THE COST OF WILD CARD SATURDAY 'S ....
/MIMI LOOKING ON IN A VERY DISAPOINTING SATURDAY FOR THE BILY KUN CZECHERS (PHOTO LISETTE NEPVEU)
Last weekend was our second " wild card Saturday" of the season. A label to describe those selected week-ends when every team tries out new players (except this time as the Avengers had two known alternates). That said, five new faces joined us on Saturday and unfortunately for them, the Czechers paid the price , as their two new guys were not LFA caliber. One of them even dropped out and left the game as he could not follow the flow. But in a gesture of solidarity with another LFA team, the Tomahawks goalie Patrick Bouchard borrowed the equipment of the President of the league and jumped on the ice to help out the Czechers. Without being able to make a difference, his gesture was greatly appreciated by the management and the members of his "new" team for the night.
Without a farm club, the LFA has no alternative then to have unknown players play during our regular season games to see them in action if we hope to grow and move to six teams next year. This is the price that must be paid by the builders of the new adult hockey league in Quebec to ensure a better future for our league..
This weekend has not only seen the arrival of new faces in the LFA landscape, it also allowed us to reunite with an old friend with the arrival of the " Messiah " in the person of Patrice Vichier, who after spending the last 18 month in Europe is returning to settle down in Quebec . His team, the Cabane Express was waiting impatiently for his arrival after the realignment of the teams earlier this December that left a gaping hole in their team while waiting for his arrival. Despite a bit of rust on his blades he did not disappoint with a goal, an assist and a few spins on the ice in a long-awaited victory by the Express after difficult times to say the least. To be noted in this game was the performance of their goalkeeper Nicholas Chagnon and the keeper of Czechers Matt Racicot who both held the fort brilliantly in a game that ended with a score of 3 to 1 for Nick's team .
After this game, the 50/50 draw for January was held with the assistance of Mr. Pierre- Luc Goudreault, a professional engineer as he likes to call himself ;) who came down expressly for the draw of the half and half ( yaa right! ) . Patrice Vichier was chosen to pick the winning numbers from the recycled peannut butter pot and the winner or rather the winners of the 360$ pot, the Express who had bought several tickets "as a family" . The amounts collected are used to help pay for the trophies and various activities of the league (the x-mas party to name one) as it is growing. Thank you to all those who get involved for the good of the community.
PATRICK BALDWIN OF THE BIFTECK AVENGERS FIGHTING OFF ALEXANDRE PARÉ SUBBING FOR THE CABANE EXPRESS (ARCHIVE PHOTO TRACY CHOU)
