2012 Edmonton Rush season
# 2012 Edmonton Rush season

The Edmonton Rush are a lacrosse team based in Edmonton playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2012 season was the 7th in franchise history. The Rush had a tough regular season, starting 2-7 before gaining momentum in the second half. They finished 6-10 but made the playoffs. In the playoffs, however, everything changed as the Rush beat both the Calgary Roughnecks and Minnesota Swarm in dominating performances, before losing to the Rochester Knighthawks 9-6 in the championship game.

The Rush made a number of significant moves in the off-season, most notably trading captain Brodie Merrill, Dean Hill, and Mike McLellan to Philadelphia for Athan Iannucci, Alex Turner, and Brodie McDonald as well as first-round draft picks in three future drafts. They also picked up Kyle Rubisch and Ryan Dilks from the Boston Blazers dispersal draft, and Shawn Williams, Aaron Wilson, Chris Corbeil, Aaron Bold, and Kevin Croswell in other trades. This is also the first out 6 consecutive seasons in the playoffs.

## Regular season

### Conference standings

Reference:

East Division :

| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Toronto Rock – xy | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 0.0 | 3–5 | 6–2 | 198 | 196 | +2 | 12.38 | 12.25 |
| 2 | Rochester Knighthawks – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 2.0 | 5–3 | 2–6 | 191 | 197 | −6 | 11.94 | 12.31 |
| 3 | Philadelphia Wings – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 2.0 | 3–5 | 4–4 | 176 | 207 | −31 | 11.00 | 12.94 |
| 4 | Buffalo Bandits – x | 16 | 7 | 9 | .438 | 2.0 | 4–4 | 3–5 | 198 | 204 | −6 | 12.38 | 12.75 |

West Division :

| P | Team | GP | W | L | PCT | GB | Home | Road | GF | GA | Diff | GF/GP | GA/GP |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Calgary Roughnecks – xyz | 16 | 12 | 4 | .750 | 0.0 | 5–3 | 7–1 | 216 | 170 | +46 | 13.50 | 10.62 |
| 2 | Colorado Mammoth – x | 16 | 11 | 5 | .688 | 1.0 | 5–3 | 6–2 | 217 | 201 | +16 | 13.56 | 12.56 |
| 3 | Minnesota Swarm – x | 16 | 9 | 7 | .562 | 3.0 | 6–2 | 3–5 | 202 | 190 | +12 | 12.62 | 11.88 |
| 4 | Edmonton Rush – x | 16 | 6 | 10 | .375 | 6.0 | 4–4 | 2–6 | 167 | 175 | −8 | 10.44 | 10.94 |
| 5 | Washington Stealth | 16 | 4 | 12 | .250 | 8.0 | 2–6 | 2–6 | 179 | 204 | −25 | 11.19 | 12.75 |

x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games Played W: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowed Differential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game

### Game log

Reference:

| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | OT | Attendance | Record |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | January 20, 2012 | Colorado Mammoth | Rexall Place | L 12–13 | | 8,192 | 0–1 |
| 2 | January 28, 2012 | @ Washington Stealth | Comcast Arena at Everett | W 16–5 | | 4,168 | 1–1 |
| 3 | February 4, 2012 | @ Colorado Mammoth | Pepsi Center | L 7–11 | | 14,055 | 1–2 |
| 4 | February 10, 2012 | @ Minnesota Swarm | Xcel Energy Center | L 9–10 | OT | 7,012 | 1–3 |
| 5 | February 18, 2012 | @ Calgary Roughnecks | Scotiabank Saddledome | L 8–12 | | 8,049 | 1–4 |
| 6 | February 24, 2012 | Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | Rexall Place | W 12–10 | | 6,708 | 2–4 |
| 7 | March 9, 2012 | Calgary Roughnecks | Rexall Place | L 10–13 | | 7,438 | 2–5 |
| 8 | March 10, 2012 | @ Calgary Roughnecks | Scotiabank Saddledome | L 9–16 | | 8,316 | 2–6 |
| 9 | March 17, 2012 | @ Philadelphia Wings (1987–2014) | Wells Fargo Center | L 15–16 | | 7,524 | 2–7 |
| 10 | March 24, 2012 | Washington Stealth | Rexall Place | W 10–9 | | 6,853 | 3–7 |
| 11 | March 31, 2012 | Minnesota Swarm | Rexall Place | W 9–8 | OT | 6,011 | 4–7 |
| 12 | April 7, 2012 | @ Toronto Rock | Air Canada Centre | L 8–12 | | 14,060 | 4–8 |
| 13 | April 14, 2012 | Buffalo Bandits | Rexall Place | W 11–8 | | 6,987 | 5–8 |
| 14 | April 20, 2012 | @ Colorado Mammoth | Pepsi Center | W 14–11 | | 16,201 | 6–8 |
| 15 | April 21, 2012 | Calgary Roughnecks | Rexall Place | L 6–9 | | 7,737 | 6–9 |
| 16 | April 28, 2012 | Toronto Rock | Rexall Place | L 11–12 | | 6,478 | 6–10 |

## Playoffs

### Game log

Reference:

| Game | Date | Opponent | Location | Score | Attendance | Record |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Division Semifinal | May 5, 2012 | @ Calgary Roughnecks | Scotiabank Saddledome | W 19–11 | 11,161 | 1–0 |
| Division Final | May 12, 2012 | @ Minnesota Swarm | Xcel Energy Center | W 15–3 | 6,491 | 2–0 |
| Championship Game | May 19, 2012 | @ Rochester Knighthawks | Blue Cross Arena | L 6–9 | 9,344 | 2–1 |

## Transactions

### Trades

| July 13, 2011 | To Edmonton RushAaron Wilson (F) Ryan Cousins (D) Kevin Croswell (G) *2nd round pick in 2011 Entry Draft - Jeremy Thompson (T) | To Minnesota Swarm1st round pick in 2011 Entry Draft - Evan Kirk (G) 4th round pick in 2011 Entry Draft - Brian Karalunas (D) *2nd round pick in 2012 Entry Draft - Carter Bender (F) |
| - | - | - |
| August 9, 2011 | To Edmonton RushAthan Iannucci (F) Alex Turner (F) Brodie MacDonald (G) **1st round pick in 2012 Entry Draft - Kiel Matisz (F) **1st round pick in 2013 Entry Draft - Cameron Flint (T) **1st round pick in 2014 Entry Draft - Miles Thompson (F) | To Philadelphia WingsBrodie Merrill (T) Dean Hill (F) Mike McLellan (F) 5th round pick in 2011 Entry Draft - Matt Stefurak (D) 4th round pick in 2013 Entry Draft - Don Alton (G) |
| September 9, 2011 | To Edmonton RushChris Corbeil (D) | To Buffalo Bandits2nd round pick in 2011 Entry Draft - Jeremy Thompson (T) **1st round pick in 2012 Entry Draft - Kiel Matisz (F) |
| October 9, 2011 | To Edmonton RushShawn Williams (F) Aaron Bold (G) ***2nd round pick in 2012 Entry Draft - Justin Pychel (D) | To Rochester KnighthawksRyan Cousins (D) Andy Secore (F) Alex Kedoh Hill (T) |
| November 4, 2011 | To Edmonton Rush 2nd round pick in 2012 Entry Draft - Michael Cudmore (D) *2nd round pick in 2012 Entry Draft - Jordan Critch (T) | To Toronto Rock Bill Greer (D) |
| February 10, 2012 | To Edmonton Rush Jeff Cornwall (D) | To Buffalo Bandits 2nd round pick in 2012 Entry Draft - Jordan Critch (T) ****2nd round pick in 2014 Entry Draft - Tyson Roe (D) |
| February 13, 2012 | To Edmonton Rush Paul Rabil (F) 1st round pick in 2012 Entry Draft - Mark Matthews (F) | To Washington Stealth Athan Iannucci (F) 2nd round pick in 2012 Entry Draft - Justin Pychel (D) |

*Later traded to the Buffalo Bandits **Later traded to the Minnesota Swarm ***Later traded to the Washington Stealth ****Later traded to the Calgary Roughnecks

### Dispersal Draft

The Rush chose the following players in the Boston Blazers dispersal draft:

| Round | Overall | Player |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | 2 | Kyle Rubisch |
| 2 | 11 | Ryan Dilks |

### Entry Draft

The 2011 NLL Entry Draft took place on September 21, 2011. The Rush drafted the following player:

| Round | Overall | Player | College/Club |
| - | - | - | - |
| 3 | 20 | Jesse Fehr (T) | Duke University |
