Teach Me About the Edmonton Rush… I’m Talkin Playoffs

Yes I know this an Oilers blog, and yes this article is about the Edmonton Rush.  While that may seem confusing to you, there are methods to my madness – I need your help.  Tomorrow night, I’m going to my very first Rush game and I don’t know what to expect, any lacross rules, or how to behave in general.  I know a lot of you guys have been to see the Rush before, so I’m going to use the power of the Nation to pick your brains and learn something.

Last week, I decided that it would be a good idea for me to go to Rexall with the expectation of actually seeing a winner.  The Rush have had an excellent season and I’ve been missing out, but now that there’s a home playoff game I have to be there, driving the bandwagon.  Word from around Nation HQ is that I’m going to have a great time, so I’m pretty excited. Have you been to an NLL game? I hear there’s continuous music throughout the game, does that mean I should I practice my moves?

Tomorrow night, the Edmonton Rush play their very first home playoff game against the heathens from down south, the Calgary Roughnecks. If there’s a good thing about the Oilers being eliminated from the playoffs, by November, its that it gives us all a chance to check out the other sports in town and support some winners for a change. I haven’t been to a playoff game at Rexall Place in nearly a decade, so I’m looking forward to high-fiving strangers, getting blasted on Rexall Beers, and asking the cab driver for stories on the ride home.

The problem I’m having is that I don’t know nearly as much as I should about lacrosse.  I read that cross checking is perfectly legal and almost encouraged, so I like that.  I also know that the Edmonton Rush went on an undefeated streak to start the season that this city hasn’t seen in decades! I need to see this in the flesh.  As such, the Nation will be packing up the panel van and heading down to Rexall to cheer on the boys and take in the festivities.

As it stands now, the Rush are down by 1 game in the series and we need to give the boys the boost they need to defeat those southern scoundrels from Calgary!

I’m almost embarrassed to say that I’m a Rush virgin and I’m looking forward to taking care of that, but I need a crash course in NLL.  For those of you that have been to a Rush game or know something about lacrosse, what are some of the most important things that I need to know?

Are there rules that I should be paying attention to? Should I bring a helmet? Are the beer vendors in the same place?  I want to get as fired up about this game as I possibly can, so if you’ve been to a game, I want to hear about it!

You can still get tickets at the Edmonton Rush website and I encourage you to do so.  It would be good for you to actually watch a winning team at Rexall Place.  It’s been a long time since you’ve been able to say that.