Don’t give up on Rush just yet

March 28th, 2008 by Teddy Jenner

So I found myself in a moral dilemma the other night. My beloved Oilers had dropped a huge game to the Minnesota Wild and I then forced myself to watch the Vancouver Canucks vs. Colorado Avalanche game on TV.

Herein lies the problem. With both teams tied at 86 points, 3 points ahead of the Oil for 8th playoff spot, I didn’t want either team to win, (but there was no way in hell I was cheering for Vancouver). So the Avs won and got some distance between themselves and the oncoming Oilers. That got me thinking. The Oil were predicted to finish dead last in the Western Conference. With the introduction of a new owner, the slew of injuries to key guys, and some amazing play from the young guns, this year can be seen as serious progression.

Then my thoughts immediately switched to the other Edmonton team right on the cusp of the post season after everyone wrote them off.

It’s 02.22.2008 BH (before Hamley) and the Rush are sitting at 0-5, have nothing to show for the year so far and the team has traded away most of its future high picks.

Then, like the arrival of Jean Girard into Talladega Nights, the whole Rush world was significantly changed forever. Bob Hamley came in, took the team bus - threw it into reverse, completely changing direction and hasn’t looked back since. He has brought in players he knows, gotten rid of some of the players that didn’t fit in with his formula and in the process has brought back four first-round picks over the next two draft years.

With attendance dropping and whispers about the Rush being another failed franchise, Hammer has done with the Rush as he did with the Arizona franchise; made it his own. Nothing against the Paul Day regime, but their team strategy obviously didn’t work. Under Hamley, the boys have found new confidence and guys who weren’t reaching max potential are finding their stride. Look no further than the improvement in Troy Bonterre’s game! So even if the Rush miss the playoffs, I really think they CAN turn things around. Sure, another losing season sucks, the All-Star Game didn’t get the publicity it deserved, but look at the future Rush fans … It’s brighter than the sun out here in God’s country!

On a side note, everyone knows of the infamous 61* homers by Roger Maris in 1961. Everyone cussed and booed Maris as he over took the great Babe Ruth’s historic mark of 60 HRs. The reason it was such a big deal for those non-pastime advocates, is that Ruth set his record in 155 games while Maris broke the record in his 163rd game.

So you say, Jenner what the hell’s the point? Well this rambling is a direct result of the Sanderson-Ratcliff trade. As of right now Lewis Ratcliff sits at 64 points, 3 points behind JT for the scoring race after playing in 12 games for the Roughies. Again no big deal right? Well hold the phone, I’m not going to go into a Tutka brain-numbing numbers conflict, but the Rock still have 5 games left in the regular season and if you do simple math that would give Lewis 17 games in total! Imagine if he won the scoring title by a point. Would we have to put an asterick by that total?

And on one final note, now without lacrosse my life is pretty empty these days so I tend to surf the net more than usual. But now and again I come across something truely unique, wonderful and funny! Sure enough while sorting through America’s Best Dance Crew outtakes, I came across this gem. It’s Paul Tutka’s audition tape!

They came really close but somehow the dance crew wasn’t big enough to qualify. Enjoy!