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One cooks.
Jake Boudreau and Zach Manns are not only teammates but also roommates on the National Lacrosse League’s Saskatchewan Rush.
One cooks.
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One cleans.
One scores goals.
The other prevents them.
While it may not be a modern-day version of Neil Simon’s Odd Couple or the TV show from the 1970s, it’s an interesting twist on things.
Jake Boudreau and Zach Manns are not only teammates but also roommates on the National Lacrosse League’s Saskatchewan Rush, who host the Albany, N.Y., FireWolves on Saturday night (7 p.m.) at SaskTel Centre.
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They are two of only six Rush players who reside in Saskatoon full-time during the season. The others are Mike Messenger and Jerrett Smith, plus newcomers Brock Haley and Levi Anderson.
Apparently, housekeeping isn’t an issue for the two Rush roomies.
“Honestly, we’re doing a pretty good job of both being pretty clean,” says Manns, who leads his team in scoring with 18 goals and 13 assists for 31 points through six games.
“Jake does a lot of the cooking. I do a lot of the cleaning. We’ve got a really good thing going.”
On the lacrosse field turf floor, Boudreau cleans up the mess in the defensive end and Manns does the cooking.
It’s the opposite in the Rush duo’s household.
“He (Manns) can do the easy stuff in the kitchen — he might put the pot on to boil (water) and then shut it down from there,” Boudreau quips. “But he’s a good eater and a great roommate.”
Both players are taking advantage of staying in Saskatoon. That means less travel and more time focused on training and game preparation.
“Yeah, it’s not even the travel,” points out Boudreau. “It’s what we get to do (weekdays) Monday to Thursday that really benefit us. We get up, go to the gym every day, eat good. There’s not much stress here except for getting better and focusing on the game.”
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Adds Manns: “It’s great living here in Sask. We have a great trainer and gym at Ignite here in Saskatoon. It’s just great to do the daily things with the team. We spend a lot of time together and it’s just building that chemistry that translates onto the floor.”
EMERGING NLL STARS
Manns, who was acquired from the Toronto Rock in a trade that sent veteran forward Mark Matthews out east, had a breakout year last season with the Rush. He’s emerged as a young star and one of the most dynamic players in the NLL.
The trade has proven to be a blessing for Manns, who hails from Victoria, B.C.
“When I got traded, I knew it was going to be a big opportunity for me and I feel like I fit right in with the offence but also think there’s lots to get better at,” says Manns, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound forward who played his college lacrosse at Drexel University.
Such as?
“Just cleaning up a lot of the little details. I feel like I’ve had quite a few turnovers to start the year, so it’s just cutting down on that, making the right reads and we all want to shoot the ball a little better.”
Boudreau is another emerging young star.
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The 6-foot-2, 185-pound defender from Brampton, Ont. has pounced on a team-high 59 loose balls to go along with seven caused turnovers this season. Boudreau, who played NCAA lacrosse at Robert Morris University, has sprinkled in some offensive production with two goals and seven assists for nine points.
Together, Boudreau and Manns are two reasons why the Rush are off to a 4-2 start this season.
“You need to get the wins but we really don’t believe we’ve played too good in general,” points out Boudreau. “A couple of the games, you could easily say one close miss or this or that and we lose the game. Results are great but we need to get wins to make it where we want to be. We still want to get a lot better and we think we can.”
Boudreau says the team has been guilty of “a lot of mental lapses” that need to be cleaned up.
“We always say we don’t want teams to score two goals in a row and it seems to happen,” he says. “It’s a really hard league with scoring runs but we have been doing a good job of that.
“If you look at the Halifax game, they came out flying and scored five or six. Rochester, fourth quarter, they put up six or seven. We don’t want that. We don’t want two or three (against), let alone five or six. So maybe (we want) to try to settle some of the momentum down and find other ways to do that.”
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Manns credits the team’s defence for keeping the Rush in every game.
“I think we’ve been playing well offensively (but) I think our defence has been stellar all year,” he says. “Offensively, we still have some things to work on but we’re starting to gel. We haven’t had the same lineup, basically, in any games. Once we get the same lineup going for the next few games, I think we’re going to be looking pretty good.”
Offensively, the Rush has added a couple of sharpshooters, Austin Shanks and Brock Haley, to help spread the scoring around this season.
“They’re both two great players, super-smart players who see the floor well,” notes Manns. “They both can shoot the ball really well. It’s super easy adding two guys like that into our lineup.”
So far this season, Saskatchewan is winning the majority of close games and finding ways to win, instead of finding ways to lose. What’s the difference?
“Maybe the easy answer is the new guys, if all those new guys are making us one (goal) better,” replies Boudreau.
Adds Manns: “I like our chances every week, honestly. When we put our best food forward and just the biggest thing is playing a consistent 60 minutes. If we do that, I like our odds against anyone … I think we’re a fast-paced team that likes to run. We have a lot of great athletes and we’re looking to push the pace for 60 minutes. If you can’t run with us for a full 60, that’s going to be tough.”
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Is it an NLL championship-calibre roster?
“Yeah for sure,” says Manns.
“I think so,” adds Boudreau, echoing those sentiments.
“Everyone we added this year from last year are absolutely huge pieces to the team. So it’s great. We’re gelling. For (six) games in, I think everyone’s gelling amazingly.”
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