Sometimes I finish my article in French and before sending it to be translated by either Les, Tom or Mat, I wonder will they catch my drift ? Well in this instance, there is no way as I tried to see what Google translate would do, and it could not define in which language I wrote. If your québéquois is up to par, go for it you will have a laugh. If it isn't don't bother cuz even frenchies have trouble understanding spoken word when it is written. So I will leave out those bits and go straight to the heart of the matter that follows as I decided to take care of the translation this week because of all the Québec slang that was all over my original French article.

Sure enough, last night we were treated to a first in the league and probably in the Brotherhood history. Our national playboy, Rémy Babin, the Vipers (or yellow team for the simple-minded) capt/coach was the first Dad to play with his son. The 15 year old name Zach also become the youngest dude to put on an LFA jersey and play with us, winning  in nets against the Czechers that despite successive returns in the match, collapsed in the final stretch of the game. Too bad, because with a tied game at 6 a piece with ten minutes left on the clock we were expecting from the stands a tighter finish, not the 9 to 6 final score.

I skipped the soup and forgot to tell you about the opening match which also highlighted a first: the inauguration of our new special edition sweaters, that the Loggers had the privilege of wearing while facing off against the Avengers, winning the game 6 to 4 in a hard fought game. Encounter that could have gone either way, because despite the score,  the men in blue seemed to have control of the puck more often than not.

For the final game of the day, we were treated as it is often custom to beautiful plays, spectacular stops, with great atmosphere in the joint and in this case, a dramatic come from behind rush from the McCarold's Shamrocks facing the Red Horizon Tomahawks for a final score of 4 to 4. As the organizer it is a score I like to see, demonstrating the parity in the league, also with a ranking that tightens with three teams tied for second place and a few points between the first and last place, it makes me think that we will have a strong finish to crown the winners of the Tremblay Trophy awarded to the champions of the regular season at the end of the calendar.

In my book (which was a recurrent motif in my French version of this article) I want to thank a hell of a good guy amongst us who sometimes dresses like the guy from "Leave it to Beever "(Google that and you'll know what I'm talking about) but despite is plad underwear he is "un ostie de bon Jack" (like we say in French) even though his name is Craig or Craaaaiiiiggg ... g for the inner circle, (inside thing). So the other day he asks "hey JF, how much would it cost to get LFA stickers made ? " As it was part of my list "One day it would be fun to..." I made a call, got back to him with the price and he said, "go for it". Tell me about that, a no bull shit guy who gets an idea and follows trough by investing and contributing to his league. No Yap yap and "fuckayage", so thanks to Craig that lines up with the Pub St-Paul Avengers and who as been recruiting new players since his debut in the league, for those interested, you can now install the logo stickers of the LFA on your helmets and other places that I leave to your discretion.

One of the recruits that Craigo has found us is January's LFA player of the month powered by Sher-Wood. Bradford Redpath who plays for the Bily Kun Czechers is a real rocket man that is difficult to contain, ask any defenseman, he will tell you. An honorable mention also goes to the Loggers net minder that came in second in the ballot. Brad like the other boys before him will receive a pair of Sher-Wood gloves, courtesy of the company that is still based in Sherbrook. 

In my book, a team that drinks together, wins together. I have experienced it many times through the years and it welds the guys together and unites them to become ONE, the team. This is what seems to be happening to the Loggers, evidence that union equals strength (state of mind I try to instill in people), they buy their 50/50 tickets and beer together after games and they have won two of the three prizes this month. The 50/50 jackpot and a bonus prize given by the league. In addition Boubs won the loto Patou and picked up two tickets to the Habs game. Nurturing that winning attitude in a dressing room starts by  arriving well before the game and staying well after. That's how you build a team, not just with talent, but with the heart and spirit that the Hockey Brotherhood (hence from which the LFA comes) has always advocated.

Not as entertaining as the French version this week, but a more lean and to the point LFA news of the week that I hope you enjoyed.
Later
JFD