By The Saskatchewan Rush,

Several members of the Saskatchewan Rush are staying busy over the summer by keeping the lacrosse stick in their hands.

Many players in the National Lacrosse League also play in various summer leagues, primarily the Western Lacrosse Association based in British Columbia, the Major Series Lacrosse in Ontario, and the Major Lacrosse League in the U.S.

Like the NLL, the WLA and MSL are box or indoor leagues playing inside hockey arenas. However, the arenas are much smaller rinks compared to ones like SaskTel Centre, the Saddledome in Calgary or the Pepsi Centre in Denver. These arenas are normally the homes for Tier II junior hockey teams with capacities of around 2,000. Attendance is decent in most places during the season and then really picks up when the playoffs start. The league champs of the WLA and MSL square off for the Mann Cup national championship.

The MLL is the professional field or outdoor league, and while half of the teams are located in major cities like Denver, Atlanta, and Boston, there are several smaller centres and attendance is sparse.

Rush star Mark Matthews is actually handling double-duty indoors and outdoors this summer. He is on the roster for Brooklin (MSL) and Atlanta (MLL), and racking up big numbers for both teams.

Here’s a rundown of where many of the Rush players are spending their summers and how things are going so far:

WLA

*Ben McIntosh, who is up for the NLL’s Sportsmanship Award after winning Rookie of the Year in 2015, of the Rush has eight goals in three games for the first-place Maple Ridge Burrards, while Riley Loewen has suited up just once but registered five points.

*Over in Burnaby, Robert Church has 16 points, including six goals, in five games for the Lakers.

*The Coquitlam Adanacs sit third in the league and have a pair of Rush practice roster players on the squad in Matthew Dinsdale, who has 15 points in three games, and defenceman Matt MacGrotty.

*It’s been a tough start to the year for the Langley Thunder as they are last in seven-team league. Three Rush defencemen are with the Thunder – Brett Mydske, Nic Bilic and Jakob Doucet.

MSL

*Rush GM/head coach Derek Keenan joined the Brooklin Redmen staff this summer and alongside him are the aforementioned Mark Matthews (17 points in five games) who has kept up his connection with Curtis Knight (10 points in five games) plus Adrian Sorichetti and John Lafontaine. Also with Brooklin is Coach Keenan’s son Ryan, who is assuredly a top-three pick in the upcoming NLL Entry Draft.

*The Brampton Excelsiors have two of the Rush’s star defencemen in Kyle Rubisch and Chris Corbeil, who picked up his third straight NLL Defensive Player of the Year nomination, but they are last in the league. Saskatchewan backup goalie Tyler Carlson is 0-3 but is amongst the league leaders in goals-against average and save-percentage.

*The Oakville Rock, which is primarily a summer squad for the Toronto Rock, does have Saskatchewan third-string goalie Doug Buchan on its roster.

MLL

*Mark Matthews joined the expansion Atlanta Blaze for its inaugural season and is hot to a hot start with 10 goals in 13 games. Matthews previously played for other MLL teams including Denver where he starred in the NCAA ranks.

*Rush fan favorite and NLL Transition Player of the Year nominee Jeremy Thompson has played only one game for the Florida Launch but totaled four goals and two assists in that single outing.

*Rush draft pick and Saskatoon product Reagan Harding has scored three goals in three games for the Ohio Machine. Harding, a Bishop Mahoney grad, was Saskatchewan’s fourth-round pick in the ’16 Draft.