It’s time to get in on the rush of pro indoor lacrosse in Saskatchewan.
And, I for one am pretty excited about that.
The National Lacrosse League has come to the province, transferring the Edmonton franchise to Saskatoon.
That we have the Rush here means fans are going to see a competitive team from the get-go. The team won the NLL crown in 2015 in Edmonton, and only moved because ownership and arena management couldn’t get a new deal done. (As an interesting aside there have already been suggestions the NLL with expand back to Edmonton in the near future).
Now some people will question what sort of a league has its championship franchise moving in the off season, and granted if it has ever happened before I don’t recall it.
But, it is the reality of a game which is still trying to establish itself in the world of professional sports.
Lacrosse has long held my interest.
Box lacrosse is of course Canada’s official summer game, and frankly it is as exciting, and entertaining as any sport. It has obvious elements of hockey, tons of shots because of a shot clock, is physical, and lots of offence. It is a treat for sports fans.
That is why I was thrilled when the Yorkton Bulldogs started in the city, and the Junior team was quite successful in the first couple of years.
But like a lot of sports lacrosse struggled to gain lasting momentum in Yorkton, a city where somehow we have decided hockey should be a 12-month endeavour for youngsters. Summer hockey schools and elite team programs siphon kids from baseball, soccer and new programs such as lacrosse, in the hopes of many they will one day make the National Hockey League, although the list of Yorkton players at that level is still very, very short.
It’s much the same at the pro level, lacrosse both the NLL, and the outdoor Major Lacrosse League, are fighting for fans and equally important television air time.
A cable TV package in Canada may offer up a bag full of sports channels, but they are happier to run an MBA D-League game, or a hockey game re-run, than something fresh like the NLL, even though there are now four teams in Canada, and as mentioned a likelihood of a couple of more soon.
With all the Canadian teams the NLL should be ideal for TV, and producing a game is essentially the same as hockey, something crews are very familiar with.
One day that will hopefully happen, but until it does the NLL will be a league often in flux.
The nine team loop, you can see where three more teams would round out the league nicely, has seen teams switch cities a lot.
That is not a huge thing in pro sports. Check the NHL over the last 30 years, and teams have settled and left Kansas City, Oakland, Quebec City, Atlanta (twice) and Winnipeg, now back there, among several others.
The NLL has simply done what it has had to do to survive, and it has been tenacious in surviving. The league celebrates its 30th season this year.
And now the league is hoping Saskatoon can be a successful addition to the fold.
When you live in a province of only a million people, give or take a few tens of thousands over the years, you have to expect professional sports league are going to generally pass on establishing a team here.
Granted, we have the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. The franchise is highly successful in terms of fan support and making money.
Success in terms of winning the league’s big prize is another matter, one which I could write volumes on the frustration that has caused, but that is for another time.
There was the pie-in-the-sky dream once upon a time Bill Hunter was going to bring the St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League to Saskatoon. It was a nice dream for a few weeks, although the cold of a Saskatchewan winter thwarting travel, and that small population base made it folly to think it might work over 40-plus home games a season.
But now Saskatchewan has another chance to show we can be a ‘big league’ province.
The calibre of the Rush on the floor should be high, as deeding champions the team knows how to win.
Mark Matthews was second in NLL scoring last season with 115 points in 18 games. I did mention there is a lot of offence in the NLL. That was based on 53 goals and 62 assists. Matthews was still 15 points off the pace set by Shawn Evans in Calgary. Evans will play with New England this season.
Matthews is a true lacrosse player, with a bio noting his favourite lacrosse memory in back-to-back Minto Cups.
The Minto Cup, for those not familiar with lacrosse, is one of the most prestigious trophies in the sport.
A little history from the Ontario lacrosse website; “The Minto Cup is located in the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame. It is awarded annually to the champion junior men’s lacrosse team of Canada. It was donated in 1901 by the Governor-General, Lord Minto, but until 1934 was awarded to the senior men’s champion of Canada. During that period the Mann Cup, the trophy currently awarded to the senior champion, was also awarded to a national men’s champion in a separate competition. The Minto Cup senior competition was dominated by the New Westminster Salmonbellies, who held the trophy for 21 of the 29 years in which it was contested (the competition was suspended during World War I).
“In 1934 the last trustee appointed to supervise the Cup died, and the Lord Minto of the day eventually transferred it to the Canadian Lacrosse Association, which decided to award it as the trophy for the national junior men’s champion, starting in 1937. Originally, the competition was between all-star provincial teams formed by adding players to the provincial champion. In 1960 this practice was abandoned and the trophy has since been competed for by the Junior A provincial champions of British Columbia of the BCLA, Ontario of the OLA and recently Alberta, of the ALA the only provinces where organized lacrosse thrives.”
But back to the Rush line-up; Robert Church was tied for 10th in scoring with 92 points, Ben McIntosh for 14th with 86, and Zack Greer was 18th with 80.
It helped the Rush that Aaron Bold was the top goaltender with a 9.44 goals against average (oh you have to love the offence of indoor lacrosse).
All made the move to Saskatchewan, so the Rush should roll nicely again.
Matthews certainly believes the Rush should have another great season on the floor.
“We were a pretty strong team. We had a good team two years ago when we set an NLL record for the most consecutive wins (13-0 off the start),” Matthews noted in an interview, adding it was the next step to win the title last spring, and with the team generally intact, Saskatchewan fans should be in for a good run again.
On a personal level Matthews said he wants to have another good year offensively, something he generates off his size (6-foot-5, 230 pounds).
“I’d say having a big body … On the floor it’s taking the hits and get myself into areas to score … and having some stick skills helps me out too,” he offered, adding after that it comes down to having good teammates around him.
As for the move to the Saskatchewan, Matthews said players took it in stride as part of the game.
“We had kind of heard about the idea we may be moving to Saskatoon,” he said, adding as players they can’t do anything about off-court situations such as arena rentals, and where an owner thinks he has the best opportunity to be successful.
That said, as a veteran Matthews said he does recognize there are some added responsibilities for players in helping introduce and grow the sport in a new market, like doing interviews like the recent one with myself.
“I love doing this kind of stuff, anything to get butts in the seats,” he said. “We’ve got to keep winning and doing anything off the floor that can help.”
As a fan I know I’ll head west two or three times this season, (there are nine home games). The Rush started the season on the road in Calgary Saturday, and it was an exciting one.
After a sluggish first half that had the Rush behind, Saskatchewan scored eight second half goals for a 10-8 victory.
The comeback included a pair of goals 13-seconds apart for an early tie, and later in the game four goals in 3:06 to take a lead.
Matthews led the way with two goals and five points, and for trivia fans Ben McIntosh had the first Saskatchewan Rush goal.
The home opener is Jan. 15, with Vancouver the visitors, so if you love the sport you should plan a trip to take it in.
