Twelve wins, a third seed, and a first-round exit. That’s the Saskatchewan Rush in 2025-26 — a franchise that keeps doing just enough to earn a seat at the table and then watches somebody else eat the meal.
The Rush finished 12-6, which sounds great until you remember three other teams finished 12-6 too and one of them, Georgia, made it all the way to the conference finals. Saskatchewan got bounced in the quarterfinals by Toronto 16-13. The Rock went on to win the whole thing. Losing to the champion stings less than losing to a nobody — but it still stings.
The Toronto Problem
The QF upset wave was the story of this postseason — all four lower seeds won — and Saskatchewan got swept up in it. Toronto came in as the sixth seed, meaning the Rush should have had every advantage: home crowd, regular-season edge, momentum. They led a competitive game and then the wheels came off to the tune of three goals. In a sport decided by margins that thin, that’s not a collapse — it’s a coin flip that landed wrong. But the Rush have flipped that same coin enough times now that “bad luck” is starting to sound like an excuse.
Toronto’s CJ Kirst, the eventual Rookie of the Year, had a field day. The Rock were built for exactly this kind of game: fast, relentless, capable of runs that make leads evaporate. Saskatchewan didn’t have an answer in the third quarter and that was the season.
Frank Scigliano Deserves Better Conversations
Let’s not bury the lede on the goaltending situation. Frank Scigliano is elite. He has been elite for years. The Rush don’t make the playoffs without him, full stop. In a season where Brett Dobson of Georgia won both MVP and Goalie of the Year — a historic double — Scigliano was still among the best backstops in the league and still isn’t getting the national recognition he deserves. That’s partly on the market (Saskatoon doesn’t move the needle the way Vancouver or Toronto does) and partly on the fact that the Rush keep losing before anyone has to pay attention to them in June.
The goaltending is not the problem in Saskatchewan. It never has been.
Ryan Keenan’s Sportsmanship Award Is Nice. It Isn’t Enough.
Ryan Keenan took home the Sportsmanship Award this season, and good for him — it means he’s respected around the league, plays the game the right way, and is the kind of guy who makes the NLL worth watching. It also means absolutely nothing on a championship roster sheet. The Rush have earned a reputation as a clean, well-coached, fundamentally sound organization. That reputation does not come with a ring.
Saskatchewan is the lacrosse equivalent of a team that wins the locker room vote every year. Coaches love them. Players respect them. Nobody fears them in April.
Overachieving or Underachieving? Yes.
Here’s the honest answer to the question everyone in Saskatchewan is dodging: the Rush are doing both simultaneously, and that’s the most frustrating kind of team to watch.
They overachieve in the regular season. Twelve wins is a legitimate accomplishment. The Western Conference is deep — Vancouver finished 13-5, Colorado and Georgia both hit 12-6 too. The Rush belong in the top tier of this conference. They’ve proven that.
They underachieve when it matters. Three playoff appearances in recent memory, three early exits. This isn’t a sample size problem anymore. The Rush play a regular-season brand of lacrosse — controlled, disciplined, low-variance — and when the playoffs hit and every team raises its intensity, that style gets exposed. Playoff lacrosse rewards chaos. Saskatchewan brings order. It’s a fundamental mismatch.
What Has to Change
The Rush need a different kind of dangerous. They have the defense. They have the goaltender. They need someone on offense who makes opposing coaches nervous — the kind of guy who can take over a game in the third quarter when the season is on the line. Look at what Keegan Bal did for Vancouver all year (45 goals, 79 assists, 124 points — scoring leader in the NLL) or what Sam English did for Toronto when it counted most (Finals MVP). Saskatchewan needs that guy.
Until they find him, the 12-win regular seasons will keep coming and the first-round exits will keep following. The Rush are good enough to be a problem in October. They haven’t figured out how to be a problem in May.
Three more wins — that’s how close they are to a championship conversation every single year. Three more wins, and instead of writing this piece, everyone’s talking about a dynasty. Three more wins, and Ryan Keenan’s Sportsmanship Award is a footnote in a much better story.
The window isn’t closed. But it isn’t wide open either. Saskatchewan knows what it needs to do. The question is whether the front office is willing to make the move that actually changes the outcome, or whether they’re comfortable being the best team that never quite got there.