Rush Begin Season Saturday in Denver
Published on December 27, 2013 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release
Edmonton, AB--The Edmonton Rush begin the 2014 National Lacrosse League season on the road against their heated West Division-rival, the Colorado Mammoth.
Edmonton finished last season with a 9-7 record - good enough for third in the West Division - while Colorado wound up fourth in the West at 7-9. However, the Mammoth's 9-7 victory at Rexall Place on April 6 went a long way in spoiling the Rush's plans to host a playoff game for the first time in club history. Both teams made an early exit from the playoffs in 2013 as the Rush were topped 12-11 by Washington in one West Semifinal, and Colorado was beaten 15-10 by Calgary in the other matchup.
This will be the opening game of the 2014 season for both clubs, who split their two encounters last season. Colorado's 9-7 victory was anchored by a pair of goals by John Grant Jr. plus a sterling 48-save performance from goaltender Tye Belanger. Curtis Knight had two goals for the Rush in a losing cause with singles going to Chris Corbeil, Mark Matthews, Zack Greer, and Cory Conway.
In the other meeting last season, the Rush potted seven goals in the fourth quarter to cruise to a 14-7 win in Denver on February 16. Rookie sensation Mark Matthews tallied five goals for the Rush in his first game back in the city where he became a star at Denver University. Curtis Knight added a pair of the Rush with singles going to Corey Small, Chris Corbeil, Ryan Dilks, Ryan Ward, Alex Turner, Zack Greer, and Cory Conway. Aaron Bold supplied the Rush with 34 saves between the pipes.
The Rush are 7-14 all-time against Colorado but they have won four of the last six meetings between the teams in Denver.
Last season, the Rush became one of the most dynamic teams in the NLL with a combination of scoring prowess and rock-solid defense. Edmonton second in the NLL in both goals-for (203) and goals-against (170). The Rush also established themselves as the league's most-feared band of road warriors as they went a stellar 7-1 away from Edmonton.
Rush vs. Mammoth - Season-by-Season Glance
2013
9-7 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Tye Belanger makes 48 saves)
14-7 Rush win at Colorado (Mark Matthews tops Rush scoring with five goals)
2012
14-11 Rush win at Colorado (Zack Greer leads Rush with two goals and one assist)
11-7 Mammoth win at Colorado (Adam Jones, John Grant Jr. and Jordan McBride all notch hat tricks)
13-12 Mammoth win at Edmonton (John Grant Jr. leads with five goals and four assists)
2011
13-6 Mammoth win at Edmonton
14-13 Rush win at Edmonton (Scott Evans leads the way with four goals and two assists)
7-6 Mammoth win at Colorado (John Grant notches two goals and two assists)
2010
14-13 Rush win at Colorado (Ryan Ward scores four goals and adds three assists)
13-9 Rush win at Colorado (Ryan Ward notches hat trick plus four assists)
14-10 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Jamie Shewchuk collects nine points including four goals)
2009
11-9 Rush win at Colorado (Ryan Benesch has eight-point night featuring five assists)
10-9 Rush win at Edmonton (Callum Crawford nets four goals and adds two assists)
10-9 Mammoth win at Colorado (Jamie Shewchuk scores twice and adds two assists)
2008
14-11 Mammoth win at Colorado (Dan Carey pots hat trick plus three assists)
15-4 Mammoth win at Colorado (Jamie Shewchuk scores four goals and adds three assists)
13-8 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Jamie Shewchuk has second straight seven-point game)
2007
16-9 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Jamie Shewchuk notches hat trick plus two assists)
16-7 Mammoth win at Colorado (Dan Carey leads with two goals and three assists)
2006
15-10 Mammoth win at Colorado (Dan Stroup collects six points including hat trick)
13-7 Mammoth win at Edmonton (Ben Prepchuk racks up six points including four helpers)
Statistically Speaking: The Rush and Mammoth have split their last 10 meetings at 5-5 ... Both Edmonton and Colorado struggled against their West Division rivals in 2013. The Rush went 5-6, while the Mammoth were 4-6. Both teams also struggled on their home turf - Edmonton at 2-6 and Colorado at 3-5 ... The Rush scored the second-fewest power-play goals of all NLL teams last season as they went 33-for-67 with the man-advantage. Colorado's power play went 50-for-90 and was tops in the league at home at 63% (32-for-51) ... Edmonton had the league's worst penalty kill in 2013 at just 40% (31 goals allowed in 52 shorthanded situations). Colorado's penalty kill was tied for fourth at 48% (44 goals allowed in 85 shorthanded situations) ... The Mammoth averaged 19.81 penalty minutes per game last season, highest in the NLL. Edmonton had the second-lowest penalty average at just 15.56 minutes per game ... The Rush led the entire league with 60 first-quarter goals last season and they allowed the fewest first-quarter goals at just 33 ... Rush goalie Aaron Bold tied for third in the league in 2013 with eight victories ... The Rush led the NLL with an average of 53.06 shots taken per game and were also best with 41.69 shots allowed per game ... Edmonton was third in the league with an average of 12.69 goals per game, but their average of 10.63 goals-against per game was dead last.
By The Numbers: Edmonton did finish the 2013 regular season as the hottest team in the league with a 7-3 run, helped along by a perfect 5-0 road trip which included the club's first-ever victory in Toronto ... The Rush were 9-1 when leading after three quarters last season but 0-4 when trailing after three quarters ... Edmonton was 7-0 when they outshot their opponents in road games ... Mark Matthews set a new Rush record for goals in a season with 38 a year ago. That total led all NLL rookies and put him fifth overall in the league. Matthews, who captured the Rookie of the Year honor, also led all first-year pros with 69 points and was third in assists with 31 ... Teammate Curtis Knight was fourth among NLL rookies in both points (46) and assists (27) and fifth in goals with 19 ... NLL Defensive Player of the Year and Rush team MVP Kyle Rubisch broke his own league record with 44 forced turnovers last season. Brett Mydske was second in forced turnovers with 28 and Chris Corbeil was ninth with 21 ... Jeremy Thompson led the Rush and was fifth in the NLL with 131 loose balls while Rubisch was sixth with 128 ... Chris Corbeil set a Rush team record and finished tied for second in the league with four shorthanded goals. Corbeil also tied for first in the league among defenders with nine goals and placed sixth in points by a defender with 14, two better than Rush teammate John Lafontaine. Brett Mydske's six goals put him fourth among NLL defenders ... Zack Greer set a Rush team record and tied for second in the league with four game-winning goals ... Colorado scored just 185 goals last season, the lowest among teams in the West Division. However, John Grant Jr. placed second in the league with 43 goals including an NLL-best 15 coming on the power play.
KEENAN'S KORNER
Quotes from the Rush GM/Head Coach
"A ton of work so far with a lot more to come. A better performance on the power play should help us in the close games. We also need to draw more penalties. We actually did not have a lot of opportunity last year."
- Keenan on the Rush's efforts to be better with the man-advantage in 2014
"Honestly, I cannot pinpoint any one thing that helped us to that record. We had a long road swing at one point and we just happened to be playing out best lacrosse at during that streak. I guess it was the typical road nuances - fewer distractions, full group together team meals."
- Keenan on the Rush's terrific 7-1 road record last season
The Rush season home opener is set for Saturday, January 11, 2014, 7:00 pm on Crystal Glass Field at Rexall Place against Colorado Mammoth. (GSP and 2014 Season media accreditation available at www.edmontonrush.com).
Rush fans will see Georges St-Pierre, Georges "Rush" St-Pierre, also known as "GSP," a Canadian professional mixed martial artist and world champion as well as a three-time Canadian Athlete of the Year at the season home opener.
"Georges St-Pierre will stand alongside our team, behind the Rush bench, for what promises to be a powerful start to the Rush 2014 season." states Bruce Urban, Owner.
Rush fans will have the opportunity to meet GSP at half-time through contesting opportunities during the first half of the game.
Season tickets, mini-pack and single game tickets for the 2014 Rush Season are available by calling the Rush Office at 780 732-RUSH.
National Lacrosse League Stories from December 27, 2013
- Knighthawks to Host Minnesota in Season Opener Saturday - Rochester Knighthawks
- Vancouver Stealth Can be Seen Twice on TSN/TSN2 - Vancouver Stealth
- Season-Opener from Pepsi Center on Saturday Night - Colorado Mammoth
- Rush Begin Season Saturday in Denver - Edmonton Rush
- Philadelphia Wings and US Lacrosse Team up for Activities Surrounding Convention - Philadelphia Wings
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