MY FINAL SUNDAY. . . OR NEARLY

Another sunday like pretty much every day of the week

Nearly 10 months after this site launched and eight months after we started publishing the weekly news from the LFA, I begin a final article (or nearly) and honestly I am relieved. Not because I didn’t enjoy letting you know what was going on in the league and my opinions on it, but the overall workload brought on by the LFA is large enough all week that suddenly being freed up to do something else with my Sundays (the day is spent editing articles and photos, accounting, statistics, etc.) will feel like getting parole! I’m looking forward to life on the outside.

I didn’t realize just how much of the first year of existence of this league would be spent in front of a computer and how writing in various forms would occupy so much of my time.

Saturday saw the final game of the playoffs for each of the teams and the final game of the 2013-14 season for two of them -- the Avengers and the Czechers, who did not qualify for the grand final that will take place April 26. We could have had an appetizer of the final match because the two finalists were squaring off on Saturday, but after consulting the two coaches, Larry of the Cabane Express and Eric Drapeau of the Rouge Horizon Tomahawks, we decided to shuffle the deck and give a nothing game a symbolic importance by underlining the true nature of our Saturday night matches.

Eric Chamelot from the Czechers & William Brock from the Avengers fighting for the puck (Archive photo, Tracy Chou)

It was also to underline our origins as The Brotherhood as well as putting an emphasis on cameraderie and healthy competition that we mixed up the lineups of the two teams that will have a rematch for the final April 26.

Like in the good old days, we tossed the sticks from centre ice to decide who would play in the red or black, and it seemed to put a smile on everyone’s face, including this player on the sidelines because of a lower-body injury. The experiment was a success and the two teams will meet in two weeks with a free spirit with only goal, to win the cup of cups!

Some members of the league broke bread and shared a few pitchers as is our custom with one of our sponsors, La Cabane, across the streets from Schwartz’s, for the uninitiated.

For those of you who did not realize it, Larry's chronicles can now be found in the sub menu of the news. Just click NEWS and again on WHILE SIPPING A LAST ONE and will get another spin on what's going on in the LFA.

Like the Superbowl, Sunday marks the start of two weeks of preparation for the big event in support of the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation. All profits from snack and beverage sales, along with ticket proceeds, will go to to support the foundation.

Great seats available for the grand final of April 26

I’m hoping to see you there, and together we’ll pack the rink to underline in grand fashion the arrival on the Montreal sports scene of La Ligue Fédérale des As (LFA), a new kind of league that will become a hub of community involvement.

So see you on Saturday April 26 for puck drop at 5 p.m. at Collège Notre-Dame for an event we’ll all remember for a long time. And by the way the Canadiens are not playing that night.

JFD (AS TRANSLATED BY LES PERREAUX)