At 9-7 the Edmonton Rush finished with the regular season with their best record since 2010 and their five game win streak mid season was the longest of any team this year in the National Lacrosse League. The Rush are a perfect example of why many feel that the NLL should insert a playoffs series format rather than the current single game knockout. Last year they finished with a dismal 6-10 record and nobody thought they would be contenders as they entered the post season, however, they were able to knock off the first place Calgary Roughnecks and the Minnesota Swarm to advance to the Champion’s Cup Final (which they lost to the Rochester Knighthawks). This year the Rush were heavy favorites to win it all but were knocked out in the first round by a single game 12-11 loss to the Washington Stealth. If this had of been a playoff series we might have seen a different outcome.
Many people like the single game knockout though and we probably won’t see any changes to the playoff format any time soon. Not only does lacrosse takes a toll on your body but most of these guys also work full time jobs outside of the sport which makes a playoff series a tough commitment for these guys.
The NLL isn’t the only pro league with this kind of set up; the National Football League has had major success with this exact post season format. While some would argue that a series would really show who the better team is, the current format is very exciting and does not allow for a team to have an off game. On the flip side with the league being small and only one team missing the playoffs, a series might make more sense and would really show who the best team truly is. Right now you could have a terrible regular season, squeak into the playoffs, have three good games and win it all; which is what we saw two weeks ago in the Canadian Lacrosse League with the Iroquois Ironmen being crowned the Champions.
That being said Edmonton had a great regular season and showed lots of positives in 2013. Although he didn’t face a ton of shots goaltender Aaron Bold had a solid year and came up big when the Rush needed him. Bold finished with and 8-6 record and his 10.56 Goals Against Average was good enough for second in the league. In the first round of the playoffs he had a few lapses but he certainly wasn’t the reason they lost to the Stealth. He had a rough third quarter in that game as he allowed 7 goals on just 14 shots but played great in the final frame. He allowed three goals in the fourth quarter but two of them were nice power play goals and he really had no chance on either one.
Edmonton’s defense was incredible this year as they only allowed an average of 42 shots a game. Brett Mydske played in all 17 games this season and was stellar in each one. He played a hard in your face style of game every night and managed to stayed out of the box while doing so (18 PIM).
The Rush defense not only put only strong efforts in their own zone but they also put points up on the board. Mydske (6g 4a), Jarrett Toll (2g 9a), Kyle Rubisch (3g 9a), Jeff Cornwall (3g 7a), Chris Corbeil (9g 6a), Ryan Dilks (4g 6a) and John Lafontaine (4g 9a) each had ten or more points this year; that’s seven of their eight defenseman.
Mark Matthews was the big story with this Rush team and with 73 points (40g 33a) this year, the 2012 first overall draft pick definitely lived up to the hype. He finished 15th in the league in points and 5th in goals, just 7 goals behind the leader Rhys Duch of the Stealth. Matthews 38 regular season goals was a new franchise record and if he doesn’t win the NLL’s Rookie of the Year, there is something wrong with this league.
Edmonton has a young core group of guys who should all be back next year and once again they should be a one of the top teams in the league. Most of their players play summer ball so they will stay in game shape in the NLL’s off season and should come back even stronger in 2014 while looking to extract revenge for their disappointing first round loss in this year’s playoffs.
