PARITY FINALLY REACHED IN THE LEAGUE ?!

Avengers vs the Vipers ending in a 4 to 4 draw last Saturday with a killer goal a few seconds from the end by Jacob Poliquin from the Vipers.. (Photo JFD)

Following a wave of trades to balance our clubs again in this ever lasting begining of the season that is now stretching into the gray autumn,  I am satisfied with what we saw this week with the new rosters. After two draws and a blowout defeat, the scores alone are not the only indicator of the truth.

Even watching the same game we all do not see the same things and after only a weekend of activities for the 3.0 version of the LFA it is difficult to say that we have managed to find the key to achieve parity around the league. It's when you think that you've made it, you realize that you missed the exit, because just yesterday I found out that one of our elite players won't be able to finish the season due to a work schedule change. This means that another player will take his place and the delicate balance we hoped to achieve may require additional trades to compensate for the change we have to make. Therefore, I hope that we find, amongst our many substitutes, a serious player of the same calibour willing to play on a regular basis.

Patrick Bouchard, brand new dad and winner of the LFA player of the month powered by Sher-Wood, showing off the twins (photo JFD)

Having not issued any new LFA news last week  due to a break in the schedule, we have lots to disucss and winners are to be announced. First I want to congratulate Patrick Bouchard of the McCarol Shamrocks who is a new dad of twins and our first winner this season of the LFA Player of the Month powered by Sher-Wood, who has offered a pair of high performance gloves to our lucky winner. Pat was extremely pleased with the prize as well as to have been nominated by his team and winner by his peers.

Another of our winners is José Cabral of the Bily Kun Czechers, who won the prize pool of $ 515 in the half and half draw of October. Jose’s company, LES PROJETS SOLOMAX is already a league partner for helping us get socks for each team, but his generosity has not stopped there, as he decided to reinvest his winnings and grow the half-and-half for November by offering a gift card worth $ 75 as second prize in the draw. I am surely repeating myself but "parle moi de dsa." A guy who invests himself  in the league and whose actions help contribute to achieve an optimal hockey experience that the LFA desires to offer its members,regular as substitutes. Thx Jo!

As a new addition this season, you probably noticed that we’ve had a cooler in the stands the last few weeks with various refreshments to encourage the boys who have finished their game to stay and create a bit of an ambiance in the arena. This new service also benefits our fans who come to cheer on their son, brother, boyfriend and husband as they take part in their Saturday hockey fling. The league wants to keep using the honor system that we’ve been using in the rooms for over 15 years going back to the Hockey Brotherhood days wanting to extend it into the stands. We are experimenting with the concept before officially introducing this new facet of the LFA experience permanently.

Honor system expanding (Photo Michael Wees)

Also in the ongoing quest to improve the overall service that the league offers, she inaugurated this week the LFA Bulletin Board in the LFA News section to enable the management and all its members to have a place to exchange information that does not always fit in to those of our activities on the ice. We hope this tool will be the crossroads of innovative ideas and endless possibilities. Tournaments, parties, help moving or any thing else, share it with your "Hockey Brothers".

The LFA can now be found on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/LFAHockeyMTL) where you can see some of our videos. More videos are also on VIMEO and in the video section of our website. Must see!

The unusual b-day cake design by Sharon, Steve's girlfriend. (Photo Larry)

Finally, last Friday evening some league members gathered to celebrate one of our own, Steven Parry, to celebrate his 50th birthday. As part of a "suprise" orchestrated by your humble servant and his girlfriend, the excited guest of honor got to play a mini-hockey tournament on the street (lit thanks to the help of our partners, Location Turbo) and it was a scene of great joy, happiness and alot of fun! Some neighbors and friends joined in and the evening turned out to be a great success. Happy birthday again, old dog !

JFD (TRANSLATED BY MATTHEW PERIS)