Not even eight years in professional lacrosse could have prepared Matt Hossack for his long-awaited return to SaskTel Centre wearing green and black for the first time since the 2019-20 NLL season.
“I had butterflies again,” said Hossack. “It’s been probably a few years since I’ve had that.”
Hossack has returned to the Saskatchewan Rush organization after spending his first four seasons in the NLL with the team between 2017 and 2020, before being plucked away by the then-expansion Panther City Lacrosse Club as the franchise’s first ever pick.
After three seasons in Fort Worth, Texas, the team folded this past off-season due to dwindling fan support which quickly left the Panther City roster up in the air.
Holding the sixth overall pick in the ensuing dispersal draft, the Rush pounced to bring Hossack back to Saskatchewan again.
“It was definitely very exciting for me,” said Hossack. “As much as it stings a little to put so much effort into building the program in Fort Worth, there is certainly a sense of excitement to be able to come back around full-circle and be back here in Sask.”
It’s a reunion which the Rush are still pinching themselves over, as they were able to address a hole on the back end which had been left since the previous year with the departure of NLL vets such as Kyle Rubisch, Ryan Dilks and Matt Beers.
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Co-head coach Jimmy Quinlan praised his smarts and intelligence on the floor.
“Having to watch him grow on another team was tough,” said Quinlan. “But to get him back is unbelievable. For me it’s his IQ, you never had to question his effort or his attitude. He’s always moving in the right direction for our group.
“We’re lucky to have him, we were happy he was there, that’s the guy we wanted and that’s the guy we got.”
Hossack has joined a Rush defensive core comprising of veterans Mike Messenger, Adam Jay and Holden Garlent, as well as young talent like Jake Boudreau, Ryan Barnable and Isaac Ngyou.
In the four games to begin the 2024-25 season, Hossack has immediately become a force causing 15 turnovers and is on pace to put together one of the best seasons in that category in NLL history if his production keeps up.
“I think he just brings a sense of calmness to our defence,” said Garlent. “Sometimes we can be a little over-aggressive and a little chaotic, and he just brings us even-keeled and levels us out.”
Hossack has also become one of the team’s de facto leaders after captaining Panther City for three seasons, experience which he says has been brought north of the border to the Rush.
“I grew so much as a vocal leader,” said Hossack. “As someone who is typically more quiet and more of just a leader by example, that hasn’t changed and I’m still more of a leader by example, but I’ve learned how to find my voice more and speak up.”
While it’s been nearly seven years since he helped Messenger, Ryan Keenan, Robert Church and the rest of the Rush claim the organization’s most recent championship in 2018, it’s still a title which he thinks about.
The work needed to help this iteration of the Rush replicate that same feeling, beginning with a return to the NLL post-season in the spring, is especially on his mind.
“It’s still a thought that comes across my mind pretty often,” said Hossack. “That motivation to really achieve the next level and be consistent night in, and night out.”
Dropping their first game of the season last week at home in overtime to the Philadelphia Wings, the 3-1 Rush are in the midst of their second bye week and will be back in action on Jan. 11 hosting the Las Vegas Desert Dogs.
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