After weeks upon weeks of speculation, the Edmonton Rush are finally on the move. Global News in Canada reports that next Tuesday the Rush will hold a press conference announcing their move to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.
This will be the second move of the offseason in the National Lacrosse League after the Minnesota Swarm moved to Gwinnett, Georgia. There had been wide speculation since the playoffs that the Rush would relocate somewhere.
Saskatoon had been the prime target, as owner Bruce Urban had visited the arena in Saskatoon a few times. Nashville, Tennessee along with Las Vegas, Nevada were also mentioned during the speculation.
It was on May 20 of this year when it was first reported that the Rush were unlikely to stay in Edmonton. This was during their western conference finals series against their rival Calgary Roughnecks.
The team released this statement that day:
Over the last ten years, The Edmonton Rush Lacrosse Club has proudly represented Edmonton in major cities across North America. We love the city, our corporate partners, and most of all our fans; however a sports team needs an arena to play in.
Amongst all of the new arena discussion, The Edmonton Rush has never been offered any kind of solution or consideration by Mayor Iveson or the City of Edmonton. Similar to any business under these same circumstances, we need to keep all of our optionsopen.
We remain committed to finding a long term solution that would keep the Rush in Edmonton for the foreseeable future, however that future remains in Mayor Iveson’s hands.
On the field, we are very excited about our team’s chances of bringing a National Lacrosse League Championship Cup title to Edmonton this season for our loyal fans and supporters and encourage everyone to watch Game 2 Saturday night.
The Edmonton Oilers and the junior hockey Oil Kings will be moving out of Rexall Place and into a new arena, and Urban has said the city has not been very supportive of their attempts to remain in the city.
On June 11, In Lacrosse We Trust interviewed Urban, where he expressed this concern.
“There is substantial uncertainly surrounding our current home at Rexall Place and we have not been offered space to play at the new arena.” Urban told us. “Every sports team needs an arena to play in so we remain committed to locating a long term solution for the Rush.”
“Obviously our focus has been on our playoff run, but the uncertainty of our arena situation certainly is disheartening, especially considering how well the players have performed this year and the fact we have spent the last ten years marketing and growing the game of lacrosse in Northern Alberta.”
On May 22, Rush captain Chris Corbiel discussed how the whole situation had been a distraction on the team that would eventually win the Champions Cup.
“Of course it is (a distraction),” Corbeil said, via the Edmonton Sun. “It’s hilarious. Yesterday, I was at work, I had just got there at 8:15 a.m. and the messages and the tweets start rolling in and my phone’s going off to the point where my co-workers are like: ‘What is going on?’
“They thought I was having some kind of family emergency. I said: ‘Our owner just called out the City of Edmonton, the mayor, all his staff and the Edmonton Oilers. So it should be a good little morning.’ ”
On the same day, the commissioner George Daniel seemed rather unsupportive of the way the situation was being handled.
“The NLL strongly believes in the Edmonton market,” NLL commissioner George Daniel said to the Edmonton Sun. “The NLL can prosper in Edmonton under the right business conditions. It is our understanding that the current facility lease for the Rush expires at the end of the season.
“It is our hope that Bruce Urban can secure the necessary arrangements to make that happen and ensure the long-term viability of the NLL in Edmonton.”
The one thing we know is that professional lacrosse in Edmonton is over, for now. It has been a weird year or so for the Rush, who dealt with legal ramifications for using the term “Battle of Alberta” to reports of the Oilers trying to buy the team for $1.
It’s not a surprise to see the Rush leave, but it is still a disappointment to see the defending champions move to a smaller market.
