The Edmonton Rush advanced to the Champions Cup to play the Toronto Rock in an All-Canadian final with a hard fought win over the Calgary Roughnecks on Saturday night.
They certainly were pushed to the limit by the scrappy Calgary team, needing the 10-minute tie-breaking game to finally clinch the victory.
It was a game where the Rush were thrown off their game by the Roughnecks and were never allowed to gain any momentum, except for a ten minute span in first quarter where they went on a seven goal scoring run and of course the mini tie breaking game.
Edmonton started the game playing uninspired and were somewhat overwhelmed by a fired up Calgary squad. With the game only just over seven minutes old the Rush found themselves down 3-0 and without any spark or energy and looked destined to get blown out of the Saddledome.
Their fortunes changed when Calgary began taking undisciplined penalties beginning with a checking from behind penalty from Geoff Snyder that gave Zack Greer a penalty shot that he easily converted. Calgary woes continued as they took two more undisciplined penalties in a row that Edmonton scored took advantage to tie the game and then used momentum to take a 7-3 lead after the first quarter.
It seemed that the game had turned in Edmonton’s favor as the defence had settled down and was beating the Roughnecks to the ball and shutting them down completely after allowing the first three goals of the game.
Just when it looked like Calgary would let the game get away from them, the Roughnecks turned things up a notch and scored the only six goals of the second quarter to take a 9-7 lead at the half.
The Battle to claim the western Final turned into a warzone. Hard hitting and constant fore-checking by both teams lead to an intense finish. Both teams showed signs of brilliance at times but also showed how venerable they could be.
Calgary finally clinched it on an empty-net goal by Curtis Dicksen sending the series into the mini tie-breaking game.
The mini game started with Calgary sending Edmonton back on its heels, but the Rush fought back and dominated the last seven minutes to win the game and the series to advance to the Champions Cup.
It was an emotional win for the Rush following a season full of obstacles. Obstacles that included the death of head coach Derek Keenan’s wife and the battle for Aaron Bold’s girlfriend diagnosed with cancer. The latest obstacle was the controversial airing of Bruce Urban”s comments in the media regarding the teams future in Edmonton. They overcame and bonded and found ways to win.
Although the Rush enter the Champions Cup finals not firing on all cylinders, you can be certain the coaching staff will have them prepared to battle the Rock tooth and nail.
The two squads play a best of three starting in Toronto on Saturday before shifting back to Edmonton on Friday night. If a game three is needed it will be played in Toronto on Saturday June 13 .
