RUSH VS. MAMMOTH
Showdown of evenly matched teams begins
While there were three wins separating the Saskatchewan Rush and Colorado Mammoth in the National Lacrosse League standings, there doesn’t seem to be much setting the two teams apart.
Rush coach Derek Keenan and Mammoth coach Pat Coyle say the teams are evenly matched heading into the NLL’s West Division best-of-three final. Three of four games during their season series were decided by one goal, including one in overtime.
Game 1 goes tonight (7 p.m.) in Denver.
“It’s going to be a tight series,” predicts Keenan. “They’re a real good defensive team with a great goaltender. And on offence, they’re really good, too, especially if (Zack) Greer is healthy.”
Coyle agrees that the West final opponents match up well.
“If you look at the record of our head-to-head this year, all the games were really close,” said Coyle. “So, even though Saskatchewan had the edge in wins, all of those games could have gone either way.”
Here’s a look at how the teams compare:
GOALTENDING
Saskatchewan is backed by NLL veteran Aaron Bold, who was the 2016 playoff MVP.
The six-foot-two, 205-pound Bold is wrapping up his 12th season in the NLL at age 32.
Colorado counters with the sixfoot-five, 195-pound Dillon Ward, who is finishing off his fourth NLL season and is six years younger than Bold at age 26.
“He’s probably the best young goalie in the league right now,” offers Keenan. “He’s big and he’s mobile and also he’s facing a more veteran guy in Bold.”
Ward finished second in the NLL with a 10.89 goals-against-average. Bold was third at 11.22.
“Personally, we think that, against any team, we have the best goalie,” Coyle argues.
DEFENCE
The Rush deploy a big-name defence with the likes of Kyle Rubisch, Chris Corbeil, Jeff Cornwall and newcomer Mike Messenger. The Mammoth play defence by committee.
“When you look up and down our defence, from one to 10, I don’t think it’s overwhelming, the names in the group,” admitted Coyle. “We really focus on our depth and the five-man unit. If we play that way, we’re good.
“I know Saskatchewan’s got a great defence and they’ve got a bunch of guys who are perennial all-stars in the back end. Their defence, to me, is probably one of the most impressive in the league, but, having said that, we had the fewest goals against this year as a team.”
OFFENCE
Rush forward Mark Matthews finished second in league scoring with 40 goals and 73 assists for 113 points. Colorado’s Callum Crawford was No. 6 with 36 goals and 62 assists for 98 points.
Also in the top 20 was Saskatchewan’s Robert Church with 35 goals and 42 assists for 77 points.
“It’s really similar,” Keenan said of the two teams. “They have depth and they have some stars too in Crawford and Greer. I think we’re not far off. They’ve got balance and they’ve got a lot of guys who can go to the net hard like Greer and (Stephen) Keough.”
Saskatchewan may have a slight edge in star power but, again, Colorado can find success collectively.
“You look at guys like Matthews, (Ben) McIntosh, Church and Jones — they’re great goal-scorers,” said Coyle. “Saskatchewan’s the defending champion for a reason and they’ve won twice for a reason. Their lineup is impressive. Head to head, I don’t know, if you look at it that way, we clearly seem like the underdog, but I think our strength is when we play together as a team offensively and defensively.”