All of the drama that is going on in the NLL East is obscuring a truly remarkable development in the NLL West, where the Saskatchewan Rush can finish the regular season 10-0 against division rivals if they win their home game against Calgary on Saturday.
Saskatchewan, 13-4, has lost twice to Rochester and once to each of Buffalo and Georgia, but is a perfect 9-0 against Calgary, Colorado and Vancouver.
“We’d like to make it 10-0,” Rush general manager and coach Derek Keenan said. “I don’t know if that’s ever been done. The top three in our division are all pretty strong. Calgary is playing really well right now, so this will be a really good test for us.”
While all five NLL East teams go into the final weekend of the NLL’s regular season with a chance of qualifying for the playoffs, Saskatchewan has owned the NLL West since Feb. 10, when it improved to 8-1.
The NLL West today, by scoring differential: Saskatchewan +57, Calgary +17, Colorado +11, Vancouver -90.
Clinching first place by beating Colorado on April 7 seemed like a formality. Losing its most recent game, 16-10 at home April 14 to Georgia, reminded Rush players that complacency comes with a price.
So what’s the view been like from atop the overall standings?
“Things are good,” Keenan said. “I didn’t really like our Georgia game. Those are tough ones, those back-to-back weekends where a team is sitting in your own rink practicing while you’re on the road. But we can’t complain. We want to play well this weekend. We want to be ready for the playoffs.”
Veteran defenseman Brett Mydske went down early against the Swarm and will sit out the regular season finale, but Keenan said he will be good to go for the NLL West final. There are no other injuries or roster issues of note.
“We’re in good shape,” Keenan said. “We’ve just had another weekend off. It’s been a goofy schedule. We’ve had [four] bye weeks and two back-to-back weekends. Some other teams had no back-to-back weekends. So, our record is pretty solid. Our guys should be proud of that.”
Coaching players who go into games knowing the result will have no bearing on the standings is always a challenge.
“I don’t know if anybody has clinched first overall so early,” Keenan said. “But we have to understand that when you get into the playoffs, you have too play desperate. At the same time, you have to play poised. The game this weekend will be important, because we’ll have another bye the following weekend and we want to be in that mode of playing desperate and playing poised in the playoffs.”
If anybody gets cocky, all Keenan has to do is point out the team’s 4-4 record against the NLL East.
“Rochester and Georgia are really good. Buffalo caught us early on where we let one slip away,” Keenan said. “That division, they’re all pretty good teams. Overall, our league is very balanced.”
Keenan declined to predict which teams will make the NLL East playoffs.
“I wouldn’t want to be doing the math,” he said.
How about this math? Saskatchewan has lost three of its last eight games.
“We’re not guaranteed anything,” Keenan said. “The only thing we’re guaranteed is that we’re playing May 10 in Saskatoon. Our goal is to win a championship, and there’s a long road ahead for that to happen.”
Lefty forward Mark Matthews can break the league single-season assists record Saturday. With 31 goals and 78 assists for a league-best 109 points, Matthews will be a leading candidate when the MVP winner is determined. He needs six to set the assists record. He’s averaging nearly five a game.
“It’s a cliché, but he makes everyone around him better,” Keenan said. “You can put Robert Church in that same category. Mark is the guy who stirs the drink, and he always wants to get better. He’s always been a good playoff performer so we’re looking forward to that.”
The immediate focus is the game that can cap a 10-0 demolition of the division.