The Edmonton Rush are off to their best start since entering the National Lacrosse League in 2006. Four straight wins to start the season has them atop the league standings after Week 5 and even though Head Coach and GM Derek Keenan has stated that it is too early to get excited about any team’s successes or failures, we are still going to take a look at what has the Rush coming out the gates so strong.
Strength of Schedule
Last season, Edmonton found themselves at 1-4 after starting the season against the Toronto Rock followed by two games each against the Washington Stealth and Calgary Roughnecks. The Stealth and Roughnecks played each other in the West Division Final, so those early games were no cake walk. This season, the Rush played the Colorado Mammoth twice after the Mammoth finished at the bottom of the West last year. Early in 2014 the Mammoth have had questions in between the pipes and also had a new look offence, making them more vulnerable in the first two games of the year than they will be when the Rush face them down the stretch.
Reliable Rookies
Last year Mark Matthews and Curtis Knight came on the scene. This season Robert Church has made a quick transition into the NLL game as expected and Riley Loewen has been such a welcome surprise on the left side that Dane Stevens became expendable.
Jeff McComb
The team’s new offensive coach brings a calm, cerebral approach to the game that has his players up front swinging the ball and moving with a purpose when they don’t have it in their stick. His familiarity with Keenan and much of the roster has made him an excellent addition behind the bench.
Attitude and Focus
The question about the team’s home record faced the team over and over, in interview after interview. The first weekend of training camp, no one seemed to have an answer and they were noticeably uncomfortable with the question. Their head coach was absent that weekend, but when asked the same question, his message was simple. His team had to put last season behind them and improve their focus and preparation. A strong, confident change in attitude was apparent in this sound bite from Aaron Bold before the Rush faced the Roughnecks in Week 4.
If there is one thing that has given the Rush an edge so far in this young season, it is a mentality like that.
