There was talk of the Edmonton Rush moving after last season, most likely to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, an oft-discussed potential NLL destination. Around this time last season, the Edmonton Journal had this quote from former president Dave Jamieson.
“Let the record show that he’s lost a lot of money and he’s spent a lot of time… he may even have grey hairs that have come from this experience because he’s put a lot of himself into it. He really passionately wants this team to do well and win here and I firmly believe Bruce wants this thing to keep going. He just wants a winner.” said Dave Jamieson, the Rush president, in the Edmonton Journal. He continued to say, “Candidly, we need more season tickets and we’re going to work hard to get there.”’
The Rush sent a press release right after the Journal report, and said
The discussions from the City of Saskatoon to franchise a professional lacrosse team is great news for the National Lacrosse League. The sport of lacrosse is growing fast in communities in North American and at a high demand for fans. The Edmonton Rush are very supportive to see the sport of lacrosse grow and benefit the NLL league.
The rumor pretty much died after this, and Saskatoon hasn’t been mentioned outside of a couple of side discussions regarding potential expansion/relocation that happens every year. However, it was back in the news this week in the Edmonton Sun.
“No, we’re not moving to Saskatoon,” Urban said, shaking his head in response to the half-hearted question. “However, there has been a lot of new interest from some cities wanting pro lacrosse to come into town and there are some expansion teams I think that we’ll see in this league in the next few years.”
While Edmonton seems safe for now, it seems possible we will see a team in Saskatoon at some point. It seems unlikely we will see expansion in 2015 after the Stealth just moved to Vancouver and the virtue of stability is the most appreciated right now. However, down the road, is Saskatoon an NLL sustaining market?
Urban continued to say, “I wouldn’t be surprised in the not-too-distant future that you do see a pro lacrosse team in Saskatchewan.”
He also said that talk of expansion has increased at league meetings, however with caution. In the mid-2000s the league expanded to several markets, some which worked like Calgary and Colorado, and others which did not, such as Arizona, Chicago, Boston, Orlando and Anaheim.
The league has had nine teams since 2012 which is the most stable it has been in its 27-year existence. However, it seems the Saskatoon rumor has started to pick up steam.
