “I think that was really important to our team, and it was really important to me. It kind of started a legacy then that we were a very driven group. That was a big memory for sure.

    “The 2015 championship I think was really, really huge for us.”

    When the Rush moved to Saskatchewan, Keenan quickly became a household name in the province.

Derek Keenan hugs Rush goalie Evan Kirk after the 2018 NLL title win.

    Keenan’s kind and personable demeanor was one of the factors that helped the people of Saskatchewan develop a love in for the Rush.

    He would also take the time to explain the ins and outs of the lacrosse game, which also helped draw you into the sport.

    After winning the NLL title in 2016, the Rush were able to pick Derek’s son, Ryan, with the first overall selection in the 2016 NLL Draft. With Derek behind the bench and Ryan on the floor as a skilled forward, the Rush captured their third NLL title in 2018.

    Derek will also tell you he had a lot of help in creating a powerhouse program in the Rush. He will spread credit to his assistant coaches and to team owner Bruce Urban.

    Of course, Keenan guides a terrific group of players like captain Chris Corbeil, Mike Messenger, Jeff Cornwall, Robert Church, Ryan Dilks, Evan Kirk, Mark Matthews, Jeremy Thompson, Jeff Shattler, Ben McIntosh and Matt Hossack.

Derek Keenan speaks at the Rush victory rally in 2018.

    Along the way, Keenan became the NLL’s all-time leader in head coaching victories, and he has 155 combined wins in the regular season and post-season. The win total includes stints as head coach and general manager of the Anaheim Storm and the Portland LumberJax.

    He was the NLL coach of the year in 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 and the NLL’s general manager of the year in 2006, 2010 and 2014. The 2010 NLL coach of the year award was shared with Chris Hall of the Washington Stealth.

    It was just too bad real life threw a wrench into how Keenan’s final campaign behind the Rush bench went.

    The 2019-20 NLL season was suspended on March 12 and ultimately the remainder of the campaign was cancelled due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The Rush were 7-3 when NLL play was halted.

Derek Keenan and the Rush pose for a championship team picture in 2018.

    While Keenan will no longer be behind the bench, he will still be a key part of the organization. The outstanding culture that the Rush have built will be a huge asset for the franchise when it returns to action.

    Combined with the support legendary fan Joyce Souka, who is best known as “Grandma Rush,” and the rest of Rush Nation, you can already see the Rush quickly hitting high gear when they return to play.

    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 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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    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.