Edmonton Rush versus Toronto Rock February 2010

The Edmonton Rush were a professional

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...

team in the

National Lacrosse League The National Lacrosse League (NLL) is a men's professional box lacrosse league in North America. The league is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United Stat ...

(NLL) that played from

2006 NLL season The 2006 National Lacrosse League season was the 20th season in the history of the league, which began as the Eagle Pro Box Lacrosse League in 1987. The season began on December 30, 2005 and concluded with the championship game on May 13, 2006. T ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. The team announced on July 20, 2015, that they would be relocating to

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, for the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

season. The

Saskatchewan Rush The Saskatchewan Rush are a professional box lacrosse team based in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Formerly the Edmonton Rush, they are members of the Western Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and play their home games on Co-op Fie ...

play in the

SaskTel Centre SaskTel Centre (formerly Credit Union Centre, and originally Saskatchewan Place; informally also known as ''Sask Place'') is an arena located in the Agriplace Industrial Park, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. With 15,195 permanent stadium seats ...

History

The NLL announced that

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

would receive an NLL franchise on May 5, 2005. They played their home games at

Rexall Place Northlands Coliseum is a now-unused indoor arena located in Edmonton, Alberta, situated on the north side of Northlands (organization), Northlands. It was used for sports events and concerts, and was home to the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hock ...

. The Edmonton team was owned by businessman Bruce Urban, who purchased the dormant

Ottawa Rebel The Ottawa Rebel was a team in the National Lacrosse League based in Ottawa, Ontario from 2001 until 2003. They initially played at the Corel Centre (now called the Canadian Tire Centre), but part-way through the 2002 season moved to the sma ...

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 The Calgary Roughnecks are a professional box lacrosse team based in Calgary, Alberta. They are members of the Western Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL) and play their home games on WestJet Field at Scotiabank Saddledome. The te ...

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 The 2008 National Lacrosse League season, the 22nd in the history of the NLL, began on December 29, 2007, and concluded with the Buffalo Bandits winning the championship game over the Portland LumberJax on May 17, 2008. In an odd coincidence, all ...

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. 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 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. After finishing last in the West for the second straight season, Hamley was fired.

Relocation

During Edmonton's playoff run in 2015 Urban began threatening to move the team, telling the

Edmonton Sun The ''Edmonton Sun'' is a daily newspaper and news website published in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is owned by Postmedia following its 2015 acquisition of Sun Media from Quebecor. It began publishing Sunday April 2, 1978 and shares many cha ...

"It appears that it's coming to an end. After much speculation, the team officially announced they'd be moving to

to play as the

beginning in 2016. Urban cited the lack of a long-term deal at

Rogers Place Rogers Place is a multi-use indoor arena in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Construction started in March 2014, and the building officially opened on September 8, 2016. The arena has a seating capacity of 18,500 as a hockey venue and 20,734 as a conce ...

, which was slated to replace Rexall Place as Edmonton's main arena. Additionally, the Oilers refused to let the Rush put any of their signage at Rexall Place, a move that Urban claimed harmed the Rush's marketing efforts.

Rivalry with the Calgary Roughnecks

The arrival of the Rush created another version of "The

Battle Of Alberta The Battle of Alberta is a term applied to the intense rivalry between the Canadian cities of Calgary, the province's most populous city (since 1976), and Edmonton, the capital of the province of Alberta (since 1905). Most often it is used to ...

". The head coach of the Edmonton Rush however, has come under fire by the

. 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 The Toronto Rock are a professional box lacrosse franchise based in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are members of the North Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team was the first Canadian franchise in the NLL. ...

, 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

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. 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

Retired numbers

Hall of Famers

Team captains

Head coaches

All-time record

Playoff results

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''

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

Champion's Cup The National Lacrosse League Cup is the trophy awarded each year to the champions of the National Lacrosse League. Prior to 2018, the league awarded the Champions Cup. Winners Most Valuable Players All-time Finals appearances since leagu ...

Finals MVP *

Mark Matthews Mark Matthews (August 7, 1894 – September 6, 2005) was an American veteran of the Second World War and a Buffalo Soldier. Born in Alabama and growing up in Ohio, Matthews joined the 10th Cavalry Regiment when he was only 15 years old, after ...

Rookie of the Year Award A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

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Ben McIntosh Ben McIntosh (born May 28, 1991, in Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada) is a lacrosse player for the Philadelphia Wings in the National Lacrosse League and Waterdogs Lacrosse Club in the Premier Lacrosse League. Professional career NLL career ...

Defensive Player of the Year Award *

Kyle Rubisch Kyle Rubisch (born August 29, 1988) is a professional lacrosse player for the Saskatchewan Rush in the National Lacrosse League. College and Club career Rubisch is a graduate from Dowling College. During his tenure there, he was named to the 2010 ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

Transition Player of the Year Award *

Brodie Merrill Brodie Merrill (born November 5, 1981) is a Canadian professional lacrosse player. He currently plays in the National Lacrosse League for the San Diego Seals and Premier Lacrosse League for the Cannons. Merrill is recognized by the Premier Lacross ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Les Bartley Award The Les Bartley Award is given annually to the National Lacrosse League head coach of the year. The award was simply called the Head Coach of the Year award until 2004, when the award was renamed in honour of Les Bartley, the most successful coach i ...

Derek Keenan Derek Keenan (born October 2, 1961, in Oshawa, Ontario) is a former lacrosse player, and current head coach and general manager of the Saskatchewan Rush of the National Lacrosse League. Keenan has won the NLL GM of the Year award and the Les Bartle ...

GM of the Year Award *

References

{{Defunct NLL Rush Defunct National Lacrosse League teams Lacrosse clubs established in 2005 Lacrosse teams in Alberta 2005 establishments in Alberta 2015 disestablishments in Alberta Lacrosse clubs disestablished in 2015