PRIESTNERS EAGER TO TAKEOVER THE RUSH

By: Allan Ly
RP Show Intern

The new Governor of the Saskatchewan Rush and Current GM of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades Colin Priestner joined the RP Show to discuss his family’s purchase of the NLL’s Saskatchewan Rush this week.

“It’s been a really exciting kind of journey over the last few days,” Priestner reported from his office. “We were buying the flagship team of the NLL, so it’s not like it’s going to need a big rebuild or overhaul.”

The Rush are familiar with success as they are perennial winners since coming from Edmonton in 2015.

From 2015-2020, the Rush won four division titles and won two NLL championships (2016 and 2018).

During that time, the Rush also took four division titles and could have won one for last season if not for the playoffs being cancelled due to COVID.

Even though Priestner classifies himself as a casual fan, he said his process is similar to other league owners.

“I’d say we’re casual fans,” said Priestner. “Obviously, we all came from more of a hockey perspective; the NLL is more of a business perspective.”

Fans had begun to wonder how much change will happen with the Rush and Priestner. That does not appear to be the case with current GM Derek Keenan who is here to stay.

“I don’t think there’s any better manager in the world of lacrosse than [Keenan], and he was a big reason we bought this team.”

Derek Keenan has a fine resume who the NLL celebrated in their 35 moments series, he is a three-time NLL champ 2015, 2016, 2018, GM of the year for 2006, 2010, 2014 and the winningest coach in NLL history.

Mike Priestner, father of Colin and owner of Priestner Sports Corporation, got his start in owning franchises when he bought the Blades in 2013 through the car business of Go Auto, which according to the Blades press release, has 47 car lots across Canada.

As the new Governor of the Rush, Mike’s son Colin is excited for new opportunities that he has to do, and his brother Jared Priestner will be the alternative Governor for the Rush.

“I can’t wait for the governors’ meetings, which sometimes can be a drag in terms of going out and having to fly everywhere to have a three-hour meeting.” Colin is excited because he complimented the owners around the league as they are so welcoming.

The Rush will be ready to compete in the NLL when the season comes back on December 3-4, and Priestner believes they can do great things for the upcoming season.

“You know, we expect to win this year with the Rush.”

With now owning two teams Colin and his family hope they can bring the best kind of experience to the fans and the Province of Saskatchewan.

“We can really use the best of the staff from both teams,” said Priestner. “To really bring more to the table and really provide a great experience for the fans of Sasktel Centre and all of Saskatchewan.

(Follow Allan on Twitter at @AllanTheIntern)