Murray Wood: Who's hot... and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the week's news and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list inclu...
A few Saskatchewan Rush players might need a refresher on how to get to SaskTel Centre after weeks of road games.
Playing just once on their home floor since mid-January, the Rush will make a return to Saskatchewan on Saturday night as the team plays host to the San Diego Seals.
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It’s a game which co-head coach and general manager Derek Keenan said his players have been eagerly awaiting coming out of a bye week.
“The boys will be excited for sure,” Keenan said. “The break couldn’t have come at a better time, to be honest.”
The Rush players spent Week 15 of the National Lacrosse League season catching their breath following a jam-packed schedule over the final week of February, which included three games in six days.
Combined with a handful of injuries to veterans like Frank Scigliano, Holden Garlent and Bobby Kidd III, Keenan said the break provided a few much-needed days off for a team pushing for an NLL championship this spring.
“I typically don’t like bye weeks,” Keenan said.
“This timing was perfect for us, and I think the guys are pretty fired up to get back after it Saturday.”
The Rush extended its season-long win streak to nine games on Feb. 22 with a 14-6 victory over the Philadelphia Wings, leading into two games in two nights the following weekend against the Buffalo Bandits and Rochester Knighthawks.
Saskatchewan’s winning ways came to an end on Feb. 27, despite a late rally to tie the game against the Bandits, falling 11-10 in overtime in the 2025 NLL Finals rematch off a Josh Byrne winner.
The following night in Rochester it was more of the same for the Rush, in a back-and-forth game which saw Knighthawks forward Ryan Smith down the Rush in overtime for the second consecutive night for a final score of 13-12.
“If you look at the two games we lost, the answers are in the statistics that we weren’t quite as good,” Keenan said.
“Having said that though, there were some underlying factors. I just feel that going into this week and going forward, if we’re 100 per cent healthy, I think we’ve got a good chance here.”
Rush backup goaltender Thomas Kiazyk was thrust into his first start of the season in Rochester after Scigliano was scratched at the last minute due to an injury he sustained the night before in Buffalo.
Peppered with 65 shots in the overtime loss, Keenan said Kiazyk rose to the occasion on what was a rough night for the Rush’s defence.
“It’s good for him to get that experience,” Keenan said.
“I thought he had a bit of a tough start, but after that he played really well. We weren’t great in front of him. We gave up way more shots than we typically do against a pretty good offence.”
Coming out of the bye week, the Rush remain first place in the NLL standings, with a 10-3 record and just five games left on the team’s schedule.
The gap has closed, however, with the Colorado Mammoth and Vancouver Warriors each sitting just one game behind the Rush.
According to Keenan, their opponents will be pushing hard over the next month and a half to not only knock the Rush off their pedestal, but to secure a playoff berth ahead of the NLL’s post-season.
“You’re in a part of the season where you have to match or exceed the desperation of your opponent,” Keenan said. “We’re going to see a lot of it down the stretch, which is really good for us.”
The Rush earned a 12-9 victory over the Seals in their first meeting of the season back on Feb. 7 in San Diego.
Opening face-off on Saturday night is set for 7 p.m. at SaskTel Centre.
