Being of a fan of sport, typically you are a fan of sports. Maybe your fixation on one sport is much greater than the others but you still find yourself checking box scores and, if possible, attending the odd game. It is fair to believe any sport franchise going into Rogers Place will need to be owned by the Oilers Entertainment Group. So if they were to add another team to their business portfolio, would you rather the return of professional lacrosse - the City had the Edmonton Rush from 2006-2015 OR the OEG bring a Professional Women's Hockey League (PWHL) franchise to town? A PWHL showcase game is being played between the Toronto Sceptres and Ottawa Charge on Sunday February 16th.
This question was posed in the Edmonton Sports Talk Discord and the r/edmonton subreddit on Reddit (there is an r/EdmontonSports subreddit but it's not very active, which is something you the reader can change).
The Discord was predominantly lacrosse with "Tubesox" stating "Probably lacrosse. That said, I probably wouldn't attend either". "tvberkal" raised the fair belief that, "the only way the PWHL comes up west is with a four to six team expansion".
A belief echoed on Reddit with "the PWHL still seems years away from Western expansion, while the NLL could start playing here next season if it really wanted to". A point of view I'd personally never considered was "Lacrosse easy - there are already 75+ nights of hockey at Rogers."
The prevailing vote on Reddit was for lacrosse with the best response coming from "laxit00",
"I'd love for another NLL team to start up in Edm. Most fans would have to realize it won't be the same team as the Rush and it will be the beginning of a new era like the Rush did when they started in Edm. I miss having a local team and I don't want to drive to Calgary for games as I will never be a Roughnecks fan again (went last April against the Rush). I will always be a Rush Fan and it would take ALOT for me to change this as I've been a fan since 2008. I've met my best friend Grandma Rush here in Edm and we travel to Saskatoon when we can. We have met some amazing fans in Sask that are now our Rush Lax family and having Sask Roots is another reason for me staying a fan. I would go to games but when my Rush Boyz are in town I will be wearing Rush gear. I will be loud and proud with my drum and with Grandma Rush and her sign right beside me."
Notes on both subjects:
There are lacrosse options in Edmonton and surrounding and most of them are housed in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse League. The Senior B (also known as Alberta Series Lacrosse) and Jr. A Levels feature many players that currently and previously have played in the National Lacrosse League (NLL) (home of the former Edmonton Rush now Saskatchewan Rush). Miners Lacrosse, they play out of the Bill Hunter Arena, alumnus Bennett Smith just scored his 1st NLL goal recently for the Calgary Roughnecks. The coach of Jr. A Miners is now back on an Alberta NLL team after a tour of duty in Colorado in John Lintz.
The PWHL inaugural season ran from January 1st, 2024. Minnesota won the championship on May 29th. The league consists of six teams, in year one they simply went by their location name. Now in year two all six teams have nicknames. As of this release, the Minnesota Frost sit atop the PWHL standings albeit only three games into the season.
What is your say?
Studying the results of the very scientific social media responses, it feels like lacrosse won in a landslide because of a) familiarity and b) uncertainty of the PWHL ability to expand west. So what is your take? Would you rather an old friend come back or a new venture come to town? Can Edmonton really handle that much more hockey? Will lacrosse stay strong after the honeymoon reunion is over? Sound off in the comment section.
NLL is the obvious answer