Full Speed Ahead to 2014
May 1, 2013 - National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release
Edmonton, AB---The Edmonton Rush is full speed ahead to the 2014 Season on Crystal Glass Field at Rexall Place. Season Ticket renewals are at a franchise high and renewing fast. The Edmonton Rush are actively soliciting new season ticket sales for next season, we continue to grow and promote the game of lacrosse in the City of Edmonton.
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 focus for the Edmonton Rush is growing the sport of lacrosse in the City of Edmonton, growing stronger relationships with current sponsors, new sponsors, current season ticket holders and most important new season ticket holders.
The Edmonton Rush's 2013 National Lacrosse League season was another strong campaign that provided a good look into the exciting potential of the club.
Although the Rush's season ended last Saturday with a disappointing loss to the Washington Stealth in the West Division Semi-Final, the year became a good indicator of what's to come for the Black and Silver along with their passionate, loyal fans. The Rush took major steps this season in building towards something big, and there's every expectation that the team will be a force in 2014 - a year in which the NLL expands to an 18-game regular-season schedule.
The Rush entered the '13 season as the defending West Division champs and having reached the Champion's Cup for the first time in team history. The off-season brought many substantial changes as well, most notably landing both Mark Matthews and Curtis Knight in the first round of the NLL Entry Draft. And while the regular season didn't get off to a bang for the Rush, they rebounded from the slow start and took off to become one of the NLL's best teams.
Edmonton erased the memories of a 1-4 start by going 8-3 over the remainder of the regular season, highlighted by a stellar five-game road winning streak that pushed the Rush to a near-perfect 7-1 road record for the year. Most importantly during that stretch, the Rush exorcised two lingering demons.
The Rush powered up an 18-13 victory over the Calgary Roughnecks at the Saddledome back on March 2, a win that ended a 12-game regular-season losing skid against their arch-rival. Ryan Ward's 10-point effort (2 goals, 8 assists) in the win propelled him to a new single-game club record. Later in the Rush's five-game road trek, they would master another tough foe, picking up their first-ever victory against the Toronto Rock at the Air Canada Centre.
Edmonton ended the regular season with a 9-7 mark and in a three-way tie for first in the West with Calgary and Washington. A 12-11 OT loss to Calgary in the regular-season finale pushed the Rush down to third spot in the West for playoff seeding which sent them on the road to Washington for the semi-final. And while the Rush's year came to a close, it was a banner year on many fronts.
* After years of being the lowest-scoring team in the NLL on a perennial basis, the Rush scored a franchise-high 203 goals this season, the third-best total in the league this season.
* While boosting the offense, the Rush maintained a terrific defense, surrendering the fewest goals in the league at just 170.
* Edmonton's seven road wins was a franchise record and the most of any team in the NLL. Their dominance on the road yielded the largest margin of victory in franchise history (18-10 at Washington), the most goals scored in a game (18, twice), and three road victories where they scored 17+ goals (Washington, Calgary and Toronto). During their stellar 7-1 road record this season, the Rush led the NLL with 114 goals for and only 76 goals against.
While the team strengths were obvious, individual players also stepped to the forefront during the '13 season.
* Ryan Ward finished the season as the Rush's leading scorer, breaking his own single-season franchise record with 75 points, along with setting new club records for assists (54) and power-play assists (16) in a season.
* Mark Matthews led the Rush and finished fifth in the league with 38 goals - the third-highest goal total for a rookie in NLL history. Matthews was a three-time winner of the NLL's Rookie of the Month, took home Rookie of the Week honors for a nine-point game against Washington, and was named NLL Offensive Player of the Week for netting 11 goals in a weekend set against Washington and Colorado. Matthews led all NLL rookies with 69 points.
* Kyle Rubisch, announced today 2013 NLL Defender of the Year, had another outstanding season and was named the Rush's team MVP. Rubisch also broke his own NLL record by racking up 44 forced turnovers.
* Breakout stars included:
* Chris Corbeil who set a club record and finished second in the league with four shorthanded goals, and led all NLL defenders with nine goals.
* Jeremy Thompson who finished fifth in the league in both faceoff wins and loose balls, and was named the Rush's Unsung Hero Award winner.
* Zack Greer who tied a club record and finished second in the NLL with four game-winning goals.
* Curtis Knight was fourth amongst NLL rookies in points (46) and assists (27) and fifth in goals (19), and also tied for second in power-play goals with six.
2014 Season Tickets are now on sale and available by call the Rush Office at 780 732-RUSH.
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National Lacrosse League Stories from May 1, 2013
- Rush Defender Kyle Rubisch Wins 2013 NLL Defensive Player of the Year Award - Edmonton Rush
- Full Speed Ahead to 2014 - Edmonton Rush
- Minnesota Swarm's Jordan Macintosh Wins 2013 NLL Transition Player of the Year - Minnesota Swarm
- Rush's Kyle Rubisch Wins 2013 NLL Defensive Player of the Year Award - NLL
- Swarm's Jordan MacIntosh Wins 2013 NLL Transition Player of the Year Award - NLL
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