Without a shadow of a doubt, the preeminent storyline of the 2024-2025 NLL campaign has centered around the return to prominence of the previously stagnating Saskatchewan Rush. In the wake of three consecutive 8-10 efforts, the fellas from Saskatoon have parlayed a robust 13-5 regular season showing into an NLL Finals confrontation with the two-time defending champion Buffalo Bandits. The Rush’s magic carpet ride of a campaign established its newest high-water mark, last Saturday night, when the club scored two goals in the final 44 seconds of their Game 2 matchup with the Halifax Thunderbirds, sending the contest to overtime and an eventual fifth quarter triumph courtesy of an Austin Shanks sizzler.
Austin Shanks calls GAME in Overtime as the Rush take down the Thunderbirds 10-9 and punch their ticket to the NLL Finals.
👀 GAME RECAP pic.twitter.com/tzMpmmp7df
— NLL (@NLL) May 11, 2025
Game 1 of the championship round commences at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center, Friday evening at 7:30 ET/5:30 MT. Game 2 ensues through the doors of SaskTel Centre, Sunday night at 8:00 ET/6:00 MT.
Leading up to Friday’s highly anticipated Game 1, many members of the Rush organization have continued to find their way into the headlines, thanks to Frank Scigliano earning Goaltender of the Year, Matt Hossack being named Defensive Player of the Year, Keegan Bell voted Teammate of the Year, alongside Derek Keenan and Jimmy Quinlan, who captured General Manager of the Year and Les Bartley Coach of the Year awards respectively.
With the world of lacrosse focused on all things Rush this week, NLL.com checked in with star forward Robert Church and the President of Sask Entertainment Group, Geoff Sarjeant.
Church holds the distinction of being the longest tenured member of the Rush roster, beginning his career with the then-Edmonton Rush, following his selection with the fifth overall pick in the 2013 draft. Sarjeant, a former NHL and IHL goaltender, joined the Rush leadership structure in November of 2023, building upon an impressive resume that includes stints in the sports and general business spaces.
For both veteran players and seasoned sports executives, returning the Rush to the glory days of the mid and late 2010s serves as the most paramount of objectives. The franchise won the 2015 NLL Cup during their final season in Alberta. Upon relocating 323 miles (521 Km) east to Saskatoon, the club celebrated league titles in 2016 and 2018, amid a stretch of winning their division each and every year between 2014 and the 2020 shortened season. Since returning from the NLL interruption that resulted from the worldwide pandemic, the fortunes of the league’s northernmost organization have headed in a distinctly southern direction.
The Saskatchewan Rush host the Georgia Swarm at Sask Tel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, April 26, 2025
“I won three championships during my first five years,” reminisces Church. “You kind of think it’s never going to end. Then, COVID happened. We were still one of the best teams in the league when the shutdown occurred. So, coming back, we expected it to continue. But, with guys getting older and people having things in their life change, it’s been a slow build for the last few years.”
Church stands as the only Rush uniform wearer to have been present for all three of the aforementioned title runs, with teammates Ryan Keenan, Mike Messenger and Matt Hossack serving as the other remaining links to all or some of the championship era.
Both Church and Sarjeant credit general manager/co-head coach Derek Keenan with recharting the Rush’s middling direction as a franchise, applying the expertise the newly crowned GM of the Year employed when operating as the team’s sideline boss during all three of the Edmonton/Saskatchewan championship seasons. A period of time, those running the Rush may have waited a little too long to disconnect from.
“So much of the credit goes to the lacrosse operations team,” explains Sarjeant. “We have a Hall of Famer running our show there, and Derek Keenan knows what he’s doing. Maybe we had some influence separating himself from the championship years. We thought we waited maybe one year too long to move on to the next chapter. Making the playoffs is so important, so our goal was to get back in the playoffs.”
“Derek’s one of the best in the business for a number of reasons,” shares Church. “I think he knows the blueprint to build a championship team. Obviously, it takes a couple years to build it back, but I think he’s got it there and this year is the result.”
Black Bears vs Rush 04-19-2025
The Rush’s renaissance is even more noteworthy when factoring in the many distinctive characteristics of their home city of Saskatoon. With a metro area population of just 317,000 people, Canada’s 17th largest metropolitan region stands as the smallest market in the 14-team NLL.
Putting these numbers into further perspective, the Toronto Rock take the field amid an immediate expanse of more than seven million residents, while the San Diego Seals reside within a three-hour drive of more than 20 million people. Even the Bandits, who inhabit New York State’s less populated Western core, still lay claim to a population base four times that of the Rush.
While lacrosse life on the prairies comes with a unique set of pluses and minuses, those at the upper echelons of the Rush locker-room and executive offices fully embrace their standing as the “Green Bay Packers of the NLL.”
“Saskatoon is a great city,” beams Church. “It’s small. The airport is easy to get in and out of and the people are awesome. Plus, the downtown is a lot of fun. The guys that come here and play in Saskatchewan love it. You have to deal with a little bit of weather, but you get used to that pretty quick. It’s just an it’s an amazing lacrosse city.
The Saskatchewan Rush host the Halifax Thunderbirds at Sask Tel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, May 10, 2025
The man tasked with growing the Rush brand, while simultaneously putting butts in the seats, assesses his market from a more regional perspective.
“Saskatchewan is a very proud province,” boasts Sarjeant. “We operate SaskTel Centre, which is the 10th largest in Canada, with the smallest market by far. We tend to hope that the whole province pays attention, and we can then draw from that. Who we look up to is the Saskatchewan Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League. They are a provincial team, even though they’re located in Regina, and that’s what we are. We’re a professional team in the winter that represents the province. That’s where the civic pride comes in.”
The former Blues and Sharks keeper later added, “if we can pull something off during these finals, then our town and our province gets national notoriety, even North America notoriety that doesn’t come along all that often.”
As for the immediate task at hand, Church harkens back to his three stints at the apex of the NLL mountaintop when providing advice to the many members of the Rush who are about to experience a finals backdrop for the very first time.
“We have a group with not a lot of playoff experience, but a lot of league experience, just being with the team for a while,” exclaims the British Columbia native. “I just tell them to embrace and take advantage of it. Especially if you’re in the first couple years in the league, you might think you’re going to be back, but there’s no guarantee, right? Make the most of the opportunity and don’t get too overwhelmed with the raucous crowd in Buffalo, because obviously that’ll be a factor in the game. Try and treat it like another regular season game.”
For the man with the prime seat in the Rush boardroom, the level of respect shown towards the gold standard of the NLL landscape is nothing short of palpable.
“I’ve never seen two guys like Dhane Smith and Josh Byrne,” bestows Sarjeant. “These guys are just incredible players. I think it’s fantastic. Buffalo deserves everything they got. It would mean the world to knock off the big deal and we’re going to give it a go. I think it’s going to be an amazing series. But, they are the champions, until they’re not.”
