Massive change results in success

Derek Keenan had a plan to turn the Edmonton Rush from a doormat franchise into a championship contender.

After the success of the club on the carpet in the 2010 season, his plan obviously worked. When Keenan first took over as Edmonton's head coach and general manager last July, he stressed a team concept with a focus on improving the club's transition game and not only was that facet of the team's game improved -- he managed to transition the Rush from an undesirable state as cellar dwellers -- to a team just one goal away from reaching the National Lacrosse League's championship final.

The metamorphosis began with a huge overhaul of personnel that saw the melding of previous Rush players, dispersal selections, talented prospects through the entry draft and the acquisitions of topnotch veteran talent.

The moves came to fruition as the latest edition of the Rush proved to be the most successful product on the carpet in franchise history as the club enjoyed a record-breaking campaign and the transformation created many positives for the five-year-old organization.

All those changes didn't come without initial questions and some second guessing, though.

"I had a good feeling that I made the right adjustments," said Keenan, who improved the Rush from a 5-11 campaign the season before to an impressive 10-6 mark and the club's first-ever playoff appearance in 2010. "There was a lot of uncertainty though."

"There was 14 new guys and we had made some tough decisions as we traded away some good players and friends of guys on the team."

"Before the year started though, I'm sure many people wondered if we were good enough and if we could do the job," he added. "That's what you have when there's a new group and a new staff and new players."

The Rush, who missed the playoffs for four consecutive seasons and compiled a dreary 16-48 mark in its existence before Keenan's arrival, managed a winning record for the first time and gave Edmonton lacrosse fans a winner to cheer on.

With a new look that included marquee players in the addition of transition stud Brodie Merrill, forwards Ryan Ward, Gavin Prout and Ryan Powell as well as goaltender Matt Disher, among more the club instantly gained an upgrade in previous Rush editions.

"It's a heck of a turnaround and it's a credit to the guys and the leadership and the composure and the passion that they brought to the rink," Keenan said.

"We did have a plan," stressed the Rush bench boss. "We just weren't firing darts at the board. The bottom line, even with the uncertainty of it, is we brought in the right guys. I honestly believe that and I think we proved that we did."

After the club bolted out to a 3-1 start, the Rush then quickly faced adversity.

Even after the hot start, that included a rare win over Calgary, the Rush then had a dose of reality slapped in their faces after back-to-back stinkers in the return match at Calgary and a road trip at Toronto where the club was embarrassed by the Rock.

One of the many positives to 2010 was how the club battled adversity and managed to get back on track after the lopsided losses that likely became the turning point of the season.

"When we played those too bad games in a row, we took a look at ourselves as a team and as a group and as coaches and we really laid things out," Keenan commented. "We thought with our early success that we were better than what we were."

"We knew we just had to play harder and play with more passion and at that point, I think the guys really started to buy in and from there forward we really started to believe we could do something special."

The team then went on a 6-1 run in the next phase of the schedule and positioned themselves with the elite NLL squads after building chemistry and trust within each other.

While home wins in front of the Rush faithful was enjoyable, nothing galvanized the spirit of the team and showed the true character than a handful of come from behind wins, including road victories at Rochester and Minnesota.

"We had games a lot of teams had no business winning," he said. "Rochester and Minnesota are two examples of that. A lot of teams wouldn't have won those games, but we just felt we could win under any circumstances.

"We just felt that we were going to win those games. That feeling never ever left us where we felt we could be denied and it's that confidence and composure that carried over to last weekend (against Washington)."

The momentum of the season saw the Rush tie Calgary for the second spot in the West Division and after the decisive first-round playoff road victory over the Roughnecks, the Cinderella story ended in a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Washington Stealth, despite another come-from-behind effort.

"It was a great finish and unfortunately the whole thing didn't end the way we wanted, but we were pretty damn close," Keenan said.

"We came so close, but one thing we can take comfort in is we did everything we could," chipped in Merrill. "We came up short and that's disappointing, but there's plenty of reasons to be happy about the season after all."

The emergence of rookies Corey Small and Brett Mydske and the return of Dean Hill's scoring touch were positives to the year, as were the clutch performances of Ward, Prout and Disher's nine wins between the pipes.

Smiles on the faces of veteran Rush players Jimmy Quinlan, Rory Glaves and captain Chris McElroy were prevalent after previous frustrating campaigns.

Another sign of the successful season is the early hardware the club was rewarded with as Keenan was named both GM and coach of the year in the NLL and Merrill scooped up his second top transition player award in as many seasons.

Keenan, who nabbed his second trophies in each category, was quick to share the wealth of his accolades and took immense pride in recognizing the efforts put into the season by the organization.

"The coaching award is special because we really worked hard at it," he said. "We won the award, not me. That's not BS."

"These are team awards. I don't win these awards without (assistants) Jeremy Tallevi and Todd Lorenz, who are tremendous coaches and better people. I'm really proud of that because it's really a group effort. Look at the players too. I can draw up game plans and work one-thousand hours a week, but if the guys don't buy into it than it doesn't mean anything."

Merrill, who put up career-best point totals with the black and silver attack this year, was an absolute stud at both ends of the floor for Edmonton en route to his second consecutive selection as the top transition player.

"It was a pretty rewarding season and bittersweet the way in ended, though," he said. "I had a lot of fun playing with this group in Edmonton. When you look at the team philosophy, the systems and the way we play, it really compliments the way I play, so this type of award really is a team award."

And while the transition game really pushed the pace of the play for Edmonton in 2010, it also made for a monumental change in the club's ascension to league contender, especially after four seasons of losing.

"It's tough for me to say, but for the guys that have been around for a few years, I know it was a refreshing change," said Merrill. "There were a lot of guys brought in at one time and many really good players, so right from the beginning we had high expectations for this group regardless of what happened in the past.

"You sensed around the city and within the organization, that everybody was hungry to turn things around and it was great to be part of that process this season."

"It's a great feeling and I think the guys will carry that over to next year," added Keenan.

So, what's the next chapter of the plan?

By Bruce Rakoczy