The Calgary Roughnecks finish off their regular season with a 12-8 win over the Edmonton Rush. Join Grant Farhall and Ryan Ballantine as they chat with Pat Campbell and Scott Ranger about the game, and look ahead to the upcoming off playoff game against the Colorado Mammoth.

 

 Roughnecks Radio 08-04-26 [37:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The Calgary Roughnecks are heading to the post-season.

The Riggers clinching their playoff position with a 12-11 overtime victory over the Toronto Rock.

Join Ryan Ballantine and Grant Farhall as they discuss the game, examine playoff possibilities across the league and look ahead to next weekend’s season finale in Edmonton.

 

 Roughnecks Radio 08-04-19 [44:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

With their playoff lives on the line the Calgary Roughnecks pick up a key 18-7 win over the Edmonton Rush. Ryan Ballantine and Grant Farhall talk about the victory with goalie Steve Dietrich, and new Rigger Josh Sanderson. As well, Rush owner Bruce Urban pops by to talk about the state of lacrosse in Edmonton and his purchase of 800 tickets for the game. The Fan960’s Dave Rowe is our guest panelist.  

 

 Roughnecks Radio 08-04-12 [54:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The term” must-win “ is without question one of the most over-used clichés pro-sports. But there is little doubt that the Roughnecks face that very situation this weekend against the Edmonton Rush.

And one does wonder how it got to this point.

There is simply no way that the Riggers should be fighting for their playoff lives at this point in the season, particularly after the Edmonton Rush started the season 0-6.

But that doesn’t matter. They put themselves in this situation and only they can dig themselves out of it.

The situation is dire, but with wins against the Rush this weekend and in the final game of the year, the Roughnecks should make the playoffs. Edmonton holds a pair of games in hand, however, they face a daunting schedule – including back-to-back games this weekend and next.

Meanwhile the storylines off the floor are just as interesting. Rush owner Bruce Urban has challenged Edmonton fans to make the trip down the QE2 for this Saturday’s game and will buy their tickets for them. In response, Riggers’ owner Brad Banister has called upon the hometown fans to come out in support of their team. Good on both owners for generating some excitement for this game, and for trying to build up an NLL Battle of Alberta.

Rumors also circulated this week about Banister moving his team to Dallas, fueled by a trip he made to the American Airlines Arena in Big D a couple of weeks ago. However, the Calgary Sun (who continue to provide top notch Roughnecks coverage this season with Ian Busby), reports that Banister says he was down there as part of his duties as the NLL’s expansion committee president. There’s no question though there are concerns about the future of the Roughnecks in this market. A free ticket giveaway did not have the impact that was hoped, and attendance continues to stagnate at the 12,000 mark. In his piece, Busby once again suggests a possible move to the Stampede Corral, and I for one would think this merits further exploration.

But let’s hope that all that off-floor stuff doesn’t distract the team from the matter at hand…which is to take care of business on Saturday night. Missing the playoffs could have drastic consequences for the players and management of the team, if not the future of the team as a whole in Calgary. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.

We will be coming to you live from the Pengrowth Saddledome about 30 minutes after Saturday night’s game. We are currently trying to get one or both of the Roughneck and Rush owners on the show, and as always will have a full line-up of guests to chat with. Please join us, and as always remember you can take part in the show via our chat room.