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.

-------

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 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.

-------

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.