No matter the situation, who’s in first or who’s the worst, a game between the Edmonton Rush and the Calgary Roughnecks is going to be one of elevated emotions and extra special importance.
Though it is unusual to see the Rush at the top and the Roughnecks at bottom of the NLL’s West Division, that reality really doesn’t affect how much this Sunday’s matinee means to both teams. It’s still Chapter Two in the four-part story of the 2015 Battle of Alberta.
“It doesn’t matter the standings or the situation, every game in the league is a big game and playing our rivals from Calgary makes it even bigger,” said Rush defender Brett Mydske. “But these games are more intense than the average game. They always seem to have that playoff atmosphere.”
The Rush have won three of the last four regular-season games against the Roughnecks, but Calgary captured its last visit to Edmonton and then took out the Rush in an epic West Divisional Final during last season’s playoffs. The Rush easily took care of business, however, in the first meeting of this season, blasting the Roughnecks in Calgary 16-8. That victory ended the Rush’s season-opening two-game losing streak while Calgary has since won only one of its next five to sit last in the entire league.
“The last few games against Calgary we’ve been successful because we have been well-prepared and have played great for 60 minutes,” noted Mydske. “When we do that, we are a hard team to beat. If we have a 10-minute lapse, anything can happen.”
Calgary is certainly the wrong team to lapse against with such potent scorers as Shawn Evans and Curtis Dickson in the lineup. Momentary lapses have cost the Rush at home before, not only in frequent losses to Calgary but already this season in a pair of setbacks on Crystal Field Glass Field. The Rush gave up nine fourth-quarter goals against Minnesota and uncharacteristically surrendered 15 against Toronto last weekend.
“We don’t want to go back to where we were two years ago, going 7-1 on the road but winning just two games at home,” said Rush GM/Head Coach Derek Keenan. “This is a big stretch of games for us with two important divisional home games against Calgary and then Vancouver (March 14th) and then we’re back East for two games in Toronto and Rochester (March 21st and 28th, respectively).
“We made mistakes against Toronto that were out of character for us and we have to fix that. We’re facing a Calgary team that is still the most dangerous offense in the league and they’re going to be desperate.”
RUSH-ING ALONG: Coach Keenan was highly complimentary towards Adrian Sorichetti who has been “very good stepping in for us” to fill voids left by injuries to Jeff Cornwall, John Lafontaine and Chris Corbeil … Speaking of Corbeil, the Rush are hopeful their captain can suit up for Sunday’s game coming back from his injured foot.
ROUGH-ING IT UP: Down by eight late in the last meeting against the Rush, the Roughnecks mucked things up resulting in a pair of fights and other major penalties. It’s nothing new and the Rush are aware of what could go down in another blowout situation.
“Anytime we play Calgary we are ready for a physical game,” said Mydske. “We play each other four or more times a year so there is a lot of hatred between the teams. I’m sure they’d say the same thing.”
While the days of designated fighters and line brawls are long gone from the NLL, things still do occasionally get to the donnybrook stage. If the old adage of ‘sending a message’ exists, coach Keenan doesn’t hear it.
“What exactly is that message?” Keenan questioned. “We’re not going to back down but we’re going to be disciplined. I don’t like when that other stuff happens. I think some people have a hard time losing with grace. But we don’t need that. We’re there to play good hard lacrosse. It’s a good rivalry and they’re good games without it.”
