'Rush Hour' rally brings out hundreds of fans to celebrate lacrosse team's first ever home playoff game

In its inaugural season, Saskatchewan's professional lacrosse team kicked off its first ever home playoff game in Saskatoon with a "Rush Hour" rally.

More than a thousand fans came out to the downtown event Friday afternoon.

"People in any community want to identify with a winner," said the city's mayor Don Atchison. "Here in Saskatoon, the lacrosse team has done a phenomenal job."

Fans are echoing the sentiments.

"​This is the best thing to happen to Saskatoon in a long time. It's nice to have another pro team in the province," said Rush fan Nick Bury. 

"Not too many people know anything about lacrosse here, myself included, but it's very entertaining."

Prepping for Game 2

Aiming to clinch the west division final, the Saskatchewan Rush are heading into Game 2 of the western conference on Saturday against the Calgary Roughnecks.

"They're quite a resilient group. They've proven time and time again that they can never die and no lead is ever safe against them," said Chris Corbeil, team captain of the Saskatchewan Rush.

The Rush beat the Roughnecks 16 -10 last week in Game 1 of the playoffs.

• McIntosh scores 4 as Saskatchewan Rush beat Calgary in Game 1 of west final

"That consistency in play and heart for a full 60 minutes will really be the key in making sure we don't take our foot off the pedal," Corbeil told CBC Radio's Saskatoon Morning.

He said he'll be flying out to Saskatoon from Toronto Friday night to practice with the team before Saturday's big game on home turf.

You can really feed off the momentum of the crowd — it's fantastic.- Chris Corbeil, Saskatchewan Rush captain

"I like getting a big nap in on game day in the afternoon — settle down for a couple hours," he explained.

"Some guys are particular about where they sit on the bus and the music they listen to and, you know, the food they eat beforehand."

And according to Corbeil, it's the Saskatchewan crowd that makes playing home games even more exciting.

"It's probably the most fun I've had playing lacrosse in my life, to be honest with you," he said. "You can really feed off the momentum of the crowd — it's fantastic."        

Friendly wager

And to make Saturday's game more interesting, Atchison has proposed a friendly wager with Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.

"We're going to challenge Mayor Nenshi that when his team loses tomorrow night at SaskTel Centre, he's going to have to don a Rush jersey for his council meeting coming up," Atchison announced during the rally.

Saturday's game will take place at 7:30 p.m. CST at the SaskTel Centre.