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RUSH & BLAZERS CLASH IN FIRST EVER MEETING

Edmonton looks to move into first-place tie; Boston in tight Eastern race

03/18/2010

By Dan Ventresca, covering the Blazers for NLL.com

The Edmonton Rush (6-3, second place in Western Division) will host the Boston Blazers (5-5, tied for third place in Eastern Division) Saturday night at Rexall Place. Game time is 9:00pm EST, with a live broadcast online on The NLL Network at NLL.com.

Boston heads to Edmonton with newly acquired forward Mat Giles, who they traded for from the Philadelphia Wings before this past week's trade deadline. Giles recorded 31 points (13 goals, 18 assists) in nine games for the Wings this year. He will take the place of injured forward Jamie Rooney on the top line and power play unit.

The Blazers gave up transition player David Cutten and a second round pick in this year's draft. Cutten played three games in a Boston uniform this season and recorded just one point.

"We look at [Giles] as a veteran leader and an offensive threat that makes our team much more dangerous," Blazers coach Tom Ryan said.

"With Jamie Rooney still on the physically unable to perform list," Ryan said, "he gives us a little more depth on [the right] side."

The Rush find themselves just half a game behind the first-place Washington Stealth in the Western Division. They come into Saturday tied for the league's longest current win-streak at three games.

"We're in a good spot," Edmonton coach Derek Keenan said, "but we want to keep looking forward, not back."
Edmonton will play just its second home game since Jan. 30 after hosting one game in the month of February. The Rush are 3-2 in their last five contests, four of which were on the road.

The Rush are the only team in the league with a winning record that has allowed more goals than they've scored, thanks in large part to their three losses, which were all decided by five goals or more.

"We weren't very good in those losses," Keenan said. "We had some setbacks, and I think we're over that hump now of being able to live more in the moment in terms of when things go bad and just get on with it and play better the next shift."

Boston hopes to rebound from a 9-8 OT loss to John Tavares and the Buffalo Bandits last Saturday at home. Buffalo ended Boston's two-game win streak one night after beating the Toronto Rock, also in OT.

"We didn't have our best game," Ryan said. "You know, Buffalo coming off of back-to-back [games] I feel like we let them stay in it too long."

Boston's road trip continues next week when they travel to Philadelphia to play the Wings, while Edmonton will enjoy another home game when the Minnesota Swarm come to town.

By Matthew Iwanyk, covering the Rush for NLL.com

The Edmonton Rush (6-3, second place in Western Division) will host the Boston Blazers (5-5, tied for third place in Eastern Division) Saturday night at Rexall Place. Game time is 9:00pm EST, with a live broadcast online on The NLL Network at NLL.com.

While the Rush did not make any moves at the NLL Trade Deadline, the Blazers sent transition player David Cutten, a second round draft pick in 2010 and future considerations to the Philadelphia Wings, in exchange for veteran forward Mat Giles.

"We look at him as a veteran leader and offensive threat, that makes our team much more dangerous", said Blazers coach Tom Ryan. "Mat is an offensive righty, and can really fill in lots of needs being able to give us more depth. He's a veteran in this league and played on several teams, so we expect his transition to learning our offense and system to be relatively seamless", stated Ryan.

Meanwhile, the Rush are playing their first home game in almost a month (last at home on Feb. 21) and coming in on a three-game winning streak, beating the Colorado Mammoth 13-9 last weekend.

Edmonton Rush Head Coach Derek Keenan is quite satisfied with his club's position going into the final seven games of the season. But, he still wants his team to stay focused on the task at hand and not to the finish line.

"We are in a good spot, but we want to keep looking forward and not back", says Keenan. "We said going into being away for a month that if we come home 6-3 with five of our last seven at home, that would be ideal circumstance for us. That put us in a good spot, but we need to stay focused. It's too early in the season to be talking about first place or even hosting a home playoff game. We put ourselves in a good position with five of our last seven at home", stated Keenan.

Keenan continued, "I felt we had a very good team going in [to the season]. It is a very difficult league, so you can never predict whether you will be 6-3 or whatever it might be after nine games so you just try to go week to week and get better. Our objective from the beginning of the season was to get better every game. We had some setbacks early, but I think we are over that hump now, being able to live more in the moment in terms of when things go bad get on with it and play better the next shift. I am pleased with how we have progressed."

This game will mark the first ever meting between the two teams. Watch the game live on The NLL Network at NLL.com on Saturday night at 9pm ET.