The Beast of Beasts: Daughters win second Beast in a thrilling tournament

Tommy Toxic’s trophies are always a highlight of the tournament, but this year’s were particularly beastly. (Photo by Joe Mac)

Some things just get better with age. Like wine, cheese and scotch, Montreal Roller Derby’s annual Beast of the East just keeps on improving. While it could just speak to the age of the sport and overall development of the game, it also speaks to the strength, popularity and steady growth of roller derby in this region specifically. Despite the fact that the best players in the two biggest leagues represented (Montreal and Toronto) were not involved in the tournament (their talents were on display in a thrilling Friday night WFTDA showdown won by the New Skids on the Block 210-121), the competitive level and the display of skill far surpassed the expectations for a house league tournament.

The Slaughter Daughters accept their second Beast in three years. (Photo from the Slaughter Daughters Facebook page)

It was a historic tournament on a historic date, and in the end it became a duel between the two most successful teams in the tournament’s history. In the process, MTLRD’s La Racaille became the first team to appear in four finals, while their opponents, Rideau Valley’s Slaughter Daughters joined the 2008-2010 La Racaille team as the only to reach three consecutive championship games, but then one-upped them by becoming the first ever repeat champion.

From the energy and consistency of the nearly perpetually capacity crowd, to the stunning displays of athleticism on the track, this 6^th annual Beast certainly lived up to the moniker the Beast of Beasts.

ToRD’s Chicks Ahoy! kicked off the tournament with a minor upset over Rideau Valley’s Riot Squad. (Photo by Joe Mac)

DOUBLE ELIMINATION ROUND

A remarkable twenty games get played on the opening day of the Beast, and the tone was set when the tournament kicked off with a minor upset. The Chicks Ahoy!, ToRD’s most inexperienced team (playing short handed at that) managed to hold off Rideau Valley’s Riot Squad by 8 points. Remarkably, seven teams managed to top the century mark in the opening round as for the most part things went as expected early. The Slaughter Daughters dispatched two ToRD teams early on to advance straight through to the quarter finals (scoring over 100 points in both games including a 117-2 win over the Smoke City Betties), joined by Montreal teams Les Filles du Roi and La Racaille and ToRD’s Death Track Dolls as teams going 2-0 to advance. Even at this stage of the tournament it was clear that La Racaille and the Dolls were joining the Daughters at a level of play that was going to be hard to match. La Racaille also topped 100 points in both their openers, while the Dolls looked equally impressive dispatching Les Casse-Gueules and then shocking the hometown Contrabanditas 96-30 in a surprisingly one-sided win.

Vicious Dishes pivot Sofanda Beatin puts a hit on Filles du Roi jammer Beth Rave. (Photo by Joe Mac)

The rebuilding Vicious Dishes became the first defending champion not only to lose in the first round, but were actually the first team eliminated from the tournament when they lost to the Riot Squad. First timers from Quebec, Les Casse-Gueules, and London, the Luscious Lunch Ladies, also fell 0-2 to be eliminated, joined by five-time participants, the Derby Debutantes, who have yet to make it past the first round in their history at the event.

The final four elimination games lived up to the expectations, all providing thrillingly competitive action. The Chicks Ahoy! concluded their surprising tournament by giving the far more experienced Thames Fatales all that they could handle before falling 53-46. It took a while, but Les Contrabanditas were able to hold off the Riot Squad 86-57 and the TKOs eliminated the Gore-Gore Rollergirls in a scrappy, penalty-filled affair that seemed closer than the 85-42 score indicated. Finally, rookie participants from Quebec, Le Rouge et Gore, pulled off the stunner of the tournament, holding off a shocked Smoke City Betties teams 58-56 in the closing game of the opening day, and arguably the most emotional win of the tournament.

ToRD’s Death Track Dolls picked up momentum early in the tournament and carried it all the way through. (Photo by Joe Mac)

KNOCKOUT ROUND

Quarterfinals

By the time the quarterfinals rolled around, three teams, at least, had clearly distanced themselves from the pack. While Les Filles du Roi were able to dispatch Le Rouge et Gore 76-17, it was the performances in the other quarterfinals that truly impressed. La Racaille simply overwhelmed their leaguemates Les Contrabanditas (117-64), while the Daughters slaughtered the Thames Fatales 113-31 (with only a 29-0 four minute run midway through closing the gap for the Thames), and ToRD’s Dolls, despite major penalty trouble, rode some phenomenal power killing to a 79-35 win over the surging TKOs.

Semifinals

2013 Beast champs the Slaughter Daughters flanked by 2nd place La Racaille and 3rd place Death Track Dolls. (Photo from Slaughter Daughters Facebook page)

In the opener, Les Filles du Roi played their absolute best derby of the tournament. With La Racaille leading 50-9 and seemingly on cruise control, Les Filles mounted a major comeback, completely flipping the table to outscore their leaguemates 51-10 the rest of the way and set up a final jam with the score tied at 60. An FDR jammer penalty on the first pass sealed the deal and La Racaille picked up 25 to win 85-60. In the other semifinal, the Dolls and Daughters engaged in one of the hardest hitting bouts of the tournament with blockers from both teams providing their entries for hit of the tournament, while the Daughters ended up pulling away in the end (it was 26-24 at the midway point) to win the thrilling game by 28 (68-40).

Finals

The Dolls shook off their semifinal loss to compose themselves and come back and dominate Les Filles du Roi 136-29 in the third place game, completing an impressive tournament and earning them third place honours for the second time in three years. The historic final matchup (this year extended to two twenty minute halves) started off incredibly tight with La Racaille playing some of their best derby to keep pace with the Daughters, down only 2, 43-41 at the half. While La Racaille were able to keep pace, they could never dictate it, and eventually the relentless Daughters, who had the deepest bench in the tournament, inched ahead before pulling away for good at the end, holding on for a 103-74 victory to become the first ever two-time Beast of the East champions.

The Dolls’ Rainbow Fight (right, warming up with Santilly In Yo Face) was virtually unpassable as a blocker and unstoppable as a jammer. (Photo by Joe Mac)

NERD’S PICKS

MVP: Rainbow Fight (Death Track Dolls)

The continued development and depth of the Slaughter Daughters knocks Hanna Murphy (formerly Semi-Precious) off the perch she’s held for the past two years. Not that she’s not still worthy, but the play of skaters like Eh Nihilator (finals MVP), Margaret Choke, Da Big Block, Sister Disaster and others have risen to a more equal level (no doubt pulled up by the continuous excellence of Murphy). And certainly a few other skaters warrant consideration with the exceptional Mel E Juana leading the way (Sofanda Beatin looked strong early but her Vicious Dishes only played two games). But this weekend, Rainbow Fight emerged as a powerhouse in the sport (those who saw her dominate on the smaller scale of last year’s RDAC Atlantics aren’t surprised).  Virtually unpassable as a blocker/pivot, Rainbow also could win the argument for top jammer on the Dolls, if not in the tournament: handed the star whenever her team needed a shift in momentum, she consistently delivered. On a Dolls team loaded with individual talent, Rainbow Fight still managed to stand out.

Breakout Player: Miracle Whips (Les Contrabanditas)

Miracle Whips jamming against the Thames Fatales. (Photo by Joe Mac)

There were a handful of players in contention here. Beth Rave and Demanda Lashing stepped up for Les Filles du Roi in a big way, and Nana Bistouri was a huge reason behind the surprising success of the Le Rouge et Gore, while it’s easy to forget that Ova Kill is only in her second year with the TKOs, and rookie Kindree Surprise seems to be the centerpiece of a rebuilding Thames Fatales offense; however, there is no new player who had a bigger impact on her team than Miracle Whips. A star at last year’s Fresh and Furious rookie tournament in Toronto, the argument could be made that there was no single player who was more important for her team all weekend. The rebuilding Contrabanditas were constantly buoyed by the consistent play of Whips who almost single-handedly gave them a boost whenever things seemed about to get out of hand.

Le Rouge et Gore made it all the way to a quarterfinal bout against La Racaille in their first Beast. (Photo by Joe Mac)

Breakout Team: Le Rouge et Gore (Roller Derby Quebec)

For the second year in a row, this was a pretty easy selection. From their record-setting performance against the Derby Debutantes (most points scored by a single team, 159, and most combined points in a 20 minute BOE game, 191), to their stunning upset over the Smoke City Betties (58-56 in a must-win elimination game), Le Rouge et Gore proved to be a team to watch in a league on the rise. From the clutch jamming of Nana Bistouri to the relentless pounding of Mobydith to the depth provided by Dina Myth and Douche Nuken, this Rouge et Gore team more importantly displayed a spirit of perseverance that was impossible to ignore.

** For the fourth season in a row, Canuck Derby TV broadcast all of the action live, and you can relive it here at the archives.

**The Nerd would like to extend a special thanks to Montreal Roller Derby once again, and also to the crew (production and announcing) at Canuck Derby TV led by Dr. Johnny Capote.

Beast of the East: 2008-2012

Beast of the East: By the Numbers

To get ready for the 2013 Beast of the East, take a look back at the history of the tournament.

YEAR	CHAMPION	RUNNER UP	THIRD PLACE
2008	Hamilton Harlots (HCRG)	La Racaille (MTLRD)	Les Filles du Roi / Les Contrabanditas (MTLRD)
2009	La Racaille	Les Contrabanditas	Les Filles du Roi / Smoke City Betties (ToRD)
2010	Les Filles du Roi	La Racaille	Les Contrabanditas
2011	Slaughter Daughters (RVRG)	Gore-Gore Rollergirls (ToRD)	Death Track Dolls (ToRD)
2012	Vicious Dishes (TCRG)	Slaughter Daughters	Chicks Ahoy! (ToRD)

Hamilton Harlots won the first Beast of the East in 2008. (Photo by Derek Lang)

 

NOTABLE NUMBERS (Records etc.)

Wins: 17 (La Racaille 2008-2012)

Points Per Game (tournament): 80 (Les Filles du Roi, 2010)

Points Against (tournament): 9 (Les Filles du Roi, 2010)

Most Points (team): 148 (Les Contrabanditas 2011)

Combined Points (combined): 161 (Slaughter Daughters 131 vs. Hamilton Harlots 30, 2012)

Biggest Differential: 148 (Les Contrabanditas 148 vs. Chrome Mollys [GTAR] 0, 2011)

[*The Gore-Gore Rollergirls were the first team to score 100 points in a bout--a 103-11 victory over Capital Carnage in 2009; Les Filles du Roi did it vs. the Vicious Dishes in 2010; four different teams accomplished it in 2011; the Vicious Dishes did it three times themselves in 2012, while three other teams did it that year as well].

[*2012 was the first time both finalists (Vicious Dishes, Slaughters Daughters) lost a game on the way to the finals]

PARTICIPANT HISTORY

(BOE 6: 2013 participants first)

Team	League	BOE Record	Notes
Thames Fatales	FCDG	5 – 9	First round in 08, 09. Quarter final in 2010
Luscious Lunch Ladies	FCDG	-	First Appearance
Derby Debutantes	GTAR	2 – 8	Fifth appearance
La Racaille	MTLRD	17- 7	Second in 08, 10. Semis 12. Champs in 09
Les Contrabanditas	MTLRD	14 – 6	2nd place in 2009. 3rd in 2010. Quarters 2011,’12
Les Filles du Roi	MTLRD	15 – 5	Semi-final 08, 09. Champs in 2010. Quarters 2012
Slaughter Daughters	RVRG	11 – 6	Fifth appearance. Champs 2011. 2nd place 2012
Riot Squad	RVRG	1 – 4	Third appearance (2010, 2011)
Chicks Ahoy!	ToRD	10 – 8	First round from 2008-10. 4th in 2011, 3rd in 2012
Death Track Dolls	ToRD	6 – 9	Quarter finals in 2009, 3rd place in 2011
Smoke City Betties	ToRD	5 – 8	Semi-final 2009. Quarter final 2012
Gore-Gore Rollergirls	ToRD	10 – 6	Forfeit 2009 at 3-0. 4th 2010. Runners-up 2011
Vicious Dishes	TCRG	10 – 7	Fifth appearance. Quarters in 10, 11. Champs 2012
Total Knock-Outs	TCRG	0 – 2	Second appearance (2011)
Les Casse-Gueules	RDQ	-	First appearance
Le Rouge & Gore	RDQ	-	First appearance
Past Participants
Hamilton Harlots	HCRG	8 – 6	2008-2010, 2012. Champs in 08.
Death Row Dames	HCRG	3 – 5	2008-2010. Quarter final in 2010.
Steel Town Tanks Girls	HCRG	1 – 1	2008
Bay Street Bruisers	ToRD	1 – 3	2008, 2009. Now ToRD B-travel team.
D-VAS	ToRD	0 – 1	2008. Now ToRD houseleague farm team.
London Thrashers	FCDG	0 – 1	2008
Bytown Blackhearts	ORD	0 – 1	2008
Capital Carnage	ORD	0 – 2	2009
Devil Dollies	QCRG	1 – 1	1st US team (2008)
Derby Dames	Grn Mtn	2 – 1	2nd US team, 1st to reach quarter finals (2010)
Chrome Mollys	GTAR	0 – 2	2011
Venus Fly Tramps	TCRG	2 – 6	2009-2011
Les Duchesses de Quebec	RDQ	1-4	2011, 2012. Promoted to RDQ travel team
Motor City Madames	DRRD	0-2	2012
Babes of Thunder	TBRD	2-2	2012. Quarter finals in 2012
Reines of Terror	MRR	0-2	2012

 

YEAR-BY-YEAR RESULTS

(Generally, all games 20 minutes until final, which is 30)

Beast of the East 1: 2008

First Round

POOL A

Steel Town Tank Girls 40 vs Smoke City Betties 18
La Racaille 65 vs The Bytown Blackhearts 29
Death Row Dames 17 vs Devil Dollies 54
D-VAS 27 vs Les Contrabanditas 50

POOL B

Gore-Gore Rollergirls 13 vs. Hamilton Harlots 52

Bay Street Brusies 45 vs Thames Fatales 38
London Thrashers 13 vs Chicks Ahoy 65
Death Track Dolls 23 vs Les Filles du Roi 37

Quarter Finals

Steel Town Tank Girls 30 vs La Racaille 32

Devil Dollies 16 vs. Les Contrabanditas 42

Chicks Ahoy 30 vs Les Filles du Roi 38
Hamilton Harlots 53 vs Bay Street Bruisers 15

Semi Finals

Hamilton Harlots 58 vs Les Filles du Roi 29

Les Contrabanditas 32 vs La Racaille 39

Final

Hamilton Harlots 55 vs. La Racaille 18

* Read the Derby Nerd’s reflections.

Beast of the East 2: 2009

First Round (Double Elimination)

Capital Carnage 11 vs. Gore-Gore Rollergirls 103

Death Row Dames 23 vs. Thames Fatales 19

Les Contrabanditas 59 vs. Venus Fly Tramps 26

Slaughter Daughters 24 vs. Smoke City Betties 32

La Racaille 67 vs. Bay Street Bruisers 10

Chicks Ahoy! 48 vs. Vicisou Dishes 32

Les Filles du Roi 77 vs. Death Track Dolls 6

Derby Debutantes 6 vs. Hamilton Harlots 69

Gore-Gore Rollergirls 32 vs. Death Row Dames 5

Capital Carnage 20 (eliminated) vs. Thames Fatales 67

Les Contrabanditas 34 vs. Smoke City Betties 20

Venus Fly Tramps 14 (eliminated) vs. Slaughter Daughters 48

La Racaille 36 vs. Chicks Ahoy! 35

Bay Street Bruisers 16 (eliminated) vs. Vicious Dishes 21

Les Filles du Roi 34 vs. Hamilton Harlots 25

Death Track Dolls 61 vs. Derby Debutantes 20 (eliminated)

Gore-Gore Rollergirls 35 vs. Les Contrabanditas 26

Death Row Dames 15 (eliminated) vs. Smoke City Betties 24

Thames Fatales 28 (eliminated) vs. Slaughter Daughters 68

La Racaille 35 vs. Les Filles du Roi 43

Chicks Ahoy! 21 (eliminated) vs. Hamilton Harlots 38

Vicious Dishes 27 (eliminated) vs. Death Track Dolls 32

Quarter Finals

Gore-Gore Rollergirls (forfeit) vs. Smoke City Betties

Les Contrabanditas 28 vs. Slaughter Daughters 25

Les Filles du Roi 24 vs. Hamilton Harlots 11

La Racaille 77 vs. Death Track Dolls 17

Semi Finals

Smoke City Betties 23 vs. Les Contrabanditas 33

La Racaille 38 vs Les Filles du Roi 20

Final

Les Contrabanditas 34 vs. La Racaille 49

* Read the Derby Nerd’s commentary.

* Read DNN’s bout-by-bout recap by Justice Feelgood Marshall

Beast of the East 3: 2010

First Round (Double Elimination)
Thames Fatales 38 vs. Smoke City Betties 11
La Racaille 81 vs. Chicks Ahoy!12
Green Mountain Derby Dames 40 vs. Riot Squad 17
Death Row Dames 63 vs. Venus Fly Tramps 6
Les Contrabanditas 72 vs. Death Track Dolls 9
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 43 vs. GTA Derby Debutantes 20
Vicious Dishes 37 vs. Slaughter Daughters 20
Les Filles du Roi 92 vs. Harlots 6
La Racaille 91 vs. Thames Fatales 0
Chicks Ahoy! 89 vs. Betties 15 (eliminated)
Green Mountain Derby Dames 29 vs. Death Row Dames 15
Venus Fly Tramps 43 vs. Riot Squad 14 (eliminated)
Les Contrabanditas 63 vs. Gore-Gore Rollergirls 17

Derby Debutantes 38 vs. Death Track Dolls 29 (eliminated)
Les Filles du Roi 115 vs. Vicious Dishes 7
Harlots 28 vs. Slaughter Daughters 24 (eliminated)
Thames Fatales 24 vs. Venus Fly Tramps 15 (eliminated)
Death Row Dames 42 vs. Chicks Ahoy! 34 (eliminated)
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 45 vs. Harlots 20 (eliminated)
Vicious Dishes 52 vs. Derby Debutantes 24 (eliminated)

Quarter Finals

La Racaille 57 vs. Vicious Dishes 4
Les Contrabanditas 64 vs. Death Row Dames 11
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 45 vs. Green Mountain Derby Dames 22
Les Filles du Roi 91 vs. Thames Fatales 12

Semi Finals

La Racaille 69 vs. Les Contrabanditas 46
Les Filles du Roi 65 vs. Gore-Gore Roller Girls 1

Third Place

Les Contrabanditas 91 vs. Gores 21

Final

Les Filles du Roi 36 vs. La Racaille 20

*Read the Derby Nerd’s preview and recap.

*Watch the archived bouts.

Beast of the East 4: 2011

First Round (Double Elimination)

Duchesses de Quebec 4 vs. Derby Debutantes 124

La Racaille 55 vs. Riot Squad 7

Chicks Ahoy! 63 vs. Total Knockouts (TKOs) 7

Filles du Roi vs. Death Track Dolls 47

Vicious Dishes 50 vs. Gore-Gore Rollergirls 48

Contrabanditas 148 vs. Chrome Mollys 0

Slaughter Daughters 38 vs. Venus Fly Tramps 28

Thames Fatales 75 vs. Smoke City Betties 12

Derby Debutants 8 vs. La Racaille 100

Duchesses du Quebec 4 vs. Riot Squad 97 (Duchesses eliminated)

Chicks Ahoy! 40 vs. Death Track Dolls 21

TKOs 0 vs. Filles du Roi 81 (TKOs eliminated)

Vicious Dishes 21 vs. Contrabanditas 27

Gore-Gore Rollergirls 131 vs. Chrome Mollys 10 (Mollys eliminated)

Slaughter Daughters 62 vs. Thames Fatales 12

Venus Fly Tramps 66 vs. Smoke City Betties 14 (Betties eliminated)

Derby Debutants 29 vs. Filles du Roi 62 (Debutantes eliminated)

Death Track Dolls 84 vs. Riot Squad 8 (Riot Squad elimanted)

Vicious Dishes 49 vs. Venus Fly Tramps 3 (Tramps eliminated)

Thames Fatales 36 vs. Gore-Gore Rollergirls 49 (Thames eliminated)

Quarter Finals

La Racaille 11 vs. Gore-Gore Rollergirls 88

Contrabanditas 49 vs. Death Track Dolls 58

Chicks Ahoy! 48 vs. Vicious Dishes 8

Slaughter Daughters 81 vs. Filles du Roi 3

Semi Finals

Gore-Gore Rollergirls 51 vs. Death Track Dolls 11

Chicks Ahoy! 19 vs. Slaughter Daughters 33

Third Place

Death Track Dolls 42 vs. Chicks Ahoy! 31

Final

Gore-Gore Rollergirls 85 vs. Slaughter Daughters 87

* Read the Derby Nerd’s preview and recap.

* Watch the archived bouts

Beast of the East 5: 2012

First Round (Double Elimination)

Chicks Ahoy! 51 vs. Slaughter Daughters 41

La Racaille 46 vs. Gore-Gore Roller Girls 30

Motor City Madames 36 vs. Hammer City Harlots 57

Les Contrabanditas 54 vs. Death Track Dolls 20

Vicious Dishes 139 vs. Reines of Terror 0

Les Filles du Roi 79 vs. Babes of Thunder 8

Derby Debutantes 6 vs. Thames Fatales 112

Smoke City Betties 108 vs. Les Duchesses 13

Chicks Ahoy! 10 vs. La Racaille 39

Slaughter Daughters 72 vs. Gore-Gore Rollergirls 52 (Gores eliminated)

Hamilton Harlots 39 vs. Les Contrabanditas 84

Motor City Madames 28 vs. Death Track Dolls 95 (Motor City eliminated)

Vicious Dishes 30 vs. Les Filles du Roi 47

Reines of Terror 34 vs. Babes of Thunder 71 (Reines eliminated)

Thames Fatales 64 vs. Smoke City Betties 69

Derby Debutantes 30 vs. Les Duchesses 120 (Debutantes eliminated)

La Racaille 59 vs. Death Track Dolls 31 (Dolls eliminated)

Hamilton Harlots 30 vs. Slaughter Daughters 131 (Harlots eliminated)

Vicious Dishes 123 vs. Les Duchesses 0 (Duchesses eliminated)

Thames Fatales 20 vs. Babes of Thunder 77 (Thames eliminated)

Quarter Finals

Chicks Ahoy! 83 vs. Babes of Thunder 22

Les Filles du Roi 67 vs. Slaughter Daughters 71

Les Contrabanditas 54 vs. Vicious Dishes 64

Smoke City Betties 59 vs. La Racaille 78

Semi Finals

Chicks Ahoy! 31 vs. Slaughter Daughters 65

Vicious Dishes 67 vs. La Racaille 48

Third Place

Chicks Ahoy! 87 vs. La Racaille 48

Final

Vicious Dishes 118 vs. Slaughter Daughters 63

* Read the Derby Nerd’s preview and recap

* Watch the archived bouts

Beast of the East Update: Participants Named!

The participants for the 2013 Beast of the East were named this weekend, with a very experienced group of teams getting selected to take part. This year will mark the 6th time this tournament has been held; hosted by the Montreal Roller Derby, this year’s tournament will run from April 27th to 28th.

THE PARTICIPANTS

Montreal Roller Derby

Les Contrabanditas

Les Filles du Roi

La Racaille

The host league, and Canada’s most competitive roller derby league, Montreal’s three home teams always seem to have something to say about the outcome of the event. Of the three teams, only Les Contrabanditas remain without a championship, while the Beast of the East’s winningest team La Racaille (17 wins and three trips to the finals) won in 2009 and Les Filles du Roi won it all in 2010. Last year, all three teams made it to the quarter finals, with La Racaille managing a 4th place finish.

Tri-City Roller Girls

Vicious Dishes

Total Knock Outs

Tri City’s Vicious Dishes return to defend the title they won so convincingly last year. While the Dishes lost some key skaters in the off season, they remain a seasoned crew. This year, they will be looking to achieve what no other team has: a successful defence of the Beast of the East trophy. The TKO’s make their return to the Beast after an 0-2 debut in 2011.

Rideau Valley Roller Girls

Slaughter Daughters

Riot Squad

The 2011 champs, the Slaughter Daughters, made it all the way back to the final last season, before falling to Tri-City’s Dishes. Nonetheless, it has been a successful two years for the Slaughter Daughters at the tournament and inter-city level, and remain the top ranked home team in the country. As with the Vicious Dishes, many of Rideau Valley’s WFTDA-team skaters play on this team, making them an experienced, formidable crew. The Riot Squad did not complete last year, but compiled a 1-4 record over two appearances in 2010 and 2011.

Toronto Roller Derby

Chicks Ahoy!

Death Track Dolls

Gore-Gore Rollergirls

Smoke City Betties

All four of Toronto Roller Derby’s home teams have taken part in all of the Beast of the East tournaments, but despite each team’s various successes over the tournament’s history, none have taken home a title. The Chicks Ahoy! finished in 3rd place last season, while Dolls finished 3rd in 2011 when the Gores were runners up. The Smoke City Betties (who had a spirited run to the quarterfinals last year) made their only top 4 appearance in 2009. This year, many veteran skaters are now playing exclusively for ToRD’s WFTDA team, CN Power, meaning that it will be somewhat of a rebuilding year for ToRD’s home teams.

Forest City Derby Girls

Thames Fatales

Luscious Lunch Ladies

Outside of Montreal and Toronto, London’s Thames Fatales are the only team to have played in every Beast of the East, making it as far as the quarterfinals in 2010. While one other Forest City team has played in the Beast (The London Thrashers in 2008), the Luscious Lunch Ladies will be making their debut in 2013.

GTA Rollergirls

Derby Debutantes

The Debutantes made their debut in 2009 and have appeared every year since. They’ve picked up two wins along the way, but have yet to advance to the quarterfinals.

Roller Derby Quebec

Les Casse-Gueules

Le Rouge et Gore

Roller Derby Quebec made its Beast debut in 2011 when it was still a one-team league. This year Les Duchesses, that original team, are now the travel team supported by two home teams, Les Casse-Gueules and Le Rouge et Gore, who will both be appearing at this year’s Beast. Les Duchesses picked up Quebec’s first Beast victory last year.

Who is the Second Best Team in Canada?

A few weeks ago on the popular podcast Derby Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, co-host and Canadian correspondent Andi Struction, declared that the Terminal City All Stars were the second best team in Canada. Along with American based announcer and Roller Derby Radio co-host Bob Noxious, they also speculated that the West Kootenay Kannibelles could be the third best team in the country.

Admittedly, I was surprised by the confidence with which this statement was made, and then as the days after the podcast passed, I was also surprised at the reaction I was getting from eastern Canadians: it seemed that a lot of people in eastern Canada felt very strongly that Toronto’s CN Power was clearly the second best team in Canadian; still others expressed to me with some certainty that the Tri-City Thunder were the second best team in Canada.

Montreal`s New Skids on the Block scrum start in a victory over Suburbia`s Suburban Brawl this spring. (Photo by Richard Lafortune)

I was surprised by all of the strong reactions because to me, it seemed obvious that there was no clear number two in Canada. That after the consensus number one (Montreal Roller Derby’s New Skids on the Block), there was no discernible difference between Terminal City, Toronto, or Tri-City. To borrow a cliché from another sport, I believe that on any given Sunday, either of these teams would be capable of beating the other. But this debate also made it clear to me—because naively it wasn’t clear to me before—that there is a pretty clear divide between the eastern roller derby communities and the western ones (with the central region generally getting lumped in with the west and the Atlantic provinces considered with the east).

But, at least a discussion of this idea has been sparked. Generally, we Canadians have a reputation, fair or otherwise, for being polite. I think this has spilled over into derby: We’re generally pretty fair and positive in the derby community—which is excellent—but it can cloud our judgement in terms of ranking teams. Here’s the way I have it playing out in the east and west.

EAST

1. Montreal (New Skids on the Block, MTLRD)

2. Toronto (CN Power, ToRD)

3. Tri-City (Thunder, Tri-City Rollergirls)

4. Rideau Valley (Vixens, RVRG)

5. Hammer City (Eh! Team, HCRG)

CN Power and Tri-City Thunder met at this year`s Quad City Chaos with CN Power holding on for the 141-107 victory. (Photo by Neil Gunner)

The east is heavily skewed toward the WFTDA, as all these teams are full members. (I only looked at top level travel teams; Montreal’s B-Team, Les Sexpos, are certainly in the top five competitively, and Toronto’s B-Team, the Bay Street Bruisers, are also ranked ahead of Hammer City on rollergirl.ca’s flat track rankings). The top three are clearly ahead of the others, and I’ve put Toronto over Tri-City here based on the fact that Toronto beat Tri-City earlier in the year, but competitively, I’d put them on the same level. After a few years of wallowing out of the competitive picture, Hammer City finally seems to have rebuilt its team to relatively competitive level and a recent victory over Royal City’s Brute Leggers (an eastern team on the rise) shows that they belong back in the Top 5.

WEST

1. Terminal City (All Stars, TCRG)

2. West Kootenay (Kannibelles, WKWRD)

3. Edmonton (E-Ville Dead, E-Ville Roller Derby)

4. Red Deer (Belladonnas, RDRDA)

5. Edmonton (Oil City All Stars, OCDG)

Terminal City remains the dominant team in Western Canada.

I’m not as familiar with the western teams as I am the eastern ones, but I have watched as much as I possibly could, and these “power rankings” also reflect the rollergirl.ca rankings. Only Terminal City is a full WFTDA league and this is played out in the competitive distance Terminal City has over the other teams in the west (although West Kootenay Kannibelles is on the rise). While for the past 12 months anyway, E-Ville has paced themselves ahead of Red Deer and Oil City, competitively I see them on a similar level.

If we look at Terminal City, Toronto and Tri City alone and with different stats, they are even closer:

• WFTDA has them ranked almost precisely the same in their respective regions: CN Power (15 NC), Terminal City (16 W), Tri-City (17 NC).

• falttrackstats has only a 17 point difference between 42nd ranked Terminal City, 45th Tri-City and 49th Toronto. When you consider that there are no common opponents between the eastern teams and Terminal City (and Montreal’s gap is a considerable 73 points ahead of this pack), the 17 point difference is fairly insignificant. (**rollergirl.ca has the gap as slightly larger, 30 points separating the three teams, but falttrackstats focuses on only matchups with higher-level teams, so in this particular case is probably more accurate)

While I do think West Kootenay is on the rise, I put them at the same level as Rideau Valley right now, reaching for, but not quite at that upper echelon yet, and would probably have to say that they are tied for fifth. Both teams have world-class talent (Beretta Lynch on the Kannibelles, Semi-Precious on the Vixens, for example), but lack the bench depth of the top four and the competitive level of experience. If I had to make a prediction, I would put the Vixens ahead of the Kannibelles in the long run. They are already WFTDA members and have been playing higher level teams more consistently, but they also have a contained houseleague that is operating at a high level. Right now the West Kootenay Women’s Roller Derby is operating an unwieldy seven houseleague teams which could very well dilute their talent in the long run (ToRD learned this lesson the hard way, when from 2007-2008 they had a very successful six-team houseleague, yet their travel team’s competitive level fell considerably and both Montreal and Hammer City leap-frogged them; a turn around that wasn’t abated until Toronto repurposed two of the teams and refocused as a four-team houseleague: the competitive level of the travel team jumped almost immediately).

So here’s how I see things realistically:

CANADA

1. Montreal

2. Terminal City, Toronto, Tri-City

5. Rideau Valley, West Kootenay

In 2010, the top four teams in Canada met in an unofficial Canadian Championship at ToRD`s first ever Quad City Chaos. (Photo by Derek Lang)

I honestly believe that the only way to settle it would be to play and unfortunately that’s not going to happen any time soon. While the RDAC tournament in the west featured the top teams (with Terminal City and West Kootenay advancing), the top teams in the east are not participating in the RDAC Eastern Championship this year. Actually out of the top five leagues in the east, only Toronto is sending its B-Team to the tournament. The other participating teams are of varying levels of experience (this was similar to last year’s CWRDA tournaments, the predecessor to the RDAC tournaments).

Hopefully someday soon we’ll be able to have a true Canadian championship and put this speculation to rest!

***My knowledge of central Canadian derby is admittedly pretty limited, but I haven’t seen anything (results or otherwise) that would put any of the teams there in contention. While derby in the Atlantic provinces is also booming right now, the competitive level is not at that of the rest of eastern Canada yet.

***Respectful disagreement and debate is strongly encouraged!

Building for the Future: A Personal Reflection on Two Days of Derby (Part 1)

The Ohio Roller Girls came to Southern Ontario for their first ever Canadian road trip. (Photography by Joe Mac)

There has always been something incongruous about watching roller derby at the New Hamburg arena in New Hamburg , Ontario, one of the few venues used by the Tri-City Roller Girls. The town is a quaint, early 19^th century community situated along the Nith River just outside of Kitchener/Waterloo. The streets are lined with old brick houses; there is a single-intersection “downtown.” The venue itself is a typical rural Canadian hockey rink of a certain era, with its wooden bleachers and creaky boards. On May 19, 2012, it also happened to be hosting a pretty intense roller derby showdown. The Ohio Roller Girls—who at 12-1 are somewhat of a “big green machine” in the WFTDA’s North Central Region this season—are playing in the first of two major WFTDA showdowns on this, their first road trip through southern Ontario. The Ohio All Stars and the Tri-City Thunder are tied at 20 about ten minutes into the first half. It’s a tense, chippy, hard-hitting and high-level bout that has only heightened the incongruity of the venue. In front of this typical (almost stereotypical) rural-Canadian backdrop there are two modern flat track roller derby teams playing the complicated game at an extremely high level, decked-out in sleek, sporty uniforms with the WFTDA logo attached prominently on the bottom right-hand corner of each team’s jerseys.

The Ohio All Stars are currently ranked 7^th in the North Central region, a significant jump from 10^th where they started the year. They’ve embarked on the kind of schedule (13 games so far) that will allow them to not only make the WFTDA Regional playoffs but also compete. It’s similar to the schedule they took on in 2011 just to make the Regionals (they played 16 games before the playoffs). Their opponents this weekend, Tri-City and ToRD, are comparative upstarts in the WFTDA attempting to do something that would be a rarity in the young sport: make the playoffs in only their first full year of highly competitive roller derby.

Virtually every jam of the A-team game began as a scrum start.

Ohio is an interesting model, and they have a history not unlike those of both Tri-City and ToRD. Formed in 2005, Ohio Roller Girls was originally a four-team houseleague that played a regular season, had playoffs and concluded with a championship bout. Starting in 2006 with the rise of inter-league play, the league began to shift its focus to the competitive travel team model. By 2009 they restructured the league to have “A” and “B” travel teams exclusively to allow a focus on WFTDA rankings. Both ToRD and Tri City began with the similar houseleague model. Only a year after its founding, Toronto, in 2007, embarked on an ambitious six-team houseleague that would stretch players in terms of resources and talent. Within two years, two of those first six teams were contracted from houseleague play leaving a four-team league in its stead. This was also the time when the league created CN Power, it’s eventual WFTDA travel team (following travel teams created in Montreal and Hamilton). Tri-City, which had a two-team houseleague (eventually increased to three), started the Thunder at a similar time.

Both models offer interesting contrasts. Ohio travelled this weekend with only 20 skaters to stretch over the four games they would play (two B-team and two A-team showdowns), an amazing show of endurance and game-preparedness. That togetherness is apparent against Tri-City. The Thunder are relentless in the first half, but Ohio is completely unfazed and they lead 79-48 at the break.

Ohio’s Gang Green defeated Tri-City’s PLan B 248-49.

This is where a little disclosure is necessary: while I’m enthralled over the A-team matchup (CN Power will be facing off against this very team tomorrow in what will be its most important game of the season and perhaps in the team’s history), I’ve also become extremely nervous about the B-team showdown in Toronto. Earlier in the evening, Ohio’s B-team, Gang Green, with a roster filled out by members of the A-team, dismantled Tri-City’s Plan B (a newly formed B team playing in its second game). The final score was 248-49. The next day the team I coach, the Bay Street Bruisers, will be taking this team on in our first game ever. While the CN Power vs. Ohio showdown may be the important showdown in the present, looking forward, the development of a B team may prove to be the most important development in ToRD’s competitive future.

****Tomorrow: “Building for the Future: A Personal Reflection on Two Days of Derby (Party 2)”

Word on the Track (Rankings Update Part 1: WFTDA)

WFTDA UPDATE

The first quarter WFTDA rankings have now been released, and already the playoff races are starting to take shape.  While a lot of the top teams in each region are just starting to play, the fight to reach the top 10 is well under way. For complete rankings, visit the WFTDA Rankings.

North Central:

1.  Windy City Rollers (1)

2. Minnesota RollerGirls (2)

3. Naptown Roller Girls (3)

4. Detroit Derby Girls (4)

5. The Chicago Outfit (5)

6. Brewcity Bruisers (7)

7. Ohio Roller Girls (9)

8. Arch Rival Roller Girls (6)

9. Cincinnati Rollergirls (8)

10. Mad Rollin’ Dolls (10)

**15. Toronto Roller Derby (17)

**17. Tri-City Roller Girls (16)

While the teams in the North Central’s Top 10 stay the same, the order has been shaken up. 1-5 remain unchanged with the two Chicago teams sandwiching Minnesota (who are 5-0 on the season including a huge 155 point victory over 9^th ranked Cincinnati), Naptown (5-2, whose only losses this season have come to the two teams ahead of them in the North Central), and Detroit  (yet to play in 2012). After this, things get interesting.

One of the busiest teams in the WFTDA (9-1), Ohio has made the biggest  jump moving from 9^th to 7^th based, especially, on a 53-point victory over Arch Rival (4-1) who has the biggest drop from 6^th to 8^th. For Canadian derby fans, Toronto’s CN Power, on the strength of their 5-0 record, leaps two spots to 15^th just behind Fort Wayne (1-3) despite defeating that team in their season opener. The Tri-City Thunder  (2-1) drop one spot after losing to CN Power at this year’s Quad City Chaos. The playoffs are still in reach for these two teams, but they will both need to pull off major upsets over Ohio this month (May 19^th, and 20^th) and hope for 10^th ranked Mad Rollin Dolls (0-2) to continue their losing streak if either hopes to sneak in.

East:

1. Gotham Girls Roller Derby (1)

2. Philly Roller Girls (2)

3. Charm City Roller Girls (3)

4. Steel City Derby Demons (4)

5. London Rollergirls (5)

6. Montreal Roller Derby (6)

7. Boston Derby Dames (7)

8. Carolina Rollergirls (8)

9. Dutchland Derby Rollers (9)

10. DC Rollergirls (11)

Remarkably, only one change so far in the Eastern Region: DC Rollergirls spent all of last season on the fringe unable to break into the top 10. Determined to do so, they have embarked on an ambitious 2012 schedule so far, travelling coast to coast and compiling a 6-3 record.  But their biggest victory came just last month when they defeated Maine (3-3), the formerly 10^th ranked team in the region, 197-131, as part of their current four game winning streak that has vaulted them into the top 10. For the most part, things are just getting underway in the East with Gotham recently getting rolling (they’ve outscored their opposition 1135-84 in only two games) and Charm City winning a banked track tournament. Montreal has been the busiest of the top 6 teams so far, but has stumbled to a 4-4 record (with those losses coming against stiff competition from Naptown, Minnesota, Kansas City and Philly), and have unable to make up any ground on the teams ahead of them.

South Central:

1. Texas Rollergirls (1)

2. Kansas City Roller Warriors (2)

3. Nashville Rollergirls (3)

4. Houston Roller Derby (5)

5. Atlanta Rollergirls (4)

6. Tampa Roller Derby (8)

7. Omaha Rollergirls (10)

8. No Coast Derby Girls (6)

9. Jacksonville Rollergirls (11)

10. Tallahassee Rollergirls (15)

Things start to get interesting in the South Central with some massive changes from last year’s final quarterly rankings.  Out of the top 10 are Green Country (who had occupied 7^th spot but are 1-6 in 2012 including 5 losses to teams ranked below them) and Gold Coast (9^th with a very similar 1-5 record in 2012) who represent some big swings in placement in this region. Even the top 5 saw a switch up between Atlanta (now 5^th) and Houston (4^th). Houston had been, and still is, one of the hotter teams in the Region and kicked off the year on a 6-0 run including a dominant tournament win at the 2012 Clover Cup. That streak came to an end last week with a 139 point loss to North Central powerhouse Windy City.

This shake up at the bottom of the top 10 has allowed Omaha to jump three spots to 7^th. Omaha has worked hard for the placement, compiling an 8-3 record  that includes a 3^rd place finish at the Clover Cup. Jacksonville at 9^th (from 11^th after a 5^th place finish at the Clover Cup and wins over Green Country and Gold Coast) and Tallahassee 10^th (who makes one of the biggest jumps of the quarter from 15^th) now have a spot to hold for Regionals. Since 2009, Tallahassee has never been ranked higher than 13^th, so this represents a big step for the team.

West:

1. Oly Rollers (1)

2. Rocky Mountain Rollergirls (2)

3. Rose City Rollers (3)

4. Denver Roller Dolls (5)

5. Rat City Rollergirls (4)

6. B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls (6)

7. Sacred City Derby Girls (7)

8. Angel City Derby Girls (9)

9. Jet City Rollergirls (8)

10. Arizona Roller Derby (13)

**16. Terminal City Roller Girls (23)

The West is about to get wild.

Although the first quarterly rankings show very little change, the small changes show hints of things to come. Starting at the top: the Oly Rollers, who have had a firm grip on this Region since 2009, have suffered some major losses to the lineup and with only one game played in 2012 (a victory over the so-far inconsistent Jet City), it remains to be seen the impact that this will have. Rocky Mountain has also suffered a shake up at the core, but looked like they were weathering those losses after winning the Dust Devil 2012 until losing to 6^th ranked B.A.D. Girls last week 160-113. Denver, slipping up to 4^th, also looks to be gearing up for a big 2012 as well, as they kicked off their season with a convincing 235-97 victory over the B.A.D. Girls.

Historic Tucson Roller Derby wasn’t able to hold its spot against another historic team that is surging: Arizona. Arizona’s Tent City Terrors are back in the mix with a new-look lineup featuring game-changing transfers in Joy Collision from Charm City along with Hockey Honey and Atomatrix from Oly.  While Arizona is one of the original WFTDA leagues, it has never had much success, winning only five of its first 18 games between 2005 and 2009. Since 2009, the team has never climbed higher than 12^th in the region. But the team is off to a 3-1 start so far in 2012, with its only loss coming in an 11-point game against Rocky Mountain at the Dust Devil.

For Canadian fans, Terminal City is the talk of the West, leaping an amazing seven places in the standing from 23^rd to 16^th. They have been extremely busy as well, tearing through the Western Region and gong 9-2 in WFTDA action this year already (not to mention another 2-1 record in unsanctioned games). Their only losses were to playoff team Jet City and Santa Cruz, whom they turned around and beat in a rematch ensuring their 16^th place spot. An upcoming showdown with 5th ranked Rat City could have a lot to say about their chances of making the West Region playoffs.

Tri-City Dishes out Punishment, wins 2012 Beast of the East

Tri-City's Vicious Dishes become the fifth Beast winner in five years. (Photography by Joe Mac)

For the second straight year parity was the word in Montreal as Eastern Canada’s traditional powerhouses from Montreal, Toronto, Rideau Valley and Tri-City put on an unpredictable and thrilling show in one of the sport’s last great houseleague tournaments: for the first time ever, all four semifinalists represented four different cities. But there were also a few big surprises –including the emergence of a new team to watch from northern Ontario—and the variety of styles of derby played had the crowd enthralled over two days and twenty-eight games. In the end, the Vicious Dishes, a supremely talented team that had never fared well at the Beast, pulled it all together at the right time and rode a thrilling Sunday push to the Championship final, and their first Beast of the East victory.

Pre-tournament favourites Chicks Ahoy! and Slaughter Daughters kicked off the tournament.

DOUBLE ELIMINATION ROUND

Set up by a random draw, the first round is always full of surprises and this year with a stacked upper bracket, was full of exciting action early. The tournament opener saw two pre-tournament favourites square off in a sleepy bout with ToRD’s Chicks Ahoy! taking the 10-point victory over the defending champion Slaughter Daughters out of Rideau Valley. But given the disparity in experience between some of the leagues, there were also some blowouts. Only twice in the tournament’s history had teams recorded shutouts (with 20 minute preliminary round games, this is certainly doable), yet the Vicious Dishes managed to pull it off twice defeating Muddy Rivers’ Reines of Terror and Quebec’s Les Duchesses by a combined score of 271-0 (although Les Duchesses would hit the century mark as well in their historic first-ever victory over an overmatched Debutantes team from GTA, part of a record-setting seven 100-point performances in the tournament). Despite these massive victories, the Dishes remained under the radar based on a sloppy, inconsistent performance resulting in a loss to co-hosts Les Filles du Roi.

2008 champs Hamilton Harlots returned to winning ways with a victory over first-timers Motor City Madames from Durham.

There were certainly a fair share of surprises as well, as pre-tournament favourites and last year’s finalists the Gore-Gore Rollergirls (who played very short-handed) never seemed to quite get their heads in it and were eliminated in the first round for the first time since 2008 (which was a single-elimination tournament). 2008 champs the Hamilton Harlots would get back in the win column this season, but would get dominated by the Daughters in an elimination game, and last year’s third place finishers, ToRD’s Death Track Dolls would see their tournament end early with a 59-31 loss to La Racaille. The Smoke City Betties picked up the slack for the ToRD contingent though, pulling off a demoralizing last-jam victory over the Thames Fatales to book their spot in the quarterfinal for the first time since 2009. Also short-handed, the Thames Fatales (one of eight teams playing in their fifth BOE) would never quite recover from that blow and would be overwhelmed in a surprisingly one-sided loss to an increasingly strong Babes of Thunder team from Thunder Bay (77-20), one of three teams debuting at the Beast (the others were the Reines and Durham’s Motor City Madames).

Led by excellent play from Mel E. Juana (among others), La Racaille would be the only of the three host teams to advance past the quarterfinals.

KNOCKOUT ROUND

Quarterfinals

Although the Chicks handled the Babes fairly well in the first quarterfinal (an 85-22 win that was never in doubt), it certainly wasn’t easy, and the performance capped an incredible tournament by the skaters from Thunder Bay. Beyond that, the quarterfinals provided some thrilling, high-scoring bouts including a four-point victory by the Daughters over a resurgent FDR who, paced by the amazing return of Beater Pan Tease after a two-year absence, saw a fierce late-game comeback fall just short (71-67). The Smoke City Betties competed well with, but could never quite solve La Racaille (78-59), and in the most thrilling (and controversial) game of the round, Les Contrabanditas fell to the Vicious Dishes. It was the second-straight year that the Ditas, Montreal’s big hope for the past two years, fell in the quarterfinals in somewhat of an upset. Although there was controversy at the end, the Ditas didn’t bring their A-game and early on it actually looked as if the Dishes would run away with it. A late-game push proved to be too little too late as the Dishes held on 64-54.

Despite a tough semi-final loss for the second straight year, the Chicks Ahoy! won their first Beast of the East trophy.

Semifinals

For the first time in the tournament’s history four different cities were represented in the semifinals. In the first, highly anticipated semifinal (a match up most had seen coming prior to the tournament), the Chicks Ahoy! became unraveled in an uncharacteristically undisciplined game against the Slaughter Daughters that saw them spend almost the entire game shorthanded (including a near eight-minute run when they were down 4-2 in the pack). Against a team as experienced and focused as the Daughters, it was virtually impossible for the Chicks to stay in it, and the Daughters guaranteed themselves a chance to defend their titles with the 65-31 victory.

In the second semifinal, the host city’s last hope, La Racaille, seemed to run out of steam against a team that was just beginning to pick it up. Using smart, punishing pack work (beautiful bridging to the front and back), the Dishes ground down the very talented La Racaille, but never ran away with it, securing the team’s first visit to the championship final with the 67-48 win.

Finals

For the second time in the tournament, the  Chicks Ahoy! and La Racaille met, and although this Montreal team looks as if it has come a long way in the past year (and sports an exciting lineup including homegrown talent Mel E. Juana, Nameless Whorror and Sparkle ‘N Maim and impressive transfers Surgical Strike, Slavic Slayer and Pelvis Stojko), they were outmatched again by a composed Chicks team led by Tara Part and Nasher the Smasher (dominant in the pack), and a strong jammer rotation of Candy Crossbones, Dyna Hurtcha and Bala Reina. Although unhappy with not advancing to the final, the Chicks picked up their first Beast trophy ever in the 87-48 victory.

Stifling pack work helped the Dishes win their first Beast of the East.

More evidence of the parity amongst the elite leagues in Eastern Canada, the Vicious Dishes vs. Slaughter Daughters final marked the first time in the tournament that both finalists had lost a game on route to the championship. Despite losses to key skaters, the Daughters have managed to fill gaps with excellent pickups in Eh Nihilator (a Gainesville transfer) L.A. Clip-her and Amanda Pummeler, and seemed poised to defend against a Dishes team that had taken many by surprise. Skating without the injured Cleothrashya and key jammer Motorhead Molly (replaced by leaguemates Leigh-zzie Borden and Freudian Whip respectively), the Dishes grasped control of the final early and never relented. With a core of Thunder skaters creating solid packs (sin-e-star, Bareleigh Legal, Anita Martini, Sofanda Beatin, Stacie Jones and Suzy Slam) and solid jamming from Lippy Wrongstockings and the converted pivot Jill Standing,  the Dishes got better as the tournament progressed and seemed the fresher and more focused of the two teams in the final. Despite the usual excellent work by the likes of Semi-Precious Margaret Choke, Scotch Minx and Sister Disaster (who joined Bareleigh Legal in fouling out of the game) the phenomenal jamming of Soul Rekker (that included one of the best apex jumps many had ever seen), the Daughters could never completely control the Dishes’ packs as they had others throughout the tournament, and despite the rain of boos that cascaded down upon the perhaps unfairly unpopular Dishes, they were clearly the top team by the end of it and became the first team to score over a hundred points in the final (and the first to hit the mark three times in single a tournament), winning 118-63 and claiming the team’s first ever Beast of the East championship.

Always amazing one-on-one, Semi Precious (#10) has, frighteningly, taken her pack work up another notch.

NERD’s PICKS

MVP: Semi Precious  (Slaughter Daughters)

The strength of the team-play of the champion Dishes made it hard to single-out any one player (which probably says a lot about why they won the tournament), so for the second year in a row, the Rideau Valley blocker takes the prize. Despite not leading her team to a championship, the Team Canada standout put together yet another incredible tournament and was the talk of the weekend among commentators, fans and players alike. Her always ferocious one-on-one abilities are now complemented by amazing pack leadership and she has become a complete player and one of this country’s elite superstars.

Daughters' Amanda Pummeler looked unintimidated against more experienced jammers like Freudian Whip.

Breakout Player:  Amanda Pummeler (Slaughter Daughters)

There were amazing breakout performances by so many skaters including Cutsie Bootsie (the Motor City Madames) whose team’s early exit didn’t allow her to face the stiff, late-round competition. Freudian Whip (Vicious Dishes) and Bala Reina (Chicks Ahoy!) both entered the tournament riding impressive 2012 performances and the hometown Apocalipstick (Les Filles du Roi) and Mel E. Juana (La Racaille) have been training with the mighty New Skids on the Block. But Rideau Valley’s Amanda Pummeler (a Fredericton transfer) takes the cake for answering a question: how do the Daughters reach the final with the absence of key jammer Ripper Apart? To win the tournament requires a deep jammer rotation and Pummeler added that with an impressive, consistent breakout performance.

Babes of Thunder made a huge impression in their impressive debut.

Breakout Team: Babes of Thunder (Thunder Bay)

While ToRD’s Smoke City Betties certainly get some consideration for their return to form, the Babes of Thunder made this a fairly easy decision. With very little action under their belts, and a roster known by no one (with the exception of former Montreal and Rose City skater Boxcar Bethy), the Babes impressed. In their opening game against FDR, the Babes seemed to know what to do, they just couldn’t quite do it, but by the end of the first round (including consecutive must-win victories over Reins of Terror and Thames Fatales), the Babes were rolling and their quarterfinal appearance announces them as a team to watch.

* All the tournament action was covered by Canuck Derby TV and you can watch the archives here.

* A big thanks to Canuck Derby TV and Montreal Roller Derby, but the Nerd would like to send out a special thanks to Neon Skates for their support of the Nerd’s coverage of the 2012 Beast  of the East.

Beast of the East: History by the Numbers

Beast of the East: By the Numbers

To get ready for the 2012 Beast of the East, take a look back at the history of the tournament.

PARTICIPANT HISTORY (BOE 2012 participants first)

Team	League	BOE Record	Notes
Les Duchesses	RDQC	0-2	Second appearance.
Thames Fatales	FCDG	4 – 7	Quarter final in 2010
Hamilton Harlots	HCRG	7 – 4	Fourth Appearance (2008-2010). Missed 2011. Champs in 08.
Derby Debutantes	GTAR	2 – 6	Fourth appearance.
La Racaille	MTLRD	14 – 4	Runners-up in 08, 10. Champs in 2009.
Les Contrabanditas	MTLRD	12 – 5	2nd place in 2009. 3rd in 2010.
Les Filles du Roi	MTLRD	13 – 4	Semi-final losses in 08, 09. Champs in 2010
Slaughter Daughters	RVRG	7 – 4	Fourth appearance. Champs in 2011
Chicks Ahoy!	ToRD	6 – 7	Quarterfinals in 2008. 4th place in 2011.
Death Track Dolls	ToRD	6 – 7	Quarterfinals in 2009. 3rd place in 2011
Smoke City Betties	ToRD	3 – 7	Semi-final 2009.
Gore-Gore Rollergirls	ToRD	10 – 4	Forfeit 2009 at 3-0. 4th 2010. Runners-up 2011
Vicious Dishes	TCRG	5 – 6	Fourth appearance. Quarterfinals in 2010, 2011
Motor City Madames	DRRD	-	First appearance
Babes of Thunder	TBRD	-	First appearance
Reines of Terror	MRR	-	First appearance
NOT APPEARING in 2012
Death Row Dames	HCRG	3 – 5	2008-2010. Quarterfinals in 2010.
Steel Town Tanks Girls	HCRG	1 – 1	2008
Bay Street Bruisers	ToRD	1 – 3	2008, 2009
D-VAS	ToRD	0 – 1	2008
London Thrashers	FCDG	0 – 1	2008
Bytown Blackhearts	ORD	0 – 1	2008
Capital Carnage	ORD	0 – 2	2009
Devil Dollies	QCRG	1 – 1	1st US team (2008)
Derby Dames	Grn Mtn	2 – 1	2nd US team. Quarterfinals in 2010
Chrome Mollys	GTAR	0 – 2	2011
Riot Squad	RVRG	1 – 4	2010, 2011
Total Knock-Outs	TCRG	0 – 2	2011
Venus Fly Tramps	TCRG	2 – 6	2009-2011

PAST CHAMPIONS

Hamilton Harlots won the first Beast of the East in 2008. (Photo by Derek Lang)

2008: Hamilton Harlots (HCRG)

2009: La Racaille (MTLRD)

2010: Les Filles du Roi (MTLRD)

2011: Slaughter Daughters (RVRG)

RECORDS

Wins: 14 (La Racaille [MTLRD] 2008-2011); Win%: 78% (La Racaille [MTLRD] 2008-2011)

Points Per Game (tournament): 80 (Les Filles du Roi, 2010) Points Against (tournament): 9 (Les Filles du Roi, 2010)

Most Points (Bout): 148 (Les Contrabanditas [MTLRD], 2011) Combined/Differential: 148 (Les Contrabanditas 148 vs. Chrome Mollys [GTAR] 0, 2011) [*The Gore-Gore Rollergirls [ToRD] were the first team to score 100 points in a bout–a 103-11 victory over Capital Carnage in 2009; Les Filles du Roi did it against the Vicious Dishes in 2010; four different teams accomplished it in 2011].

YEAR-BY-YEAR RESULTS

(Generally, all games 20 minutes until final, which is 30)

Beast of the East 1: 2008

First Round

POOL A

Steel Town Tank Girls 40 vs Smoke City Betties 18
La Racaille 65 vs The Bytown Blackhearts 29
Death Row Dames 17 vs Devil Dollies 54
D-VAS 27 vs Les Contrabanditas 50

POOL B

Gore Gore Rollergirls 13 vs Hamilton Harlots 52
Bay Street Brusies 45 vs Thames Fatales 38
London Thrashers 13 vs Chicks Ahoy 65
Death Track Dolls 23 vs Les Filles du Roi 37

Quarter Finals

Steel Town Tank Girls 30 vs La Racaille 32
Devil Dollies 16 vs. Les Contrabanditas 42
Chicks Ahoy 30 vs Les Filles du Roi 38
Hamilton Harlots 53 vs Bay Street Bruisers 15

Semi Finals

Hamilton Harlots 58 vs Les Filles du Roi 29
Les Contrabanditas 32 vs La Racaille 39

Final

Hamilton Harlots 55 vs. La Racaille 18

* Read the Derby Nerd’s reflections on a tournament he didn’t see.

Beast of the East 2: 2009

First Round (Double Elimination)

Capital Carnage 11	Gore-Gore Rollergirls 103
Death Row Dames 23	Thames Fatales 19
Les Contrabanditas 59	Venus Fly Tramps 26
Slaughter Daughters 24	Smoke City Betties 32
La Racaille 67	Bay Street Bruisers 10
Chicks Ahoy! 48	Vicious Dishes 32
Les Filles du Roi 77	Death Track Dolls 6
Derby Debutantes 6	Hamilton Harlots 69
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 32	Death Row Dames 5
Capital Carnage 20 (eliminated)	Thames Fatales 67
Les Contrabanditas 34	Smoke City Betties 20
Venus Fly Tramps 14 (eliminated)	Slaughter Daughters 48
La Racaille 36	Chicks Ahoy! 35
Bay Street Bruisers 16 (eliminated)	Vicious Dishes 21
Les Filles du Roi 34	Hamilton Harlots 25
Death Track Dolls 61	Debutantes 20 (elimin.)
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 35	Les Contrabanditas 26
Death Row Dames 15 (eliminated)	Smoke City Betties 24

	Thames Fatales 28 (eliminated)	Slaughter Daughters 68
	La Racaille 35	Les Filles du Roi 43
	Chicks Ahoy! 21 (eliminated)	Hamilton Harlots 38
	Vicious Dishes 27 (eliminated)	Death Track Dolls 32
	Quarter Finals
	Gores (forfeit)	Smoke City Betties
	Les Contrabanditas 28	Slaughter Daughters 25
	Les Filles du Roi 24	Hamilton Harlots 11
	La Racaille 77	Death Track Dolls 17
	Semi Finals Smoke City Betties 23	Les Contrabanditas 33
	La Racaille 38	Les Filles du Roi 20
	Third Place (Cancelled) Smoke City Betties	Les Filles du Roi
	Final Les Contrabanditas 34	La Racaille 49

* Read the Derby Nerd’s commentary.

* Read a bout-by-bout recap by DNN’s Justice Feelgood Marshall .

Beast of the East 3: 2010

First Round (Double Elimination)
Thames Fatales 38 vs. Smoke City Betties 11
La Racaille 81 vs. Chicks Ahoy!12
Green Mountain Derby Dames 40 vs. Riot Squad 17
Death Row Dames 63 vs. Venus Fly Tramps 6
Les Contrabanditas 72 vs. Death Track Dolls 9
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 43 vs. GTA Derby Debutantes 20
Vicious Dishes 37 vs. Slaughter Daughters 20
Les Filles du Roi 92 vs. Harlots 6
La Racaille 91 vs. Thames Fatales 0
Chicks Ahoy! 89 vs. Betties 15 (eliminated)
Green Mountain Derby Dames 29 vs. Death Row Dames 15
Venus Fly Tramps 43 vs. Riot Squad 14 (eliminated)
Les Contrabanditas 63 vs. Gore-Gore Rollergirls 17

Derby Debutantes 38 vs. Death Track Dolls 29 (eliminated)
Les Filles du Roi 115 vs. Vicious Dishes 7
Harlots 28 vs. Slaughter Daughters 24 (eliminated)
Thames Fatales 24 vs. Venus Fly Tramps 15 (eliminated)
Death Row Dames 42 vs. Chicks Ahoy! 34 (eliminated)
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 45 vs. Harlots 20 (eliminated)
Vicious Dishes 52 vs. Derby Debutantes 24 (eliminated)

Quarter Finals
La Racaille 57 vs. Vicious Dishes 4
Les Contrabanditas 64 vs. Death Row Dames 11
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 45 vs. Green Mountain Derby Dames 22
Les Filles du Roi 91 vs. Thames Fatales 12

Semi Finals
La Racaille 69 vs. Les Contrabanditas 46
Les Filles du Roi 65 vs. Gore-Gore Roller Girls 1

Third Place
Les Contrabanditas 91 vs. Gores 21

Final
Les Filles du Roi 36 vs. La Racaille 20

* Read the Derby Nerd’s preview and recap.

* Watch the archived bouts.

Beast of the East 4: 2011

First Round (Double Elimination)

Duchesses de Quebec 4 vs. Derby Debutantes 124
La Racaille 55 vs. Riot Squad 7
Chicks Ahoy! 63 vs. Total Knockouts (TKOs) 7
Filles du Roi vs. Death Track Dolls 47
Vicious Dishes 50 vs. Gore-Gore Rollergirls 48
Contrabanditas 148 vs. Chrome Mollys 0
Slaughter Daughters 38 vs. Venus Fly Tramps 28
Thames Fatales 75 vs. Smoke City Betties 12
Derby Debutants 8 vs. La Racaille 100
Duchesses du Quebec 4 vs. Riot Squad 97 (Duchesses eliminated)
Chicks Ahoy! 40 vs. Death Track Dolls 21
TKOs 0 vs. Filles du Roi 81 (TKOs eliminated)
Vicious Dishes 21 vs. Contrabanditas 27
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 131 vs. Chrome Mollys 10 (Mollys eliminated)
Slaughter Daughters 62 vs. Thames Fatales 12
Venus Fly Tramps 66 vs. Smoke City Betties 14 (Betties eliminated)
Derby Debutants 29 vs. Filles du Roi 62 (Debutantes eliminated)
Death Track Dolls 84 vs. Riot Squad 8 (Riot Squad elimanted)
Vicious Dishes 49 vs. Venus Fly Tramps 3 (Tramps eliminated)
Thames Fatales 36 vs. Gore-Gore Rollergirls 49 (Thames eliminated)

Quarter Finals
 La Racaille 11 vs. Gore-Gore Rollergirls 88
Contrabanditas 49 vs. Death Track Dolls 58
Chicks Ahoy! 48 vs. Vicious Dishes 8
Slaughter Daughters 81 vs. Filles du Roi 3

Semi Finals
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 51 vs. Death Track Dolls 11
Chicks Ahoy! 19 vs. Slaughter Daughters 33

Third Place
Death Track Dolls 42 vs. Chicks Ahoy! 31

Final
Gore-Gore Rollergirls 85 vs. Slaughter Daughters 87
 

* Read the Derby Nerd’s preview and recap.

* Watch the archived bouts

* The thrilling final jam of the 2011 Beast of the East:

Quad City Chaos Recap (Part 2): The Commentary

THE RESULTS

TEAM	WINS	LOSSES	+/-
CN Power (ToRD)	3	0	500
Tri-City Thunder (TCRG)	2	1	361
Rideau Valley Vixens (RVRG)	1	2	26
Hammer City Eh! Team (HCRG)	0	3	-887

CN Power finished atop the standings at the third Quad City Chaos for the first time in the tournament’s brief history, and after two years of Montreal dominance (they had an average margin of victory of 250 points at last year’s tournament), things were much tighter this year: For the first time more than one team finished with a positive plus minus (only Montreal has done so in the past). Although the competitive level was closer, there was still an element of competitive separation between the clubs, with the Eh! Team falling to a -887 point differential (though comparatively, they had the least experienced lineup and as such, showed immense real-time progress all weekend).

The participants of the 2012 Quad City Chaos. (Photo by Joe Mac)

But this tournament has never fully been about the competition (although this year’s addition showed that the event is certainly moving that way), and instead has provided an opportunity for some of Canada’s top travel teams to get together early in the year to help push each other forward. This year, the Vixens seemed to be the team that gained the most, showing huge strides over last year’s showing (and almost pulling off a big upset over Tri-City). They showed that they are clearly a team that should be followed, and proved that they are not that far from the top. And while in the end the battle of Ontario predictably came down to the Thunder and CN Power  (with CN Power improving to 2-1 against them in the battle for provincial supremacy), it’s not hard to imagine a QCC in the not-too-distant future where all the teams are on the same competitive level.

THE PLAYERS

Defecaitlin helped anchor the explosive CN Power offense (she recorded a 39 point jam against Hammer City). (Photo by Neil Gunner)

THE USUAL SUSPECTS

One thing that has paced CN Power ahead of the crowd is its explosive offense, anchored by the depth of its jammer rotation. With an impressive (and diverse) core rotation of Defecaitlin, Bambi and Candy Crossbones, CN Power was hard to keep off the board with any regularity; in the pack Tara Part and Nasher the Smasher continue to provide solid leadership and consistent play.  For the second place Thunder, Bareleigh Legal and sin-e-star continue to offer a frighteningly efficient and consistent blocking duo; they are intense competitors (Bareleigh sometimes lets that intensity get the best of her) with a ferocious desire to win that drives the Thunder. The offense remains anchored by Motorhead Molly who has been a pillar of stability as the Tri-City rotation has gone through some changes over the past year.

The Vixens Semi Precious was dominant as usual (laying a hit on the Thunder's Konky). (Photo by Greg Russell)

The Vixens continue to be led on the track by the extraordinary Semi Precious; she is a smart player who plays a simple, no nonsense brand of flat track roller derby: strong positionally, accurate and efficient with hits, and a recycling machine, Semi Precious (a member of team Canada) remains one of this country’s premier players of the sport. The Vixens have faced many changes over the years, but having Soul Rekker and Dee Dee Tee wearing the star remains the same. Dee Dee Tee especially stepped it up this weekend, showing a tenacity and fight that only seems to grow with time. Finally, on an Eh! Team full of fresh faces, Bitchslap Barbie and Mean Little Mama remain at the centre of it all. Versatile players both, Mama leads on the track with her ferocity while Barbie, the team captain, remains the motivator, seemingly unfazed in the face of great deficits.

THE STEPPIN-IT UPPERS

Vixens pivot Margaret Choke has emerged as a solid on-track leader. (Photo by Greg Russell)

While it would be easy to say that the whole Vixens team stepped up its game, that charge is clearly being led by Margaret Choke. Always a reliable presence, Choke has elevated her game to a new level in 2012 playing with a confidence that is making her another on-track leader for this team. Offensively and defensively, her timely hits and strong positional play make her an all-around pack threat. The Eh! Team, so short on experience, is another teams full of skaters who have no choice but to step it up. But in terms of reliability and consistency, Lorazeslam  and Whacks Poetic, really stepped it up this weekend. Lorazeslam is a scrappy jammer who has that key jammer ability to just keep going and going (and brings that fire to blocking as well), while Whacks Poetic has become a calm and stabilizing pivot. They will both be vital to the redevelopment of this team.

Thunder's Sofanda Beatin' holds back Defecaitlin. (Photo by Joe Mac)

Tri-City Thunder’s Sofanda Beatin’ has upped her game in a big way this year as well. A lack of pack depth (or drop off between lines) has been an issue with the Thunder in the past, but Sofanda has shown that these gaps can be filled from within. Always a strong hitter and threat on her line, her athleticism and track sense have both leapt to a new level this year and she was an intimidating presence on the track all weekend. Similarly, CN Power’s Aston Martini has always been a strong skater and solid blocker, but she brought her A-game to the QCC  and was a game changer in many ways. A quiet but consistent blocker (a big part of her effectiveness is drawn from her footwork),  Aston showed a certain fire and swagger this weekend that has been lacking from her game at this level, and that now awoken could make her a frightening new piece of the CN Power puzzle.

THE BREAKOUT PLAYERS

Thunder rookie Ova'Kill jammed like a veteran all weekend. (Photo by Greg Russell)

The biggest individual story of the weekend may have been the revelation of rookie Thunder jammer Ova’Kill. In her first half of play ever, she put 50 points on the board against the Eh! Team, and rode that confidence-building debut all the way through the tournament. With a couple key jammers having retired over the past year, she will undoubtedly become an essential piece of the Thunder offense (and seems ready for that role already). The Vixens had breakout players all over the track, but two that consistently stood out were Mudblood and Tarantulove. While Tarantulove is a newer skater who, like Ova’Kill, has immediately taken to jamming, Mudblood has been evolving into a triple threat with the Riot Squad for a while now. Starring with the Rideau Valley Vermin at last year’s CWRDA (now RDAC) Eastern Championship, Mudblood has brought her game up a notch with the Vixens.

Hammer City's Zoe Disco (right) and Lorazeslam form a two wall to hold back Vixen's Dee Dee Tee. (Photo by Neil Gunner)

The Eh! Team is full of potential, with a whole roster of exciting young skaters. Two players who really stepped up their games this weekend though were Zoe Disco and Oh Henry. Both have a year of experience under their belts now and have begun to mature into reliable players (though track awareness  takes time and experience). Although the Eh! Team had a rough weekend, competitively, they have a good, young stable of skaters around which to build this team. They all gained invaluable experience this weekend.

***All the WFTDA action was streamed live on Canuck Derby TV. Check the archives if you missed it. The non-sanctioned games will be available on Layer 9.

***Next up for the CN Power is an April 14^th home date with Queen City’s Lake Effect Furies (Buffalo); the Vixens will be visiting New Hampshire Roller Derby on the same night; The Eh! Team will kick off its home season on May 12^th against Roc City, while the Thunder will head to Grand Rapids on the same night.

Quad City Chaos 2012 Recap (Part One): The Games

Despite big changes to the lineup, the Vixens continue to progress. (Photo by Greg Russell)

DAY ONE

Vixens (Rideau Valley Roller Girls) 84 vs. CN Power (Toronto Roller Derby) 197

The Rideau Valley Vixens came into this tournament in the midst of a mini-rebuild as the first true generational shift in the travel team occurs. With the loss or absence of key pack players and jammers,  the team could easily have crumbled under the pressure of playing their big sisters to the south: but instead, what has emerged from the Vixens’ minor overhaul is the emergence of a solid team with a ton of potential. As a travel team, the Vixens have always been defined by outstanding individual play, so it was a CN Power squad that was caught off guard. Tight walls controlled CN Power jammers on opening passes and allowed the impressive and growing number of Vixens’ jammers to get a significant amount of leads (Soul Rekker and Dee Dee Tee lead the rotation that also included Mudblood, Tarantulove, and Pix E Cutz). This kept things close, with CN Power holding on 83-48 at the half.

CN Power seemed to reel things in to kick off the second half and went on a 30-9 run in the first ten minutes to pad their lead and pull ahead of the upstart Vixens; a Soul Rekker 15-point pick up briefly brought Rideau Valley back into it, but a Betty Bomber 30-point power jam with only 13 minutes remaining increased the lead to 73 points and provided the padding that CN Power needed. Strong recycling from the Brim Stone/Panty Hoser duo, and continued impressive play from Aston Martini ensured the 113 point victory for CN Power, the narrowest margin in four meetings with the Vixens, a good sign for the Ottawa team.

Eh! Team (Hammer City Roller Girls) 31 vs. Thunder (Tri-City Roller Girls) 392

Freudian Whip has taken on a larger jamming role with the Thunder; Hammer City vet Miss Carriage returned to the track before re-injuring her collarbone. (Photo by Neil Gunner)

The second bout of the opening day of the 2012 Quad City Chaos was a display of textbook dominance from the Tri-City Thunder. Controlling every aspect of the bout over a majority of the first half, smothering pack defence, unstoppabably agile jamming (including a monster game from rookie Ova’ Kill—who was playing her first game and recorded 50 points in the first half alone), and overall track awareness saw the Thunder hold the Eh! Team off the board for the first 23 minutes (they lead 145-0 at that time). For the most part, Hammer tried to stem the flow by keeping their core of veterans in the key jammer-pivot roles. It was vet Bitchslap Barbie who finally pulled the first lead jammer and points for her team, and the insatiable Mean Little Mamma kept the momentum going. Down but not demoralized, the Eh! Team was looking at a 180-11 deficit at half.

One thing about this Hammer City team, they never stop fighting even in the face of major odds (they entered the tournament on a 16 game WFTDA losing streak). Lead by the unceasing play of Barbie, Mama and Miss Carriage, the new generation of Hammer City skaters slowly began to mark their presence, and led by a similarly unceasing Lorazeslam and a smart on-track leader in Whacks Poetic, the likes of Zoe Disco, Oh! Henry, Peppermental and Skarla provide a solid group around which to build.  In the end they had no answers for the Thunder who skated away with an impressive 361 point victory.

 *Watch the archived boutcast.

Breakout Vixens jammer Tarantulove mixes it up with Whacks Poetic, one of the key members of the next generation of Hammer City skaters. (Photo by Greg Russell)

Eh! Team (HCRG) 75 vs. Vixens (RVRG) 248

The Rideau Valley Vixens continued their exceptional play. Hammer City, who seemed to be learning and adapting on the fly all weekend, came out with a grinding defensive start that had the Vixens on the defensive as well, and their walls were up for the challenge. While Hammer’s defense was tightening up, they still struggled to generate offense (they were lacking a little toughness in on the track with Judge Jodie and Mama taking this one off). New Vixens’ jammer Tarantulove –who was out there for RVRG’s opening jam—would have a big game for the Vixens who would dominate the first five minutes before Eh! Team vet JJ Bladez finally nabbed a lead and picked up four points to make it 26-4, five minutes in. Once on the scoreboard, the Eh! Team stepped it up, and a Miss Carriage power jam had them clawing back into it. Despite being pulled into Hammer’s hard-hitting, high risk style, fantastic blocking in this one from Screaming Meanie Massacre (who has stepped into a bigger role on the team) and the vastly improved Margaret Choke (who was reliable defensively all weekend), kept the Vixens in control, and they eventually began to slowly pull ahead, leading 147-41 at half.

In the second half, Rideau Valley tightened things up and with less penalties were able to pull away (they took a lot of counter-clockwise blocking penalties in the first). Frostbite Me continued her excellent play in the pack while Tarantulove continued with her best game of the tournament closing out the game with a big jam to end an impressive, one-sided Vixens’ 173 point victory. Nonetheless, the Eh! Team had to be content with their 75 point offensive output in the game.

Brim Stone leads a CN Power wall to hold off Ova' Kill (who had a very impressive rookie debut). (Photo by Greg Russell)

Thunder (TCRG) 107 vs. CN Power (ToRD) 141

The marquee matchup of the 2012 Quad City Chaos was at prime time on Saturday night, and with these two ranked 16^th (Thunder) and 17^th (CN Power) in the WFTDA’s North Central Region, this one was about much more than a potential QCC tournament victory.  This was the third meeting in the last 15 months, and a tie breaker as they split the previous meetings. While this matchup is no longer as much about differing styles as it once was, Thunder still prefers a much slower, deliberate game than CN Power who still doesn’t seem to mind getting involved in a faster shoot out. Nonetheless it was a complete stalemate in the opening jams as both teams proceeded cautiously, almost respectfully. They traded leads throughout the first five minutes until a CN Power power jam (skated by Bambi, who’d never faced Thunder before) with a 4-3 pack advantage gave them a lead (21-3) that they would never relinquish. They settled in to this one and at one point increased the lead to 60-9 with only 12 minutes left. But the Thunder fought back hard at the end of the first and wrestled momentum away, outscoring CN Power 37-3 in the final 12 minutes to pull close, 63-46 at the half.

Super Thunder blocker Bareleigh Legal attempts to hunt down CN Power's Defecaitlin. (Photo by Greg Russell)

This bout was typified by wide swings in momentum, and CN Power came out calm and collected to start the second and was able to quickly get back into it. Penalties played a big role in this one: while Toronto had a steady stream of blockers heading to the pack giving Thunder dangerous pack advantages, Toronto’s jammers managed to remain clean, and the power jams made a big difference. But CN Power also showed their depth in all positions. Experienced jammer Candy Crossbones seemed to revel in the physical game played by the Thunder, and Betty Bomber and Aston Martini both had strong games in the pack. For the Thunder, sin-e-star and BareLeigh Legal were their usual lethal selves but Sofanda Beatin has really stepped up her game and was a huge presence all weekend for Tri-City. Rookie Ova Kill also continued to impress against experienced opponents. Defecaitlin closed out the bout with an important lead jam on the final jam, as CN Power held on for the very important victory.

*Watch the archived boutcast.

DAY TWO

Despite leading for much of the game, in the end the experience of players like sin-e-star and Sofanda Beatin was too much for the Vixens. (Photo by Greg Russell)

Vixens (RVRG) 168 vs. Thunder (TCRG) 202

In what was the second-place game at the tournament, Thunder came in as huge favourites, but as they did all weekend, the Vixens impressed with their steady team play. From the very opening jam, this one was a thriller. Tri City controlled things early as Sofanda Beatin was a one-women wall constantly recycling the Vixens’ jammers. They quickly built an 18 point lead before the very athletic Mudblood, who has emerged as a key player on the Vixens whether in the pack or jamming, finally got her team on the board, but the Thunder were still in control, 18-4 five minutes in. Potentially still suffering from the previous night’s emotional bout against CN Power, Thunder was not their usual dominant selves and seemed easily distracted as an excited Rideau Valley team kept pushing. Some strong offensive blocking from transfer Eh-Nihlator helped Soul Rekker pick up 18 and begin a thrilling run that saw RVRG inch ever closer, down two, 32-30 halfway through the first.  They took their first lead 46-44 with 10 left in the half. Mudblood and Ova’ Kill had some fantastic battles in the half, but the Vixens completely took over (leading to some desperate, undisciplined play from the Thunder) and only a big final-jam pick up from Konky had Tri-City still in it, down 74-63 at half.

The Vixens managed to hold on to the lead for the first fifteen minutes of the second, but as the tension rose, the experience of the Thunder shone through, and small errors plagued the Vixens. The power jams started going Thunder’s way and when they took a 132-125 lead halfway through the second, it was clear that momentum had firmly shifted. Leigh-zzie Borden (who had a breakout tournament at QCC ’11) closed out the game with a power jam with only 3 minutes left that put it out of reach and guaranteed the Thunder a second place finish at the Quad City Chaos.

CN Power's Aston Martini was dominant at times during the tournament. (Photo by Neil Gunner)

Eh! Team (HCRG) 55 vs. CN Power (ToRD) 408

CN Power closed out the tournament with one of their greatest offensive performances ever, breaking the 400-point barrier for the first time and building up their largest margin of victory ever.  But no one would have guessed that score after the first five minutes of the bout when Hammer City put forward their best sustained effort of the tournament. Catching the hosts completely off guard, the Eh! Team took their first lead on a Lorazeslam jam (8-7) four minutes in. (It took them 20 minutes to score against the Thunder the day before.) It was a slightly different look from the CN Power offense (Rebel Rock-It played big minutes with the star and looked great in the scrum starts) and Eh! Team had their top roster who are playing very well together (*tragically, veteran leader Miss Carriage rebroke her collar bone the day before and was unable to play). It was only a Defecaitlain power jam 8 minutes that gave CN Power a definitive lead (44-12). Led by strong pack play from Whacks Poetic and Oh! Henry, consistent jamming from JJ Bladez, Lorazelslam and Mean Little Mama kept Hammer on the board, but CN Power comfortably increased their lead to 208-31 at the half.

The second half brought much the same from both teams; increasingly good play from the young, inexperienced Eh! Team skaters, and a relentless push forward from CN Power who never once took their foot off the gas ( Defecaitlin recorded a rare 39 point jam on a remarkable 8 scoring passes at one point). Mean Little Mama ran into some more undisciplined play as jammer for the Eh! Team, which truly sealed the deal for the hosts who did everything right in the second half on their way to the 353 point victory and top spot at the 2012 Quad City Chaos.

* Watch the archived boutcast.

***All the WFTDA action was streamed live on Canuck Derby TV. Check the archives if you missed it. The non-sanctioned games will be available on Layer 9.

***On Thursday the recap continues with The Commentary.