Jeff Moleski knows all about the Edmonton-Calgary rivalry.
Three times this National Lacrosse League season his Calgary Roughnecks battled the Edmonton Rush and each time the Rush served notice it is no longer an expansion team pushover.
The Roughnecks won two of those games but needed overtime to clinch the season series two weeks ago. The defending NLL-champions know they'll have their hands full Saturday at noon when they host the Rush, a fifth-year team, in a playoff elimination game at the Pengrowth Saddledome.
"They're a good team, they've made a lot of changes and they're definitely a legitimate contender," said Moleski, one of the top defensive players in the NLL.
Calgary and Edmonton each finished with a 10-6 records and their head-to-head records decided the standings. The Roughnecks were forced to adjust to a coaching change, with Dave Pym replacing Terry Sanderson when Sanderson rejoined the Toronto Rock, and were slow out of the gate this season. They trailed Edmonton by one win heading into the last game but took care of that with a one-goal victory over Colorado in Denver to finish on a four-game winning streak and leapfrog the Rush into second place, guaranteeing a home playoff game in the first round.
"Hopefully we're peaking at the right time," said Moleski. "They say the hardest thing in sports is to repeat. Every team was gunning for us right from the get-go. We had a few stumbling blocks along the way but so far, so good. We lost a lot of close games that could have gone either way and our record could have been 13-3. Our fans are pretty loyal and pretty loud so it will be nice to have them in the playoffs."
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