The Edmonton Rush announced their opening day roster on Friday then soundly defeated the Calgary Roughnecks by an 11-3 score, seeming to send a message that the 2015 edition of the Rush were ready for action.
The biggest change to the roster will be the absence of forward Curtis Knight, who led the team in goals (35) and was second in total points (72) last year. Knight will be lost for the season due to a knee injury.
While that’s very bad news, there is good news: Corey Small is back after missing the 2014 season, also due to a knee injury. Small was third on the Rush in scoring in 2013 (64 PTS) and had an outstanding summer in the WLA, indicating that he’s as good or better than ever.
Small should be able to fill the offensive void left by Knight being out of commission, but the Rush have even more help on that front from the first pick overall in this year’s draft, Ben McIntosh. The presence of McIntosh and Small adds depth to an offense that features snipers Mark Matthews and Zack Greer, as well as table setters Cory Conway, Jarrett Davis and Robert Church.
Overall, this offensive lineup is at least as potent as last year’s group and possibly even better—don’t be surprised to find them in the top two in goals scored for the second straight year.
But this teams’ reputation is built on defense and that group is also largely unchanged.
Kyle Rubisch and Chris Corbeil were finalists for the Defensive Player of the Year award, which Rubisch won. Again. Jeremy Thompson was a finalist for Transition Player of the Year. And Aaron Bold was a finalist for Goaltender of the Year.
With that embarrassment of riches, they’re pretty strong. But when you add in Jeff Cornwall, Brett Mydske, John Lintz and Ryan Dilks—all who collected at least 50 loose balls and forced at least 20 turnovers—you have an unparalleled pool of defensive talent that should once again shut down and frustrate offenses around the NLL.
Bold is joined between the pipes this year by newcomer Tyler Carlson (11.32 goals against average), picked up from the Minnesota Swarm. Carlson has three years of experience as a starting goalie in the NLL and should prove to be a strong backup to Bold, who won 15 games last year while posting a microscopic 8.73 goals against average.
One other X-Factor for the team is that their bench boss—head coach and general manager Derek Keenan—will not be around the team much while he cares for his wife, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer in October, 2013. That leaves the team in the hands of assistant coaches Jimmy Quinlan and Jeff McComb. Whether or not that impacts their performance on the floor remains to be seen.
Overall, this is a roster that is nearly identical to the 2014 edition. And why not? The Rush won 16 games last season, including 14 in a row, and came within a whisker of their second-ever trip to the Champion’s Cup in the postseason. With another year under their belts as a unit, and their younger talent just entering their prime, there’s no reason to expect that they can’t repeat—or improve upon—last year’s performance.
