Edmonton Rush

Edmonton Rush

Team logo
Division Western
Founded 2005
Home arena Rexall Place
Based in Edmonton, Alberta
Colors Black and Silver
Head coach Derek Keenan
General manager Derek Keenan
Local media Shaw TV Edmonton, Global Edmonton, CTV Edmonton, City Edmonton, CBC Edmonton, Edmonton Sun, Edmonton Journal
Championships 2015
Division Championships 2014, 2015
Later Saskatchewan Rush
An Edmonton Rush game in Rexall Place

The Edmonton Rush were a professional lacrosse team in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) that played from 2006 NLL season to 2015.

The team announced on July 20, 2015 that they would be relocating to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan for the 2016 season. The Saskatchewan Rush play out of the SaskTel Centre.[1]

History

The NLL announced that Edmonton, Alberta would receive an NLL franchise on May 5, 2005. They play their home games at Rexall Place. The Edmonton team was owned by businessman Bruce Urban,[2] who purchased the dormant Ottawa Rebel to start the Edmonton team. Although early reports suggested that they would be playing as the Edmonton Speed, they selected the name Rush on June 9, 2005.

On February 17, 2006, the Rush recorded the first victory in their franchise history, defeating the Calgary Roughnecks 12-11 in a thrilling game, scoring the winning goal with only 0.2 seconds left in the game. Their first home victory didn't come until their second season, when they defeated the Philadelphia Wings 13-12 on January 6, 2007 in the season opener.

After starting the 2008 NLL season with an 0-5 record, the Rush fired the franchise's original head coach and general manager, Paul Day, and replaced him with former NLL Coach and GM of the Year, Bob Hamley.[3] The Rush finished the season last in the West with a 4-12 record, and after rebuilding much of the team in the off-season, the Rush struggled again in 2009. After finishing last in the West for the second straight season, Hamley was fired.[4]

Relocation

During Edmonton's playoff run in 2015 Urban began threatening to move the team, telling the Edmonton Sun "It appears that it's coming to an end.[5] After much Speculation, the team officially announced they'd be moving to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan to play as the Saskatchewan Rush beginning in 2016.[6]

Rivalry with the Calgary Roughnecks

The arrival of the Rush created another version of "The Battle Of Alberta". The head coach of the Edmonton Rush however, has come under fire by the Calgary Roughnecks. The Rush took out ads in Calgary newspapers before their first meeting that the Rush would "Open a Can" on the Roughnecks.

This proved to backfire as the Roughnecks defeated the Rush in their first meeting.

The tactic continued though when the Rush were playing the Toronto Rock, but once again it proved to backfire as the Rock easily won.

However, Calgary tried this tactic against Edmonton before the April 5, 2008 game by taking an ad in the Edmonton Sun saying that Edmonton was a "City of Losers" instead of a city of champions. Just as it had for the Rush, the plan backfired as the Rush won 11-9.

The rivalry heated up March 13, 2009 in Edmonton as Calgary built up a 14-3 halftime lead over the Rush. At the one second mark of the 3rd quarter, a line brawl broke out between the two teams resulting in nine fighting majors and nine misconducts.[7]

Edmonton did get the upper hand in the first playoff meeting between the teams as the Rush won 11-7 in Calgary on May 1, 2010.

Edmonton had played four games against the Calgary Roughnecks in the 2012 season. The Rush went 0/4 in the regular season when they faced the Calgary Roughnecks. Calgary ended their season with the record of 12-4, while Edmonton dominated the second ever playoff Battle Of Alberta with a win over Calgary 19-11. Edmonton went on to the Western division final against the Minnesota Swarm toward another win, 15-3, and headed to the NLL finals.

Roster

Edmonton Rush roster
Active (20-man) roster Inactive roster Coaches
Goaltenders
Defensemen
  • 79 Canada Nik Bilic
  • 24 Canada Ryan Dilks
  •  6 Canada John Lintz
  •  4 Canada Kyle Rubisch (A)
Forwards
Transition
Practice Squad
  • 20 Canada Mitch Banister (D)
  • 47 Canada Matt MacGrotty (D)
  • 35 Canada Adam Shute (G)
Unable to play
  •  9 Canada Curtis Knight (F)
  •  3 Canada Jarrett Toll (D)
Head Coach
Assistant Coaches
Legend
  • * Suspended list
  • (C) Captain
  • (A) Alternate captain

Roster updated 2014-12-18
NLL Transactions

Retired numbers

Edmonton Rush retired numbers
No. Player Position Career No. retirement
81 Jimmy Quinlan F/T 2006–13 January 17, 2014

Hall of Famers

Name Position Seasons Played Year Inducted
Dan Stroup Forward 2007–2008 2010

Team captains

Name Seasons Served
Andrew Turner 2006–2007
Chris McElroy 2008–2010
Brodie Merrill 2011
Jimmy Quinlan 2012–2013
Chris Corbeil 2014–2015

Head coaches

# Name Term Regular Season Playoffs
GC W L W% GC W L W%
1 Paul Day 2005–2008 37 7 30 .289 — — — —
2 Bob Hamley 2008–2009 27 9 18 .333 — — — —
3 Derek Keenan 2010–2015 100 59 41 .590 9 8 6 .571

All-time record

Season Division W–L Finish Home Road GF GA Coach Playoffs Avg Attendance
2006 Western 1–15 6th 0–8 1–7 150 202 Paul Day Missed playoffs 10,367
2007 Western 6–10 5th 4–4 2–6 160 189 Paul Day Missed playoffs 10,815
2008 Western 4–12 5th 3–5 1–7 141 197 Paul Day (0–5)
Bob Hamley (4–7)		 Missed playoffs 8,820
2009 Western 5–11 6th 4–4 1–7 159 200 Bob Hamley Missed playoffs 8,347
2010 Western 10–6 3rd 5–3 5–3 186 201 Derek Keenan Lost in Western Final 7,558
2011 Western 5–11 5th 4–4 1–7 175 204 Derek Keenan Missed Playoffs 7,151
2012 Western 6–10 4th 4–4 2–6 167 175 Derek Keenan Lost in Final 7,050
2013 Western 9–7 3rd 2–6 7–1 203 170 Derek Keenan Lost in Western Semi-final 6,714
2014 Western 16–2 1st 8–1 8–1 220 157 Derek Keenan Lost in Western Final 7,844
2015 Western 13–5 1st 6–3 7–2 241 177 Derek Keenan Won Championship 6,578
Total 10 seasons 75–89   40–42 35–47 1,802 1,872     8,103
Playoff Totals   8–6   3–1 5–5 152 116     9,695

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NLL regular season.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; G/G = Goals per game; A/G = Assists per game; * = current Rush player

Points
Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Ryan Ward F 64 96 168 264 4.13
Mark Matthews* F 52 122 140 262 5.04
Zack Greer* F 72 142 105 247 3.43
Jimmy Quinlan F/T 127 100 119 219 1.72
Corey Small F 64 88 129 217 3.39
Robert Church* F 34 58 86 144 4.24
Iroquois Andy Secore F 44 57 87 144 3.27
Jarrett Davis* F 51 45 95 140 2.75
Cory Conway* F 42 27 103 130 3.10
Curtis Knight* F 34 54 64 118 3.47
Goals
Player Pos G G/G
Zack Greer* F 142 1.97
Mark Matthews* F 122 2.35
Jimmy Quinlan F/T 100 0.79
Ryan Ward F 96 1.50
Corey Small F 88 1.38
Robert Church* F 58 1.71
Iroquois Andy Secore F 57 1.30
Curtis Knight* F 54 1.59
Scott Evans F 50 2.00
Dan Stroup F 50 1.56
Assists
Player Pos A A/G
Ryan Ward F 168 2.63
Mark Matthews* F 140 2.69
Corey Small F 129 2.02
Jimmy Quinlan F/T 119 0.94
Zack Greer* F 105 1.46
Cory Conway* F 103 2.56
Jarrett Davis* F 95 1.86
Iroquois Andy Secore F 87 1.98
Robert Church* F 86 2.53
Brodie Merrill T 74 2.31

Team records

Single Season Goals - Mark Matthews, 53 (2015)
Assists - Mark Matthews, 62 (2015)
Points - Mark Matthews, 114 (2015)
PIM - Jamie Floris, 67 (2009)
Loose Balls - Brodie Merrill, 190 (2010)
Forced Turnovers - Kyle Rubisch, 61 (2014)

NLL awards

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Rush announce relocation to Saskatchewan". NLL.com. 2015-07-20.
  2. ↑ "Bruce Urban Bio at Edmonton Rush Website". EdmontonRush.com. Archived from the original on 2008-02-12. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
  3. ↑ Paul Tutka (2008-02-21). "Bob Hamley hiring made official". NLLInsider.com. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
  4. ↑ Tutka, Paul (May 19, 2009). "Breaking: Bob Hamley released by Edmonton Rush". NLLInsider.com. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
  5. ↑ Gerry Moddejonge (2015-05-20). "Threats by Rush owner Bruce Urban to move team not backed by NLL commissioner". Edmonton Sun. Retrieved 2015-07-20.
  6. ↑ "Rush announce relocation to Saskatchewan". NLL.com. 2015-07-20.
  7. ↑ http://www.nll.com/stats.php?ps=http://nll.stats.pointstreak.com/teamplayerstats.html?teamid=38725%26seasonid=3260%26sortby=g
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