By Scott Zerr EdmontonRush.com

It's been a long time coming - far too long in particular for A.J. Shannon.

An off-season trade to the Edmonton Rush was supposed to be an exciting time for the talented player from Whitby, Ont., but instead of getting down to the business of training camp and then the 2007 NLL season, Shannon was forced to sit on sidelines and wait. And wait. And wait.

Finally, he'll get into the Rush lineup having fully recovered from surgery to repair a torn ACL. Shannon will make his Rush debut Saturday on Long Island when Edmonton visits the New York Titans and if all is well, he'll be in action again Sunday when the Rush take on the Chicago Shamrox.

“Big time,” declared Shannon when asked about his relief that the frustration of sitting out was over and done with.

“It's been almost a year since I played a game in the NLL so I'm really looking forward to it. It was a tumultuous experience being on the sidelines for so long. It was just too long. Whatever role I can play now, even if it's a small one, is going to be a pleasure.”

Shannon was dealt to the Rush from the Buffalo Bandits leading up to the '07 season, but Rush GM/Head Coach Paul Day knew he'd have to play a waiting game. The 27-year-old played only six games with the Rochester Rattlers of the summer outdoor Major Lacrosse League before suffering a knee injury. He came back to play in the '06 NLL campaign but again went down with a knee injury that limited him to only nine games with the Bandits.

But if his scoring touch hasn't suffered any ill-effects, then the wait will be worth it as Shannon has history of being a high-powered offensive weapon. He scored 90 goals in a four-year career with the University of Virginia, capping his senior season with an All-American honourable mention. In three seasons with Buffalo, Shannon struck for 41 goals in 41 games including a career-high 25 in 2005.

With the Rush in need of a skilled long-range shooter, a fully healed Shannon should fill the prescription nicely.

“Hopefully everything's going to work out well,” said Shannon, who had the distinction of scoring the 25,000th goal in NLL history.

“I might have some jitters early on but it's just going to be great getting back out on the floor. If I can contribute, even better.”

no mercy

A.J. Jomha, the Rush's Director of Lacrosse Operations and Assistant Coach, said he sees some similarities between the Rush of 2006 and the expansion Titans and Shamrox. But just as no one took pity on the Rush a year ago, the Silver and Black won't let up on the attack against suffering squads.

“This is a huge weekend for us especially after such a disappointing performance last weekend,” said Jomha. “We're in fifth now looking up instead of being right in the middle of the race so we definitely need both of these games.

“New York is a potent team so we really need to be prepared for them. Both teams will give us tough games but we're looking to put a string together which is something we haven't done yet in franchise history. We've only had one-game winning streaks and we need to do better than that.”

tending the twine
This is the first of three straight weekends that the Rush will play back-to-back games.

Initially, Curtis Palidwor was brought in to spell off Pat Campbell during these grinds but since then Palidwor has taken over as the No. 1 netminder. So as of now it's a toss up whether it will remain a one-man show or whether there will be a split of service.

“Curtis will probably start on Saturday and he did beat Chicago earlier this year, but Paddy is chomping at the bit and he's ready to go,” noted Rush Assistant Coach Jim Milligan.

Palidwor was 1-1 with the Titans and is now 3-3 (9.67 GAA/.798 SVP) with the Rush. Campbell, last year's Team MVP, is 1-3 (15.17 GAA/.724 SVP) on the year.

Oh so special teams
The Rush head into the weekend games with a good edge in both areas of special-teams play.

Despite giving up five power-play goals to San Jose last Sunday, the Rush's penalty-killing unit remains one of the best in the league - second overall at 64.1%. New York's power play is ranked 11th at 36.9% while Chicago is last in the league at 33.7%.

The Rush's power play clicked three times in eight chances against the Stealth and sits at 40.1% and the Titans' penalty-killing is last in the NLL at 46.5%.