Saskatchewan Rush players have a special bond with GM-coach Derek Keenan, and it is enabling them to challenge for a third straight NLL championship.

“He’s the best coach I’ve ever played for,” captain Chris Corbeil said. “What is so special about Derek is that he has this ability to instantly command respect from the guys on the team and get the best out of them. Guys would run through a wall for him, not because we’re scared of him, but because we all love him and we feel he cares just as much for us back.”

Saskatchewan’s 15-10 home win over Toronto on Saturday in front of another capacity SaskTel Centre crowd of 15,000 and change upped Keenan’s total to 122 as a head coach, lifting him ahead of Darris Kilgour and making him the winningest coach in regular-season pro indoor lacrosse history.

“He’s the greatest coach I’ve had,” team scoring leader Mark Matthews said. “The record directly correlates to his coaching philosophies and proves teams are successful under his coaching.”

“I think he’s the best coach in the league,” forward Curtis Knight said. “He’s ahead of the game in the way he thinks about the game, and he has a good eye for talent. He’s an incredible guy. He’s a good leader, so I look up to him.”

Best. Greatest. The sentiment is voiced by player after player. Asked to elaborate, here’s what some others said:

Ryan Dilks: “He’s our leader, he’s our rock. He’s never too high, he’s never too low. He keeps us in the right spot. It’s such a pleasure and honor to be able to play for him. That he has so many wins shows he’s the best coach.”

Kyle Rubisch: “His attention to detail is amazing. He’s always on point. He knows the feeling of a game and what needs to be said at the right time, when you need to press guys, when you need to step back a bit. He’s always composed and always knows the right thing to say.”

Brett Mydske: “Everybody around the league respects him. He’s a calm guy. He’s a player’s coach. He can get serious and everybody knows not to mess around too much. He has the perfect balance for a coach. We can have a good time with him and stuff, but when it comes time to get down to business, he can crack the whip.”

Ben McIntosh: “Jammer is a guy who when he walks into the room everyone respects him. He’s got that presence. The guy knows how to win, that’s for sure. He’ll get fired up every now and then if he feels he has to go to bat for one of us, but he’s not a guy who gets excited easily. He just kinda goes about his business. He likes to win and he takes care of his guys. We’re a big family and he’s kinda the leader of it.”

Nik Bilic: “I love playing for the guy. He’s always got a game plan set up for us. He’s straight up with you. He’s like one of the players, and it’s pretty cool to have a coach like that.”

Robert Church: “It would be devastating if I got traded and had to play for somebody else. There’s stuff he tells me every game I put in the brain. He always gives you small tips after shifts. It definitely makes you a better player. He stays level-headed all the time, and you can see that’s how we play, too. He’s our leader and we try to match his intensity.”

Adrian Sorichetti: “He’s a tremendous person on and off the floor. You can tell he’s got a lot of pedigree in the game. He cares a lot for not only the team but for the organization. He works day in and day out to make sure we’re prepared. He makes sure everybody on the team is accountable. He participates in shooting drills sometimes. That’s when you get a little taste of his expertise as a player.”

Keenan, 55, from Oshawa, Ontario, was a star player. He still holds the record for most regular season plus playoffs points in Junior A lacrosse in Canada. He was an NCAA all-American at Ithaca College in the Finger Lakes region of New York. He was NLL rookie of the year in 1992 with Buffalo and was on the Bandits’ 1992 and 1993 championship teams. He wore Canada’s colors internationally. He was inducted into the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame in 2012.

Keenan began coaching in the NLL in 1999 in Toronto and remained an assistant to head coach Les Bartley through 2003. He was GM-head coach of the Anaheim Storm in 2004 and 2005. When that California team folded, he settled into the same dual role with the Portland Lumberjacks in Oregon for four years. They folded, too. The Edmonton Rush then signed him. He’s been GM of the year three times and coach of the year three times.

Assistant coach Jeff McComb began sharing an NLL bench with Keenan in Anaheim and the two remain together. McComb oversees the offense.

“Derek always jokes that he’s directing traffic and that he doesn’t really do much,” McComb said. “The great thing is, he lets us do our jobs. He says, ‘This is generally what we want to do,’ and then he lets us do our jobs.”

Keenan has built the Rush roster.

“The thing he does best is evaluate talent,” McComb said. “He’s done a great job in his GM’s role. He does such a really good job making sure he has the right guys and the right roster chemistry. We have a great leadership group because of that.”

It’s team first or hit the highway.

“Derek is confident in his abilities and you need that in a head coach-GM role,” McComb said. “Derek takes a lot of opinions, he considers them and, when it comes time to make a decision, he makes it. They’ve turned out to be good decisions.”

The word respect comes up time and again.

“Derek earns respect from his players because the guys know they are treated with respect,” McComb said. “There’s no iron fist on them, but you know if you step out of line, you’re going to pay the consequence. That respect flows both ways. That’s the atmosphere we have.”

Jimmy Quinlan was a Rush defenseman and team captain when Keenan advised him to quit playing and become the team’s defense coach three years ago. It was a hard message to swallow, at first but Quinlan quickly realized the wisdom of the move and has been happy in a coaching role.

Keenan said he feels fortunate to have McComb and Quinlan by his side.

“They’re both outstanding,” he said. “I’m baised, but I think they’re the best in the business. Each brings a different approach. Jimmy is intense and sometimes emotional. He’s extremely intelligent and the guys respect him because he played at a high level. He’s made a real good transition from player to coach and that’s not always easy to do. Jeff is constantly coming up with new ideas. Teams constantly adjust to what you do and you have to counter that. Jeff is very creative that way. They’re extremely loyal to the team and to me and our entire organization. I can’t give them enough credit for their roles in the success we’ve had the last few years. They’re just great coaches.”

The players recognize as much.

“We have a great coaching staff,” goaltender Aaron Bold said. “We have faith in them.”

Caution: Do not be fooled into believing the winningest coach in NLL history has never lost his cool.

There was that night in Portland when a referee’s calls were going against the LumberJax and somebody in a suit on the bench chucked a water bottle onto the floor.

There was the night in Denver when fans were giving the visitors a hard time because the Storm were winning, and when it ended, somebody in a suit on the bench picked up a water bottle and squirted the pests.

Haven’t seen much of that lately.

“I really try to control my emotions during games,” Keenan said. “You have so little control over what’s going on out there, so to be jumping up and down and ranting and raving doesn’t help. You do your preparation and try to prepare them as best you can, and once the game starts, you let ‘em roll. You let the horses out of the barn and away they go.”