The Saskatchewan Rush had two rigorous days of practice in their second of two consecutive bye-weeks — one that players have said was one of their best as a group.
With that high-octane practice, coupled with the result of their previous game against Colorado — a 12-6 loss — the Rush came out for Saturday’s contest against the Mammoth with one goal in mind: to outwork their opposition.
The team did just that over the course of their 9-7 victory.
“We had a lot of self-reflection as individuals and as a group,” said head coach and GM Derek Keenan.
“The one thing you have to do in this league is you have to work your butt off to have success.”
The win was just the team’s first at home this season. The preparation for the game went beyond just the physical aspects and game-planning.
“It’s unusual for us to not play well at home, and again, I think a lot of it was that we just didn’t compete hard enough and expect team to come in here and roll over,” Keenan said.
“I think it’s pretty clear now that our guys know better than that.”
“The biggest thing about this league is that anybody can win any game,” said transition Jeff Cornwall. “The Colorado team we played tonight, they were the team that beat us up pretty bad like two or three weeks ago.
“They’re a very talented group, and all of the games can go either way.”
Even though the Rush failed to put up double digits on the scoreboard for the fourth time in six games this season, the team remains optimistic.
“Even if we don’t score, or we miss a guy, we really have just got to correct ourselves and move on to the next shift, that’s all we want,” said forward Jeff Shattler.
“Positivity is the key for the rest of the season.”
Having as many bye-weeks as games to begin the season halted the team from gaining a rhythm due to this inconsistency.
But the team is excited to begin a stretch of 12 games in 11 weeks.
“Now we’ll be seeing each other ever weekend going forward and hopefully we can get into a better rhythm of things,” said captain Chris Corbeil said.
“I’m excited for the next stretch of the season for us.”
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