John Fraser’s Three Burning Takes
Nov 22, 2024We’re a week away from the regular season and that means the predictions can start to fly! Of course, after a 2-0 preseason that saw the Rush take down Vegas and Toronto, the mood is definitely higher than previous exhibition slates.
On the Rush Hour Podcast presented by Original 16 this week, Cody Janzen caught up with colour commentator John Fraser who had three spicy takes that’s got Rush Nation talking.
- “I think Robert Church has an MVP season and finishing top three in scoring. I think he's going to probably lead the league in goals,”
Let’s just look at this numbers wise. Last season, Josh Byrne won league MVP, posting 53 goals and 82 assists. While 135 points does seem like a ridiculous feat to reach, I could see scoring being down across the league this season with most teams upgrading their defences and certain teams solidifying their goaltending depth, so maybe the wider landscape of offensive numbers drops a bit, but if anything, Robert Church’s new sidekick in Austin Shanks should be able to help him elevate his game and 110+ points is certainly in play.
- “Honestly in the right situation, Levi Anderson could win rookie of the year. Like I see that kid scoring 30 goals, just watching him in the preseason. He's unbelievable.”
If Anderson is coming out the front gate, he’ll want the ball in his stick. Scoring 30 over the course of a season is a 1.7 goals per game pace, something that three players surpassed last season (Church, Manns, Keenan) but if you look back to 2023, only Church surpassed 30 goals and in 2022, Church hit 38 and Mark Matthews scored 30. Impossible feat for a rookie? Not at all. But as everyone learns quick, scoring in the NLL is the most difficult league to score in.
- “I’ve got us at 12 and 6. I haven't looked that carefully into who's going to win what and where, but I got 12 and 6, finish top 3 in the standings and a final 4 appearance here.”
Who wouldn’t want to finish 12-6 and advance to the National Lacrosse League semifinals?! Playoff lacrosse is the expectation this season, and looking at the unified standing, only Toronto and San Diego finished with better records last year. If you’re 12-6 in 2025, that’ll definitely put you top three in the league because after the offseason we just saw, the standings could be an even bigger log jam than 2024. The Rush have only finished 12-6 once since moving to Saskatchewan, 2017, a year where rookie Ryan Keenan scored 13 goals and added 29 assists in his welcome tour.
Now obviously if all this comes through, Rush fans would be incredibly happy, but the realistic factor here is that almost every team in the league got better this offseason, so the games should be played at a much more intense pace than previous seasons. Only one way to find out though, and that’s to play the games.
Catch the season opener live on 92.9 The Bull with Cody Janzen as the Rush kick off the 24/25 campaign in Albany against the FireWolves on November 30th. Faceoff is set for 6PM against last season's finalists.
The Rush are back on Co-op Field for the home opener presented by SaskTel on December 14th against the Halifax Thunderbirds! Tickets can be purchased here.