NLL Insider

Hanna, Alberta native Lanny McDonald saw his fair share of wars in the NHL's Battle of Alberta.

The NHL has the Flames and Oilers. The CFL the Stamps and Eskies. There are even the lesser mainstream hyped Hitmen and Oil Kings, and U battles between the Dinos and Golden Bears.

But whatever way you slice it, The Battle of Alberta is one of the most heated and wildly contested rivalries in sports, Canada and beyond. And the National Lacrosse League has given birth to an Alberta battle royale of their own, the defending champion Calgary Roughnecks and the rebuilt, renewed and re-energized Edmonton Rush. Who leads the lacrosse series? What four players have played in every single Alberta war leading into tonight’s 14th meeting between the two Canadian rivals? Of the 99 ball players that have bucked horns in this series, how many have worn both the Roughneck red and Rush black? Find out, after the jump.

The series… With some good back-and-forth battles since the Rush were brought into the NLL family in ‘06, The Battle of Alberta has turned into a recent one sided affair. Since the ‘08 season, it’s virtually been all Calgary, who’ve won the last five battles with a combined score of 76-47. Over the first 13 games, Calgary leads 10-3.

Game winner… There have only been two players to have scored more than one game winner during their wars. Current Washington Stealth forward Lewis Ratcliff scored the first ever game winner in an 11-9 Roughneck win during the two franchise’s first ever meeting, and Ratcliff did it again during their rare fourth single season meeting that same year, a more convincing 16-9 win. The other player to score two GWing snipes… current Calgary assistant GM and coach, Curt Malawsky, who scored a big one last year in an early season meeting that needed to be decided in OT.

Only involved for a couple seasons, Curt Malawsky scored two game winners against the Rush. (Photo: Larry Palumbo)

Team Scoring… The Roughnecks lead with 177 total goals during the 13 previous meetings, to the Rush’s 133.

Point Spread… Although there have been a couple beatings over the years, like last year’s fight filled 22-10 win in favour of the defending champs, or Calgary’s 18-7 thrashing a season earlier, most games between the two teams, even with the Necks usually favoured, have been pretty close. Five games have been decided by just a single goal (including that one Malawsky buried that OT winner obviously), and eight games decided by three goals or fewer. The average goal differential has been four goals, but when you subtract those two previously described beatdowns, the winner has only been taking the game on a pretty slim two-goals and (a bit of) change.

Perfect Attendance… As mentioned prior to the jump, there have been only four players to have played in every single meeting between the two teams. Those players… Andrew McBride, Jeff Moleski, Kaleb Toth and long time Calgary captain Tracey Kelusky. Some runners-up… Jimmy Quinlan and Ryan McNish, both currently playing for Edmonton, have played in all but one of the 13. Edmonton captain Chris McElroy and current Neck Devan Wray have danced 11 times in the series, Kyle Goundrey and Pat Campbell have done it 10 times.

NLL Insider connection… One of the site’s OG’s, Teddy Jenner, played in some of the earlier battles between the two, fitting into five classic tilts, finishing with four points and four minutes in the bin. “It doesn’t matter if you’re from Alberta or not. Once you pull that Edmonton jersey over you’re head, you immediately hate everyone from Calgary! It’s like Pavlov’s dog!” – Jenner

Scoring Leaders… There have been 310 goals scored between the Riggers and Rush to date, and Kelusky is at the top of the goal scoring heap. Well, tied at the top of the heap, with a guy who played a pretty pivotal role in the Alberta war, Lewis Ratcliff. Both Kelusky and Ratcliff have 24-goals during the series. The next closest, Toth and Quinlan, both with 18. Others who are the top of the leaderboard in the goal scoring department… Dan Stroup (15), Scott Ranger (14), Jason Wulder (13), Curt Malawsky (13), Dan Teat (11), Dane Dobbie (11) and the man pretty new to the provincial rivalry, Josh Sanderson (10).

From the area and playing for both sides, Jason Wulder has played a classic role during the rivalry. (Photo: Matt J. Wiater)

Shooter’s Presence… In ‘08, Sanderson became the only player in NLL history to play the Rush five times in a single season, twice with the Rock and then three times with the Roughnecks after getting swapped for Ratcliff. Sanderson’s crew beat Edmonton all five times that year, combining for 20-points in those contests, scoring the game winner in the Necks’ 18-7 blowout win. Sanderson’s first ever game suiting up for Calgary was against “who else but” the Edmonton Rush (April 5th, ‘08), Josh scoring the game’s first goal (and his first as a Neck) via a feed from “who else but” Tracey Kelusky.

The Rest of the Stats… Not surprisingly, like in the goals column, Kelusky leads most offensive stats during lacrosse’s Battle of Alberta. Tracey’s 43-helpers easily leads all players, Toth (32)and Wulder (24) distant runners-up. Calgary’s current captain also easily leads in points with 67 total. Others rounding out the leaderboard… Toth (50), Ratcliff (47), Quinlan (39), Wulder (37) and Jamie Bowen (29), who was a major player in some early provincial battles, and Ranger (29).

Double Sweaters… 12 players have worn both jerseys playing for the two Alberta based clubs in head-to-head combat. Those players… Ryan McNish, Rob Williams, Andrew Biers, Kerry Susheski, Callum Crawford, Curtis Palidwor, Chris Seller, Matt King, Steve Dietrich, Wulder, Campbell and Goundrey.

Home Town Boys… There have been 15 players from Alberta to have actually played in the series… Taylor Wray, Devan Wray, Jeff Shattler, Chris Stachniak, Darren Hillier, Peter Gut, Ben Prepchuk, Jordan Cornfield, Kris Hartzell, Moleski, Toth, McNish, Wulder, Quinlan and Bowen. Andrew Biers, a Toronto native who grew up playing in the Brampton system, later moved to Calgary at nine, and played in the province before playing Jr. A for the Victoria Shamrocks. The NLL’s Battle of Alberta also saw some legit Alberta-on-Alberta hate crime, when McNish and Stachniak squared off, with results that enraged many…

Brothers… The provincial series has also seen two sets of brothers play, both with one another and for the enemy. The Wray brothers are probably the most famous, Devan and Taylor playing together before Taylor was moved to Philadelphia, but the Heavenor brothers have also played a role in the provincial blood feud. Nolan Heavenor, the Roughnecks’ current face-off expert, has seen some recent battles against Edmonton, while older brother Tyler played for the black and silver earlier in his career, seeing Calgary twice. Although the two Heavenors suited up during the war, they never actually had a chance to go up against one another.

Sin Bin… There have been some pretty decent scraps, including last year’s all-on-the floor dust up, ignited after the Necks were manhandling the Rush on the scoreboard, the Rush looking do to the same, with their fists. Who leads all players in sit downs between the two? Not Kelusky this time, McNish leading all ball players with a combined 50 minutes assessed. Others that have seen their fair share of PIM’s… Ian Hawksbee (45), Quinlan (33), McBride (31)and McElroy (28). Although he’s a little further behind and only played four against the Rush, Andy Ogilvie had a pretty impressive 25PIM during the series.

Tonight… Calgary Roughnecks at Edmonton Rush, Rexall Centre, 7PM EST (5PM local), catch it live online at the NLL Network

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