YORKTON - It’s summertime so sports thoughts in Saskatchewan are naturally focused on the Roughriders – especially as the CEBL Rattlers were dead last in the west, and tied for a league worst record of 6-14 on the season.
But there is the Saskatchewan Rush and they are beginning to put together their roster for the upcoming NLL season after missing the playoffs again this past season.
The Rush recently signed a quintet of returning players including defenders Ryan Barnable, Keegan Bell, Jerrett Smith and Bobby Kidd III, and 6’8 sniper Mike Triolo all to one-year contracts.
Barnable, a first-round pick in 2021, played 17 games with the Rush last season, tallying three goals, 14 assists, 79 loose balls, 21 caused turnovers and seven blocked shots.
Barnable told Yorkton This Week the one-year deal was a mutual one, a deal where he gets to stay in a place he feels is on the cusp of something good.
“Obviously I think we’re building something pretty good, that we’re trending in the right direction,” he said, adding he is confident the Rush are playoff-bound in the spring of 2025.
Barnable does appear set to be a stalwart on the Rush defence now that he is acclimatized to life in the NLL, where he said there are “different variables” a defender has to deal with.
It’s a case where Barnable said young players need to “listen to the coaching staff and follow the game plan,” as they learn the pro game.
One thing that helps is playing home games in Saskatoon where a usually raucous fan base do provide a lift.
“It’s unbelievable . . . They’re the best fans in league. The fans make it a real home court advantage,” offered Barnable.
Among the other recent signings Bell – a free agent signing in the summer of 2023, score four goals and 10 points in his 12 games, while scooping up 21 loose balls.
Bobby Kidd III is a former second round pick in 2020, the 6’3 righty has 52 NLL games under his belt, with 31 points, 230 loose balls and 53 caused turnovers in his young career.
Kidd III is in the running for Team USA’s World Championship roster that will compete in Utica this September.
This summer with Burnaby in the WLA, at the time he signed his new deal, Kidd III has a goal and seven assists in seven games as a Laker.
Smith, going into his third National Lacrosse League season, has 36 games under his belt. Since the start of the 22/23 season, the Winnipeg product has 30 points, 136 loose balls and 17 caused turnovers.
The 6’3 righty has six goals and nine assists this summer with Nanaimo in the Western Lacrosse Association.
Mike Triolo, a right-handed forward, dressed in 16 games last season, scoring 18 goals and adding 19 assists. His 37 points was a career high, while also scooping up 59 loose balls and winning 44 per cent of his face-offs when called upon.
"There's no place I'd rather be! Last season we were able to show what we're capable of and this province deserves even more then that. So we're going to give them what they want," commented Mike Triolo in a Rush release. "Keep the expectations high. I know we'll be ready heading into this season."
Triolo, who resides in Edmonton with his family, is having a stellar 2024 playoffs with the Senior Miners who swept their first round series over Beaumont, largely in part to Mike’s 10 goals and nine assists.
Triolo was originally a third-round pick in 2016 by the Buffalo Bandits, who was signed by the Rush as a free agent in the 2023 off-season.
After the latest signing, the Saskatchewan Rush still have Mike Messenger (franchised), and Cam Wengreniuk left unsigned from the 23/24 roster.
