Saskatchewan Rush look to next season after missing playoffs again [Video]

The Saskatchewan Rush are absent from the National Lacrosse League playoffs for a third straight season, a difficult end to an postseason push born out of a rocky start.

“It’s an empty feeling,” Head Coach Jimmy Quinlan said following Saturday’s 12-11 loss to the league-leading Toronto Rock that sealed the team’s fate.

“It’s just tough, because no one wanted to go out that way,” said veteran forward Robert Church.

The team finished the 2023/24 season with an 8-10 record, bouncing back from a 1-4 start in their first five.

Ultimately, they finished in eighth place league-wide, but sit out of the playoffs due to the NLL’s tiebreaker rules.

A narrow playoff miss is far from ideal for the team in lime green, but coaches say they witnessed a level of improvement in the team’s play over the course of the season.

“The last month of the season where we were playing do or die lacrosse. I think there’s a lot that that group …