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 extensiv ...

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. The NLL currently has fifteen teams: ten in the United States and five in Canada. The N ...

(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 ...

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

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the 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 Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in 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 the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...

, for the

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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. It was used for sports events and concerts, and was home to the Edmonton Oilers of the World Hockey Association (WHA) and N ...

. The Edmonton team was owned by businessman Bruce Urban, 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 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 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. 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 c ...

"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 d ...

". 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, Canada. They are members of the North Division of the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The team was the first Canadian franchise in the NLL. Oakville resident ...

, 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 ...

* 2015 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 ...

: 2015 Rookie of the Year Award *

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* Ben McIntosh: 2015 Defensive Player of the Year Award * Kyle Rubisch:

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, 2015 Transition Player of the Year Award * Brodie Merrill: 2010

Les Bartley Award The Les Bartley Award is given annually to the National Lacrosse League head coach of the year Many sports leagues, sportswriting associations, and other organizations confer "Coach of the Year" awards. In some sports — including baseball and ...

* Derek Keenan: 2010,

GM of the Year Award * Derek Keenan: 2010,

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