Last Saturday, while two teams secured their participation in the next round of the playoffs, the semi-finals that will take place on April 28, others saw their season go up in smoke and this especially in the room of the Shamrocks for reasons that I let you guess. With another weekend in front of us where the eight teams will face each other, the defeats of the last weeks for some teams have only the importance that they want to give them because in the end we meet every Saturday basically to play and disconnect from our daily lives. It is clear that many guys are motivated by the competitive aspect of hockey wanting to win the championship to put their hands and their name on the cup but there are other things that matter even more if we look at the "big picture" as the king said. I admit, it sucks to lose and you can be down for a while but imagine you spend 7 to 9 months with a team of boring guys with whom you share nothing as well as not to being successful on the ice. Luckily this season, despite a lot of injuries and absences, the teams have remained competitive and the final ranking clearly demonstrates that.  Especially the league has not received any request for trades from captains or individuals, as Jacques Martin use to say, who were not happy in their teams. This tells us, and I have seen it many times in the locker rooms, that you all had fun in victory as well as in defeat this season. So it seems to me that those who will come next Saturday at the arena knowing that this is the last game, should arrive as if it were the first and play for the mere pleasure of the thing, without heaviness or expectations with one goal in mind, just to have FUN!

We still have two more important games to determine the third and fourth team that will advance to the semi-finals. The Hackers who beat the Rhinos last Saturday will face the Vipers who for their part are eliminated but who will surely want to finish their season with a victory and be trouble makers. For their part the Rhinos will play the Meteors who have 3 points on them so by the end of the day we might end up with a 3 way tie depending on how the first and third game go. A very interesting Saturday coming up.

ERRATUM: After verification, the Vipers still have a chance to acces to the semi-final round depending on the outcome of their game and the one between the Rhinos and Metors.

WEEK NUMBER TWO IN THE PLAYOFFS

The virtues of a strong team spirit are paying off for the Meteors, who despite several defeats in a row to finish the season have remained bonded spending a lot of time together in their locker room as well as in the stands as demonstrated by the number of beers drank. They often exceed 24 as I have been asked on occasion for a "refill" of their TEAM cooler! This reinforces the old adage that a team that drinks together wins together. And I would add, has fun in victory as in defeat. In short, this solidarity has been good for them so far in the playoffs allowing to get two big wins. In their game against the Vipers they showed a lot of confidence answering each play of their opponent with an even more powerful replica easily overcoming the Vipers who seem to have lost their venom. The same team that in early 2018 seemed unbeatable, still they will be able to get another crack at it next Saturday because just like the Meteors they remain a united team in which a good atmosphere reigns. The second clash of the afternoon seemed to be one way with the Barbarians setting a lead of 4 to 1 early in the game. Taking us by surprise and because of strong character and hard work, little by little the Loggers came back from behind to equalize the score. The mark of 4 to 4 remained on the scoreboard of the Notre-Dame College arena for a good part of the game and it is halfway in the third that the Barbarians dropped the fatal blow which the Loggers could not recover bowing all the same with their head up as they delivered a hard fight leaving no quarters to the opposing team. The match that turned out to be a surprise was the third of the day that saw the most experienced team in the league, to remain polite, win as mentioned above against the Rhinos, our regular season champions. Indeed this band of Hackers has shown a lot of courage to overcome the "red machine" that throughout the season have always found the way to come from behind to win. So as usual Patrick Blais's men came back from behind to tie up things but this time to be answered a few moments later by the opposition. The experience of their opponents eventually closing down the game prevented the Rhinos from operating their magic. My work night behind the microphone was not over because we still had the confrontation between the Torpedoes and the Shamrocks, the latter wanting to probably avenge their bad performance of the previous week. Unfortunately for them, the game started as the last with the opponent scoring first and setting a comfortable lead. Believing that the Shamrocks were done, they surprised us all by replying and coming back from behind coming close to equalizing the score but finally giving four unanswered goals. You will find all the results on our Pro-Jet "scoreboard".

A MINUTE OF SILENCE FOR HUMBOLDT BRONCOS

Joining the rest of the hockey world, the LFA and its players honored the memory of members of the Humboldt Broncos Junior Team who lost their lives in a tragic bus accident. Before our last weekend's playoffs games we held a minute of silence in solidarity with their families and their community. This gesture did not go unnoticed as many members were touched by this accident to people who carried with them the same passion as we do for our national sport.

YOUR TICKET SALE ENVELOPE DUE ON SATURDAY

As previously mentioned, you will need to return your envelopes with the proceeds from the sale of tickets SATURDAY to your captain. This one must be sealed, have your name indicated with the money and the ticket stubs inside. Thank you for your participation.
Those who want to sell more tickets please come see me at the "DJ booth" and you can give me the fruit of your efforts the following weekend.

SURVEY FOR ICE QUALITY

The LFA is always working to improve the playing conditions of its members at the Notre Dame College arena. Shower heads in the past, new anchors for goals, are just two examples of improvements that often go unnoticed.  In our 2018 survey of our members, the quality of the ice resurfaced. We must admit that, despite years of sustained efforts with the arena’s administration, we have not seen any change.

That's why I invite you to participate in large numbers in a survey on the quality of the ice and College facilities so that as many voices as possible are heard and finally adjustments are made to have a nice safe ice every time we step on it. Without proof, it is impossible for me as a league manager to hope to see the situation change without your involvement. So if you really want better ice "DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT" Here is the link

NEWS FROM THE LFA WORKSHOPS

From the outset know that the long version of the video of the 2017 grand finale of the LFA was revised as well as the link that did not display correctly. You will find the trailer and the long version of the championship game by visiting our Media section under Videos. (Link)

In another project coming from the LFA workshops, the fabrication of individual trophies is going well with a partnership between Eric Drapeau and myself for a fifth and final year. Once completed, we will have created more than 75 individual trophies that require several stages and hours of work to achieve. Unless we find a partner / sponsor for this part of the league's operations, this 5th edition will be the last. Recipients of the various prizes will be known at our last (yep something else that has to go) end-of-season gala that will take place towards the end of May as the date, venue and format have still not been decided.

THE "APRÈS MATCH"

One of the benefits of after games that I find important to repeat especially to those who come to complain about receiving "cheap shots" but who never participate in anything the league offers to soften the manners on the ice. Here is a little story that happened last Saturday and is a fabulous example of post-game magic. I joined the guys at the McCarolds once I finished my stuff at the arena and it was not to my surprise to see two guys who were at each other’s throat during the game sitting at the table while having a beer.  In fact I say I was surprised, not really because that's exactly what happens when guys participate and meet the "dudes" of other teams. In this case, Steph and Fred had never met off ice so they had never spoken to each other. I guarantee you that the next time they play against each other it will be legal but respectful and especially a lot more cool.

After games, pre-season bbq, Christmas party and all the other social aspects of the league translate into a healthy competition on the ice, safe and FUN! Not much more complicated than that.

Play to play
JFD