Rush to Play for Title

Published on May 16, 2012 under National Lacrosse League (NLL)
Edmonton Rush News Release


Edmonton, AB---For the first time in franchise history, the Edmonton Rush will be going for the National Lacrosse League's Champion's Cup as they meet the Rochester Knighthawks in the 2012 title matchup.

The Rush, who entered the NLL playoffs as the lowest-seeded team, earned their shot at the championship following a massive 15-3 win over the Minnesota Swarm in the West Division Final last Saturday in St. Paul. That win gave Edmonton its first NLL West Division crown. Rochester made its way to the Champion's Cup game by knocking off the defending champion Toronto Rock 17-13 in Toronto to take the East Division honor. The Knighthawks will be going after their third NLL title, following up on victories in the 1997 and 2007 Champion's Cup game.

Edmonton, which lost the West Division Final in overtime to Washington in 2010, has been on a tear in the playoffs. Prior to the Rush's drubbing of Minnesota, they dropped the Calgary Roughnecks in the West Semifinal, ousting one of the favorites for the 2012 title. The playoff success has dramatically turned around a so-so regular season for the Rush when they finished 6-10 and entered the playoffs having lost two straight.

The Rush had split their two regular-season games with the Swarm in 2012 with both matchups going to overtime, but it was an entirely different story in the West Final. The Rush thoroughly dominated Minnesota, taking a lead of 6-1 after the first quarter and extending it to 11-1 by halftime. The Rush scored 10 straight goals en route to their commanding half-time lead, and held the Swarm off the scoreboard for over 37 minutes between the first and third quarters.

Former Minnesota players Ryan Ward and Aaron Wilson came back to haunt their old team and pace the Rush attack. Ryan Ward, who teaches high school in Minnesota, struck for four goals and three assists, while Aaron Wilson also racked up seven points on a hat trick and four helpers. Shawn Williams, Edmonton's leading scorer through the regular season, chalked up one goal and five assists, and Corey Small was the third Rush player to notch a hat trick. Zack Greer, with a pair, Derek Suddons, and Ryan Dilks rounded out the Rush scoring.

Goaltender Aaron Bold, who was named Edmonton's team MVP at the end of the regular season, turned aside 39 shots for the Rush in Minnesota, and lowered his stellar playoff goals-against average to a paltry 7.03.

The 2012 Champion's Cup Final marks just the fourth clash between the Rush and Knighthawks since Edmonton joined the NLL in 2006 - two of the three games being played in Rochester. The Rush hold victories in two of the three previous meetings with both wins coming in overtime. Rochester won the most-recent meeting coming last season.

The Rush played host to the Knighthawks in 2008 for their first-ever meeting and came away with a 10-9 overtime win at Rexall Place. Jimmy Quinlan, now the Rush captain, led his team with two goals and three assists, while future Hall of Famer Dan Stroup added two goals for Edmonton. The Rush picked up their second straight OT win over the Knighthawks - a 12-11 verdict coming in Rochester during the 2010 campaign. Edmonton, which potted the game-winner just 20 seconds into overtime, got two-goal games from both Corey Small and Jimmy Quinlan.

Rochester finally topped Edmonton last season, picking up a 13-9 home-floor victory behind a four-goal game from ex-Rush sniper Mike Accursi. Scott Evans led Edmonton with four goals against his former club, while Corey Small and Brett Mydske chipped in a pair apiece, and Ryan Ward added a single.

With back-to-back impressive outings, Rush forward Ryan Ward leads the NLL in playoff scoring with 18 points. Ward, who was Edmonton's leading scorer in the 2010 regular season and playoffs, is first in the league with nine playoff goals, and tied with teammates Aaron Wilson and Shawn Williams for playoff assists with nine.

Corey Small and Aaron Wilson are tied for second in playoff scoring with 13 points, while Shawn Williams sits fifth with 11 points. Small is also right behind Ward in playoff goals with eight including two power-play markers.

Defense continues to be a huge edge for the Rush during the playoffs as it was in the regular season. Goaltender Aaron Bold is second among playoff netminders in goals-against average, and second in playoff saves with 78. Kyle Rubisch, who was the NLL leader in forced turnovers during the regular season, is tops in the playoffs racking up eight so far.

During the 2012 regular season, ironman Shawn Williams, who has set a league ironman record by playing in 196 consecutive games, finished his first campaign in Edmonton as the Rush's top scorer with 16 goals and 52 assists for 68 points. Those 52 helpers placed Williams in sixth place in the NLL.

Zack Greer ended the regular season as the Rush's top goal-scorer netting 31 goals, eight better than Scott Evans. Ryan Ward finished the season second in Rush scoring with 57 points, with Corey Small next at 48 points, one up on Scott Evans. Ward and Small each finished third in goals with 19 apiece.

An outstanding sophomore NLL season was wrapped by Kyle Rubisch as the league-leader in forced turnovers with 43. The all-star defender led the Rush and finished sixth in the NLL with 151 loose balls. And Rush goaltender Aaron Bold put a stamp on his first season as a true starter in the league by finishing third in both goals-against average (10.47) and total saves (571).

Joe Walters, with 10 points, and rookie Cody Jamieson, with nine points, lead the Knighthawks in playoff scoring.

Rush vs. Knighthawks - Season-by-Season Glance

2011

13-9 Knighthawks win at Rochester (Mike Accursi scores four goals against former club)

2010

12-11 Rush overtime win at Rochester (Andy Secore completes hat trick with game-winner)

2008

10-9 Rush overtime win at Edmonton (Jimmy Quinlan scores twice and adds three assists)

Trading Places: The Rush and Knighthawks have been frequent trading partners and have several player connections on their current rosters. There was no bigger trade between the two clubs than the one orchestrated this past off-season when the Rush acquired Shawn Williams, Aaron Bold, and a second-round pick in the 2012 draft from Rochester in exchange for Ryan Cousins, Andy Secore, and Kedoh Hill. It was a steal of a deal for the Rush as Williams was the club's leading scorer in the 2012 regular season, and Bold became the team's No. 1 goaltender and team MVP while turning in all-star numbers ... Last season, the Rush dealt Rory Glaves, one of the last remaining original team members, to Rochester in exchange for Scott Evans. Evans went on to become the first player in Rush history to lead the team in both goals and penalty minutes, and this season was second on the club in goals behind Zack Greer ... Rush forward Aaron Wilson played six games with Rochester in 2008 before being traded to Minnesota ... Steve Toll, a key veteran free-agent signing by Edmonton at the trade deadline this season, spent five-plus years in Rochester ... Knighthawks shooter Mike Accursi was traded to Edmonton by Rochester in 2009 for a first-round pick. The Rush later traded Accursi to Buffalo before he wound up back with the Knighthawks ... Shawn Williams, Scott Evans, and Steve Toll were all part of the Rochester team that won the 2007 Champion's Cup.

Williams Watch: A Hall of Fame career is getting a big boost in Shawn Williams' first season as a member of the Edmonton Rush. Williams led the Rush in scoring this season, and finished the year sixth in the NLL in assists with 52. During the season, he eclipsed the 1,000-career point plateau, and set a new league ironman streak currently at 196 consecutive games. Williams returns to Rochester alongside goaltender Aaron Bold for the first time since being acquired by the Rush in an off-season trade. Williams, who helped the Knighthawks win the 2007 Champion's Cup, is Rochester's all-time leader in assists with 491, and is ranked second on their all-time scoring list with 800 points.

King Kyle: Edmonton's Kyle Rubisch was named the NLL's Defensive Player of the Year this past Monday in voting conducted by the league's Board of Governors, General Managers and Head Coaches. Rubisch led the NLL with 43 forced turnovers, played in all 16 regular-season games and both playoff games to date, and was named the league's Defensive Player of the Week on two occasions. Rubisch also finished the year first on the Rush and sixth in the league with 151 loose balls and he set career-highs with four goals and six assists for 10 points. Rubisch was a key off-season acquisition for the Rush, joining the team in the 2011 NLL Dispersal Draft (Boston).

Statistically Speaking: The Rush have scored 34 goals in two playoff games for an average of 17.0 per game. Through 16 regular-season games, the Rush averaged a mere 10.4 goals per game and finished last in the league with just 167 goals total ... Second-year pro Jarrett Toll is having a tremendous playoff campaign for the Rush as he leads the NLL with 26 loose balls and is third in faceoff wins with 25. Toll went 17-for-22 on the faceoff dot against Minnesota in the West Final ... The Rush have outscored their playoff opponents (Calgary and Minnesota) 12-3 in first-quarter play ... The Rush have chased two of the league's best goaltenders in the playoffs. First, the Rush shooters forced Calgary netminder Mike Poulin to the bench in the West Semifinal, and then Minnesota starter Tyler Carlson was gone after less than nine minutes of the West Final ... Edmonton's playoff power play sits at 50.0% and the penalty killing is at 44.4% ... Rochester's power play is at 33.3% with the penalty killing at 80.0% ... Edmonton was 2-3 vs. East Division opponents this season. The Rush split a home-and-home with Philadelphia, beat Buffalo at Rexall Place, and dropped both games against Toronto ... Rochester went 3-4 against West Division foes this season. The Knighthawks split two games with both Minnesota and Calgary, defeated Washington, and lost both games against Colorado ... The Knighthawks are in the midst of their 16th NLL playoff appearance and have played in seven Champion's Cup games.

By The Numbers: The Rush set a pair of team records with their dominant performance against Minnesota in the West Final. Surrendering only three goals set a Rush record for fewest goals allowed in a game, and the 12-goal spread in the 15-3 win set a Rush record for the largest margin of victory ... The 11-goal first half against the Swarm set a Rush playoff record for goals in a first half, and also matched the season-high set during the Rush's 16-5 win over Washington ... For the second straight game, Jarrett Toll led the Rush in loose-ball collection as he scooped 16 against Minnesota. Toll picked up 10 against Calgary in the West Semifinal ... Rochester finished third in the East Division in goals-for with 191 and goals-against with 197 ... Rookie phenom Cody Jamieson, the first overall pick in the 2011 NLL Entry Draft, was the Knighthawks' leading scorer during the regular season with 36 goals and 49 assists for 85 points ... Former Rush Mike Accursi was second in Rochester scoring with 66 points ... The Knighthawks' win over Toronto in the East Final was stunning as they had lost four straight playoff games at the Air Canada Centre, and had dropped eight in a row against the Rock ... Toronto's elimination means there won't be a repeat champion in the NLL. The Rock were the last repeat champs coming in 2002-2003 ... Through the 2011 season, Rochester is ranked fifth in all-time attendance in the NLL with 1,074,561 fans.

Important Broadcast Information:

Shaw Cable announced today they will be featuring the National Lacrosse League Championship on PPV (free to customers) featuring the Edmonton Rush and the Rochester Knighthawks. The game is to be played in Rochester. Details below. They will only be featuring the event in Alberta per content rights holder allowances. They will also only be featuring it in HD as noted below.

NLL Championship on Saturday, May 19th at 5:30pm on Shaw Cable Fibre HD Channel 303.

-The game will be broadcasted on the CBS Sports Network. CBS Sports Network is available in Canada on Rogers, Cogeco, Bell Express Vue (HD channel 1432, SD channel 413), Eastlink, Sasktel & BellAliant TV.. The game will also be available on the www.nll.com Network.

In addition to television Rush Fans can listen to the NLL Championship on Saturday, May 19th at 5:30pm on The Team 1260 with host Jason Gregor.

Rush fans can watch the game at KRUSH Lounge. The Rush have partnered with KRUSH Lounge (16648 109 Avenue, beside the Mayfield Inn & Trade Centre) to broadcast the game. Hosted by the Edmonton Crush Dance Team, Krush Lounge will have the game up on their new HD 120' projection style screen along with an additional 10 HD TV's throughout the lounge. There will be Rush Hour food and beverage specials with promo items up for grabs all night. This is an 18+ event. Seating is limited, so please get there early. Doors open at 6:00 p.m.

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National Lacrosse League Stories from May 16, 2012


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