Keenan is rising to the challenge
Spent time as a ball-boy for Toronto Rock as child, and now lives his lacrosse dream
When Ryan Keenan was little — much smaller than he is today — he fetched balls for an assortment of National Lacrosse League players.
His dad, Derek, was an assistant coach with the Toronto Rock, and young Ryan spent a lot of time around the team, playing the role of ball-boy.
He was a pretty good player too, as it turns out, and last season, his dad — now the head coach and general manager of the Saskatchewan Rush — made Ryan the first overall pick in the NLL draft. Now he’s into his second season with the Rush, and finding the net with regularity.
“It’s funny; last year, coming into the league and playing games, you don’t really think about (that past history with the league) at all. You just get up for a game the way you always would,” says Keenan, whose 11-3 Rush host the 10-5 Colorado Mammoth Saturday night in a scrap between the league’s top two teams.
“But I’ve had some time to sit back and think about it, and it’s pretty special. Growing up as a young kid, I’d go to the games, be the ball-boy, meet the players. Coming to this stage now ... it’s pretty special, when I sit back and think about it.”
Given the team’s depth, Derek Keenan stressed last season that he had no intention to throw his first overall pick into the deep end. There was no pressure to step in and be a star; the younger Keenan had time to adjust to the league, and his game progressed week by week.
Keenan finished his rookie campaign with 13 goals, 29 assists and 42 points in 16 games with the Rush. He’s eclipsed those numbers already in 2017-18, posting 19 goals, 38 assists and 57 points through 14 contests.
And in one final foray onto the stats sheet, we note that 10 of Keenan’s 19 goals have come on the power play; last year, he scored twice with the man advantage all season.
“Going into this year, I felt like I had to step up into a bigger offensive role; play with the ball on my stick a bit more,” Keenan says. “It’s something I welcomed, taking on a bigger role, but just like last year, I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”
This is an important weekend for the Rush — “the biggest game of the year, probably,” Ryan Keenan says — given that Saskatchewan can clinch first place overall in the NLL if they beat Colorado. And if they do clinch, they’ll have homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.
Saskatchewan is coming off a 13-10 home loss to the Rochester Knighthawks two weeks ago. They had a bye last weekend, giving them time to ponder both the setback, and what lies ahead.
They ’ll play three more regularseason games after Saturday ’s 7:30 p.m. contest: April 13 in Vancouver, April 14 at home against Georgia, and April 28 against visiting Calgary.
“So far, I’m pretty satisfied (with the sophomore season),” Keenan said. “I can still improve on a lot, and I’m getting there. But from a personal standpoint, I can’t complain. We’re having a great season, whatever my role is, and we’re looking to build on that and finish the job with a championship.”