'Most excited I have ever been': Sask. Rush ready for home opener

SASKATOON -

The Saskatchewan Rush Lacrosse are taking over the SaskTel Centre's field Saturday night for its home opener.

It'll be the first game in 644 days, playing in front of over 10, 000 fans.

One of people in attendance will be Kelvin Ooms, a major Rush fan who’s better known as the “Rush Hulk.”

“It means the world to be back. We’ve been waiting for this,” Ooms told CTV News.

The Rush started the season with a 12-11 loss to the Halifax Thunderbirds and are looking for their first win.

“644 days is a long time to be away from something you have so much passion for,” said Ooms. “I missed the fans, I really do miss the fans. The energy that you feel before the game, during the game, the conversations that you have with fans after the game. I just can’t wait to be back.”

The passion is shared by players, who are looking forward to running out on to field in front of a fanbase longing to watch their team play.

“Just the energy it brings, I don’t know, you get swept up in it,” said Rush Captain Chris Corbeil. “It’s always great playing at SaskTel in front of fans. To of not had the opportunity for the past 21 to 22 months, and to finally be back, I would probably say it’s the most excited I have ever been.”

Corbeil says if they’re going to win, they’ll have to play responsibly with the ball. The team will also have to slow down Roughnecks forward Curtin Dixion, who Corbeil believes is one of the best players in the world.

“It’s such a home field advantage playing here and that’s not something that can be said for all teams across the league.”

Fans will also notice a new bench boss as Jeff McComb takes over for Derek Keenan who moved into a full-time general manager position. McComb will be the second coach since the team arrived in Saskatoon.

“For myself, I think this is my 14th year in the league, so sometimes you forget how privileged we are, how amazing it is to get to do this on a weekly basis, yearly basis and having that taken away from you I think everybody recognizes and how much it means to us to do this,” said Saskatchewan Rush Head Coach Jeff McComb.

The return of home games also bring in business for places like Shoeless Joe’s Sports Grill.

The grill is a sponsor of the Rush and sends several party buses to its games. 

“It's huge, especially where we're at in the world with the pandemic going on. It's nice like I said to get back to some sense of normal and gets some butts in the seats,” said owner of Shoeless Joe’s Sports Grill Ryan Sutherland. 

Shoeless Joe's estimates the party buses will bring in over 200 people. It plans on sending four buses to the game on Saturday.

The Rush's next home game will be on New Year’s Eve where they’ll face the San Deigo Seals.