As the Colorado Mammoth gear up for game one of their division finals matchup against the Saskatchewan Rush Saturday night, one of their legendary attackers, John Grant Jr., has some words of advice for the Mammoth.
“Just play like there’s no tomorrow,” former NLL MVP Grant told Mile High Sports. “It’s a two-game series, but you’ve got to play like this is your last opportunity, and they’ve been playing that way for awhile.”
That type of “no tomorrow” attitude has given the Mammoth an edgy style this year under third-year head coach Pat Coyle. But the Rush are no pushover, as they won the season series over the Mammoth 3-1, and Grant Jr knows that the Rush will be on their game.
“Saskatchewan [are] two-time champs for a reason,” said Grant. “They’re a really good squad. The organization [Mammoth] put a lot of extra pieces, the right pieces together this year to make a deep run. They just gotta play a full game against that team on offense and defense…They’ve got the right squad, just go out there and put it together for sixty.”
One of those pieces that Grant referenced, is Stephen Keogh, a key midseason acquisition giving the Mammoth fire on offense and punch on defense, quite literally.
“[That] guy’s a beast” said Grant about Keogh. “Unbelievable on ground balls and faceoffs, sets picks, scores big goals, he’s in your face, he’ll beat your guy, he’ll beat your defender up if he needs too. He does everything the right way and he’s a great character guy to add, with a lot of championship experience over the last four, five years.”
The Mammoth go head-to-head in game one of the two game series against the Rush, Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. MT at the Pepsi Center. If the series is tied after the end of regulation of game two, which will be at Saskatchewan, both teams will play an extra 10-minute period immediately following game two to decide the series winner.
Photo courtesy of the Colorado Mammoth