Quad City Chaos Preview (Part 2)

Tri-City defeated CN Power 122-50 in the team's final bout of 2010. (photo by Joe Mac)

THE UPSTARTS

In 2010, the focus of Canadian roller derby was clearly on Montreal’s New Skids on the Block, which allowed for another amazing roller derby story to go unnoticed by many outside of the Ontario derby community: the rise of Tri-City. Playing in the shadows of Hammer City, ToRD and even Forest City for years, the skaters of the Tri-City triangle have slowly been creating a juggernaut, and 2010 was a coming out party of sorts. In terms of hometeams, the Venus Fly Tramps continued to grow more competitive, and the league added a third team, the Total Knock-Outs to the mix. The league’s top team, the Vicious Dishes, was emerging as one of the top hometeams, not only in Ontario, but in the country. Vctories over ToRD’s Chicks Ahoy! and both Hammer City hometeams exposed the Dishes as a team to watch.

These solid foundations led to the dramatic rise of the Thunder. With their only losses coming against the top tier of Canadian competition (Montreal hometeam Les Contrabanditas and B-Team Sexpos), their strong victories over a string of American travel teams (Roc City, The Lake Effect Furies, Assault City, and Detroit’s Motor City Disassembly Line) turned some heads. But it wasn’t until their final bout of the season that they truly showed how far they’d come: a 122-50 victory over CN Power gave the team a solid 5-2 record on the season and managed to shake up the power politics of Canadian derby. It was arguably a crowning achievement on a fantastic year that saw them graduate into full WFTDA status.

Motorhead Molly leads a breakout jammer contingent for the Thunder. (photo by Joe Mac)

Tri-City’s strength is in its pack. Led by the pivot Jill Standing and the untiring blocking trio of Anita Martini, Bareleigh Legal and sin-e-star, Thunder is capable of playing a stifling pack defense that led them to victories over Roc City Roc Stars and Lake Effect Furies early in the season. While defense is a traditional Tri-City strength, the biggest development over 2010 was the improvement of their offense: Skate Pastor, Motorhead Molly and Lippy Wrongstockings proved to be a more than capable trio for the Thunder in 2010, playing smart, strategic derby even in low scoring, grinders. But they also helped show that Thunder is capable of switching gears and winning a shoot out, as they did in a 134-126 victory over Detroit’s Disassembly Line. The depth of the roster has only increased as all the Tri-City teams become more competitive. Greta Garbage and Gunmoll Mindy provide a lot of depth in the pack, with Garbage capable of laying down some hits or joining front walls, Mindy holding that inside line, and Lilith No Fair joining the pivot corps. Kitty Krasher, Cell Block Bettie and Freudian Whip are all capable of donning the star to jam as well, which provides this team with fantastic depth at offense.

The Thunder should have a slight depth advantage over Rideau Valley, and in terms of pack control and defense, may be the best match-up for Montreal, but I think it’s safe to say that all eyes are on Thunder’s rematch with CN Power to close out the tournament on Sunday (at 4:20 p.m.). Thunder could go a long way in solidifying their position as the team to watch in 2011 with a second consecutive victory over ToRD’s all stars.

The Vixens played their first ever bout at the Hangar, falling to CN Power 199-49. (photo by Derek Lang)

THE DARKHORSE

In 2009, Rideau Valley Roller Girls added a second team, the Riot Squad, to help develop the league and build on the success of the Slaughter Daughters. By 2010, they’d expanded yet again, this time adding the Vixens, a travel team. Due to the quick expansion, there were some growing pains in the early going, with some big losses to tough competition in Toronto (CN Power),  Steel City (B-Unit) and Montreal (Sexpos). But the growth in those months from the one-sided defeat in Toronto to the solid showing in Montreal was undeniable. It only took about six months for the Vixens to gel. By the end of the next six months, they’d evened up their 2010 record with three-straight victories beginning with a confidence boosting blow out (210-54) over the Jerzey Derby Brigade’s Corporal Punishers. They followed that up with two more explosive, one-sided wins against Utica, and Maine’s Calamity Janes.

Soul Rekker (jamming here against CN Power's Land Shark) is the Vixens' biggest offensive threat. (photo by Derek Lang)

Nonetheless, with their last three bouts coming south of the border against unknown competition (in that they don’t have any cross-over opponents with any of the other teams at the QCC), this considerably more experienced Vixens squad is somewhat of an unknown, which is why they are a darkhorse in this tournament. The only clue we have as to how good this team could be is in the performances of their hometeams, and the Slaughter Daughters are quietly becoming one of the top hometeams in eastern Canada, while their other team, the Riot Squad is certainly up and coming, recently taking ToRD’s Smoke City Betties to the limit in a bout. Even when they were losing early in 2010, the talent on the team was obvious. The two captains are the undeniable leaders on the track: Semi-Precious dominates at both leading her pack and delivering devastating take outs; Soul Rekker is an explosive jammer, and will lead the Vixens’ offense, proving equal to the top jammers in the tournament. And while this team is comparatively inexperienced in travel-team play, there is a surprising depth to the lineup, especially in the pack.

The Vixens' pack is led by Semi Precious and a core of Slaughter Daughters. (photo by Derek Lang)

Dee Dee Tee, Sister Disaster and Ripper A. Part round out a veteran jammer lineup, while the pack is loaded full of solid positional and striking blockers. ASSASSINista, Big Block, Blackout Susan, Drunky Brewster, and Surgical Strike form the core of the Slaughter Daughters roster, and that familiarity has bled over to the Vixens. Riot Squad’s Slavic Slayer, Margaret Chock, and N. Toxicate round out a sold pack that could pose problems for the other teams.

Rideau Valley will be aiming to knock off either CN Power or Thunder (and ideally both), and either is conceivable. They’ve been playing a similar amount of games as both teams and are undoubtedly a far different team than the one that last visited the Hangar. The fact that as the Vixens, they are relatively unknown to either team also makes them dangerous. CN Power and Tri-City can make necessary adjustments to face each other based on familiarity; the Vixens will, at the very least, have them guessing, and if they can catch either team off guard, they’ve proven capable of putting up big numbers.

THE RAMIFICATIONS

With all four teams competing at some level within WFTDA, this tournament is important to establish where, exactly, the teams stand in relation to one another. Montreal is currently creeping up to the top 4 in the Eastern Region and playing them will give the Vixens an idea of how competitive the top level of their Region really is. ToRD’s CN Power and the Tri-City Thunder will be chasing each other (and Hammer City) up the rankings in the North Central, making this just the second of what will certainly be many meetings between these teams.

For the New Skids on the Block, they’ll get a chance to pad their stats in the Canadian Roller Derby Rankings and have a competitive warm up for a potentially season-changing Eastern Region tournament in England against London, Steel City (Pittsburgh), and the 3^rd ranked Charm City (Baltimore).

On a larger scale, the Quad City Chaos offers a glimpse of the potential beginnings of WFTDA’s Canadian Region.

**Tickets are available online or at various ticket outlets in Toronto. Doors on Saturday open at 1:00pm. For a full schedule, check here.

**Read Part One (focusing on CN Power and The New Skids on the Block) .

Watch ToRD.TV’s video preview of QCC, featuring interviews with CN Power co-captain Lady Scorcher and bench manager Sonic Doom:

Quad City Chaos Preview (Part 1)

Montreal and Toronto finished 1-2 at last year's QCC. (photo by Derek Lang)

THE TOURNAMENT

This year’s Quad City Chaos will have ramifications beyond just the excitement of the weekend’s events. With defending champion Montreal playing themselves into the discussion of the best teams in flat track roller derby, they represent the peak of a wave of Canadian teams on the verge of competing at WFTDA’s highest level: Three of those other teams will be in Toronto this weekend.

This is the second year that ToRD’s CN Power has hosted the Quad City Chaos, a four-team invitational tournament that will be played over two day’s at The Hangar, and while CN Power would like to improve on last year’s 2-1 performance, it’ll be considered a considerable victory if they manage to secure the same record. With last year’s participants Hammer City undergoing a reorganization and preparing for WFTDA play this spring, this year’s tournament will feature Eastern Canada’s other top four teams. Joining CN Power and Montreal’s New Skids on the Block will be Tri-City Thunder (who compete this season in WFTDA’s North Central Region), and the Rideau Valley Vixens who, like ToRD, are completing their apprenticeship in 2011.

Montreal was the talk of the sport entering last year’s QCC, riding a 4 bout WFTDA winning streak (their record had been 1-8 before that), including a nearly 200 point victory over their only Canadian WFTDA competition, the Hammer City Eh! Team. Predictably, they dominated the tournament with only Vancouver’s Terminal City All Stars managing to keep them under 200 points. The tournament was an eye-opener for Canada’a top teams as to what it was going to take to compete at the highest levels. Terminal City has since attained full status and will compete in WFTDA’s Western Region. While Tri-City is a member in the Eastern Region, apprentices ToRD and Rideau Valley are well on their way.

THE HOSTS

CN Power recorded its first victory over the Hammer City Eh! Team at QCC 2010 (89-87). (photo by Joe Mac)

CN Power had a rough 2010. Last year’s early season successes (here at the QCC and in a rout of the newly formed Vixens) did not hold up over the course of the year, culminating in a surprisingly one-sided loss to cross-province rivals the Tri-City Thunder. Toronto Roller Derby, once a menacing force in eastern roller derby, looked disorganized and vulnerable. It was their third straight loss to teams that once would have been beatable. That loss dropped their record to 3-4 on the season.

Perhaps riding on the laurels of a popular and thriving home league, by the end of 2010, the travel team had become neglected. With an ever-changing roster that failed to gel as a singular entity, it was losing ground on the quickly evolving leagues around it. The loss in New Hamburg seemed to galvanize ToRD, and what resulted was a much more organized and considered approach to the formation and training of CN Power. With the first set roster in its history and a much more regimented and disciplined training schedule, the hopes were high to kick off 2011. Facing an unknown entity in their season debut—North Central Region’s Killamazoo Derby Darlins—CN Power came out calm, prepared and focused and played one of the best bouts of the team’s young history on their way to a 197-35 victory.

Cn Power kicked off 2011 with a 197-35 victory over the Killamazoo Derby Darlins. (photo by Kevin Konnyu)

More important even than the victory, was the way the team played. It was a nearly textbook bout; CN Power was simple and straightforward in its strategic play, and its best players played like its best players. All three of the lead jammers, Land Shark, Candy Crossbones and Dust Bunny look to be in mid-season form already and have played extremely well for their respective hometeams as well. The pack is  led by Brim Stone, Mega Bouche, Rebel Rock-It and Tara  Part, while Nasher the Smasher, Lady Gagya and Jubilee put up big numbers in the pack in CN Power’s season opener.

As it was last year, outside of the bouts involving Montreal, expect all of the matchups to result in hard-fought bouts that could go either way. That being said, Toronto is hoping for a victory against Rideau Valley to kick things off in preparation for the tough bout later in the day against Montreal (that will be Saturday night’s prime time bout, opening whistle at 7:00 p.m.). But the real focus will be on Sunday’s rematch with the Tri-City Thunder. With both teams entering WFTDA’s North Central, these teams are going to be rivals for a long time to come. CN Power is hoping to show that it can keep up with the hard-working all stars from Tri-City, and a victory here would go a long way in erasing the heart-breaking memories of last year’s late-season loss.

THE DEFENDING CHAMPIONS

New Skids bench at QCC 2010, where they had an average margin of victory of 157 points over the three bouts. (photo by Derek Lang)

Seemingly, not much has changed from a year ago. Montreal is still the team everyone is talking about, and they are once again on an amazing 5-1 run  to start 2011 with the only loss coming in the third bout in three days on a west coast road trip with a less than full roster against the 2^nd ranked team in the world. But as much as everything seems the same, a lot has actually changed. Last year Montreal was making waves at the back of the pack, eventually going on a seven bout winning streak to climb all the way to 6^th in WFTDA’s Eastern Region (they would defeat their opponents by an average of just under 100 points each during the run). That run up the rankings would come to an end at the hands of arch rival Boston Derby Dames. Boston would also knock the Skids out of WFTDA’s Eastern Regionals in the quarterfinals (they were the first non-American team to qualify for the playoffs), putting an end to an amazing 2010 that saw the Skids compile an 11-5 record in WFTDA sanctioned bouts (13-5 overall).

Montreal's Jess Bandit (blocking Land Shark at QCC 2010) is one of Canada's top pivots. (photo by Joe Mac)

Less than a year later and Boston is just one of the teams that has been upset by the New Skids on the Block in 2011 as they reach for even higher levels. If wins over Rat City, Boston and Jet City weren’t enough to convince any remaining skeptics of Montreal’s potential to compete this season, their recent smackdown of New Hampshire (a game that saw Montreal become just the fourth team to lay down 400+ points in a sanctioned bout) should put to rest any questions of what, at its best, this team is capable of. With a relentless offense anchored by the seemingly inexhaustible Iron Wench (and complemented by Georgia W. Tush and Ewan Wotarmy), and a smothering defense led by pivot Jess Bandit, the Skids are realistically unbeatable by any team in Canada right now. This is an extremely deep squad, with triple threats (Cheese Grater and Smack Daddy), fantastic back-up jammers (Lil Mama, Lyn-Dah Kicks and Mange Moi El-cul), positional mavens (Lady J, No Holds Bard, Rae Volver), and big hitters (Nameless Whorror, Trash N Smash and Bone Machine), but the true strength of this team is the depth of its talent, and the unity of its pack work.

Quad City Chaos will be held on March 26th and 27th at ToRD's Hangar in Downsview Park.

Not only is Montreal extraordinarily talented, they have the most track time clocked in 2011 as well, and are riding a wave of momentum built on a series of tough victories against some of the best competition flat track roller derby has to offer (and they’ve scored a staggering 710 points in their last two games). Expect them to roll right through the QCC, as they did last year, on their way to the “Anarchy in the UK” tournament in London, England in April. The Skids have never faced either the Thunder or the Vixens, but Montreal’s B-team, the Sexpos, recorded victories over each in 2010. The last time the Skids faced CN Power was at QCC 2010, a one-sided victory to close out the tourney.

**Tickets are available online or at various ticket outlets in Toronto. Doors on both days open at 1:00pm. For a full schedule, check here.

**Tomorrow, the preview continues with Tri-City and Rideau Valley.

Chicks Smoke the Betties

BruiseBerry Pie made her much anticipated ToRD debut in the Betties' loss. (photo by Sean Murphy)

Smoke City Betties 22 vs. Chicks Ahoy! 131

There was a particular level of anticipation in the Hangar on Saturday night. There were many intriguing stories to follow, from how the new Smoke City Betties “veterans” would perform, to how the Chicks Ahoy! would be able to integrate the largest contingent of fresh meat they’d ever had. But the biggest question was how the actual bout would unfold; after last year’s 250 point blowout, how far had the Betties come? What we did learn was that despite the fact that the Betties are obviously a much better team than they were a year ago, there is still work to be done to get back to a competitive level. After faltering at the beginning of 2010, this year’s Chicks Ahoy! team has come roaring out of the gates, looking calm, organized and strategically sound on their way to an impressive season opening victory.

FIRST HALF

The Chicks' Dyna Hurtcha had a game high 54 points; titmouse had the most track time of her ToRD career. (photo by Sean Murphy)

After gaining considerable experience in a pre-season game in Ottawa, the Chicks had no problems lining up rookie jammer Kookie Doe against the vastly improved titmouse to kick this off. The rookie didn’t look out of place at all, going 4 and done to get her team on the board early (she’d finish with a solid 27 points). Dyna Hurtcha also came to play, laying down the law with some big hits in the pack, before donning the star and picking up points for her team. If Dyna’s level of play at this early stage of the season is any indication, the triple-threat and most-feared award winner of the 2009 season is back 100%. In the recent past, the Betties would not have had a response to a jammer as physical and unintimidated as Hurtcha, but this is a Betties team that looks ready to stand up to any physical challenge. In her ToRD debut, BruiseBerry Pie delivered in a big way, showing no fear in her willingness to go toe-to-toe with the fearsome Chicks pack. And while she was sometimes scattered and erratic when wearing the pivot’s stripe, she was often dominant as a blocker and scored some impressive jammer take outs.

Other veterans stepped up for the Betties as well. Memphis Kitty (who led the Betties with 11 points) continues to be a steadying and reliable presence on the track, helping an early push back that kept the Betties in the game, often facing off against Chicks’ veteran Candy Crossbones (a duo that has been doing battle for as long as this sport has been played in this city). After a smart 2 point call by titmouse, the Betties were certainly within reach, down 20-7, and looking prepared to take the game to the Chicks.

Chicks' Nasher the Smasher had her hands full against old opponent, Mia Culprit, who made her return to the track. (photo by Derek Lang)

With some sloppy, physical packs, this bout was perhaps defined by great one-on-one battles that occurred whether over the course of the bout or just within particular jams. Fifteen minutes in, at what could have been the turning point in the first half, two straight stalemates (followed by a Memphis Kitty single) left the game open for either team to take over. With Dyna Hurtcha on a run and looking to sway the momentum back in the Chicks’ favour, Betties’ co-captain Sail Her Poon stepped up to take her on. Despite bouncing off of the Chicks’ power jammer on the initial pass, Poon stayed on the case and managed a late-jam jammer take out on Hurtcha that limited the damage. But Candy Crossbones (who at this early stage in the year looks to be in as good a shape as she’s been since the Chicks’ 2008 championship season) had a fantastic bout with the star. Aided by amazing pack work from 2010 rookie stand out Marmighty, Candy was dominant on this night whether reeling in jammers and forcing calls or picking up critical points at crucial moments, the Betties didn’t have a response for the scrapper jammer. Memphis Kitty picked up a much needed grand slam on the last jam of the first half; but despite this, the continued physical dominance of Bruise, and a strong positional performance from Pretty Peeved (another skater who looks to be in top form early on this season), the Betties were still staring at a 48-15 deficit at the half.

SECOND HALF

Needing to come out strong to get back into this one, the Betties proved unable to rise to the challenge. With jammer Memphis Kitty in the box, and Dyna Hurtcha lined up for the power jam, the Betties failed to track a full set of blockers, leaving only the scrappy and effective Sail Her Poon to fend off the strong Chicks pack. In the most even of situations, the Chicks dominated the pack all night, putting up great front walls and responding well to their pivot’s direction, so it didn’t take long for Dyna Hurtcha to put up 15 points before Poon actually did her team a favour by being thrown in the box and forcing the refs to call the jam for the inability to form a pack. It was great opportunity for the Betties and Kitty made the most of it, taking lead right out of the box. She got caught up in a collision at the back of the pack on her scoring pass and was forced to call it. It would be a pivotal missed opportunity as Candy Crossbones threw down 9 points on the next jam to give the Chicks a formidable 91-16 lead.

Veteran pivot Pretty Peeved had a strong bout for the Betties. (photo by Joe Mac)

While the Betties clearly have the raw talent to pull things together and be competitive, their success this year will depend in large part on how well they come together as a team.  Along with the bench error (from a bench that seem to verge on over-emotional) there were smaller errors as well such as outscored lead jammers(though in fairness a lot of that was due to savvy jamming on the Chicks’ part, including from their confident rookie, Kookie Doe), or skaters unnecessarily being goated by out-of-play players. It was a typical early season bout, with the skaters only beginning to round into game shape, and therefore understandably mistake prone. And just as there were great individual performances, there were also great team moments as well: The recycling by the Chicks blockers and their ability to hold the front frustrated the Betties all night. And the Chicks’ rookies in the bout—Kookie Doe, Snap N Cooter, Red Light Roxy, and Balla Reina—blended in seamlessly, guided well by their veteran teammates.

The story was much the same for the duration of the second half (in which the Betties only managed 7 points). Despite some spirited play from Betties’ pivot Hot Roller and some big hits and strong defence from the Chicks’s blocker, Nasher the Smasher, long and frequent timeouts (prompting some energetic “Let’s Play Derby” chants from the fans) sapped the remaining energy from this one-sided match up  and the Chicks held the course, sailing away with a  131-22 victory.

Chicks' Marmighty (blocking Platinum Bomb) had an extraordinary start to her second season. (photo by Sean Murphy)

ON THE HORIZON

Despite the loss, the Betties have a lot to take away from this. Strong individual performances from the veteran core (and from their lone tracked rookie, D-VAS graduate, Misery Mae) will provide a great focus going forward. Their young core of jammers is continuing to grow, and titmouse played the biggest game of her young career, gaining valuable experience. As the year progresses the wisdom of drafting veterans BruiseBerry and Mia Culprit should become evident too, as both have a lot to offer this team. It will be interesting to see how unified this group can become before their next bout against the Death Track Dolls (April 16). Despite the changes to the lineup, the Chicks look like they are reading to pick up where they left off, and no doubt will carry a lot of confidence into their 2010 championship rematch against the Gore-Gore Rollergirls on April 9.

Check out the stats breakdown, updated standings and keep up with the 2011 JQ rating to track the league’s top jammers at the Stats Page. Keep an eye on ToRD.TV for a video recap and layer9’s bout footage.

2010 Championship Recap: Gores Send Chicks Sailing

 

Hurlin’ Wall whips Brim at the Chick’s front wall. (Photo by Kevin Konnyu)

Chicks Ahoy!   31               vs.         Gore-Gore Rollergirls    107

 

The Gores hoist The Boot for the third time in four years. (Photo by Joe Mac)

It was not the bout that anyone expected. With a combined total of 1224 points in 8 games this ToRD season—which included 200 point victories over the Betties—and some of the biggest hitters in the league, the hard hitting, high scoring bout that many came to see never materialized. Instead the sold-out Hangar bore witness to a highly strategic, low-scoring, positional battle that highlighted some of the great strategic advances of the sport over the past year. While the Gore-Gore Rollergirls’ third championship in four years probably doesn’t come as too much of a shock to many, the manner in which they accomplished the feat could not have been expected.

THE FIRST HALF

Undefeated in ToRD action since a 2008 finals loss to this same Chicks Ahoy! team, the Gore-Gore Rollergirls were denied their chance at revenge last season when the Chicks failed to qualify for the final. Things got off to a chippy start with Chicks’ pivot Tara Part throwing a few heavy shoulders into Gores’ pivot Brim Stone (who pivoted a remarkable 62% of her team’s jams) on the first pass. A slow, scrappy pack and a 2-0 Gores’ start was a fitting preview for what was to come. Both teams’ strengths were on display early: the Gores’ quickness and improved pack play; the Chicks’ toughness and ability to create and hold strong front walls. But it was Dust Bunny’s zigzagging through the pack and Bambi and Lunchbox’s ability to accelerate along the outside that got the Gores off to a hard fought 15-1 lead ten minutes in. Bambi, who lead the early charge would go on to put up a game high 45 points. The rest of the first half became somewhat of a strategic masterpiece with neither team capable of taking momentum from the other.

Rebel Rock-It orchestrated some fast pack-defence for the Chicks. (Photo by Joe Mac)

Impenetrable back walls and fast front ones told the story. Every attempt by one team to take control was capably countered by the other. Dyna Hurtcha would fight her way through the pack to gain lead jammer for the Chicks only to see Bambi break through and reel her in; the Gores would take lead only to have Chicks’ front walls take over the pace of the pack and not allow a scoring pass. Eventually, Mach Wheels fought for the lead through a physical pack that saw Lunchbox rattled with a few hits including a big one form Mega Bouche. Absorbing a hit from Junkie Jenny, Mach pulled through to score an important four points and bring the Chicks closer, 21-7, with about ten minutes left. The bout quickly evolved into an intricate battle for control of the pack after that, alternating between super fast and grindingly slow. The Gores missed an opportunity to cash in on a power jam when Dust Bunny prematurely called the jam just as she noticed the penalty. When the opportunity did arise, a brilliantly defended kill led by Rebel Rock-It contained the damage. The score at the half, 32-10, represented one of the lowest scoring halves in league history.

Three generations of Gores contributed to this victory: veteran captain Brim Stone, sophomore Lady Gagya and rookie Gamma Rei. (Photo by Kevin Konnyu)

 THE SECOND HALF

The second half began much the same; both packs, led by their pivots, struggled to give their jammers as much help as they could. Nasher the Smasher, who has had a resurgent 2010, was just one of the pivots who had excellent games. Rebel Rock-It showed a great instinct and game awareness for the Chicks as well, while Molly Boom had a busy night backing up Brim Stone with the stripe along with taking jams in the pack. The Chicks came out strong, attempting an early-half push back but were unable to take advantage of early jammer leads. The Gores jammer trio, who are used to dominating the lead-jammer battles, found themselves being matched by the quartet of Kari Mia Beere (33% lead percentage), Mach Wheels (40%), Candy Crossbones (33%) and Dyna Hurtcha (71%) whose collective 45% lead percentage was the highest any team has managed against the Gores all season. Dolly Destructo filled in as a fifth jammer and had her most effective bout of the year, both jamming and in the pack. With the score 39-16 five minutes in, the 23 point difference meant that the championship was, at this point, still anyone’s game.

Gores' rookie Hurlin' Wall had another standout performance, on the track for 52% her team's jams. (Photo by Kevin Konnyu)

Both teams played an extremely disciplined first half with very few penalty minutes served by either team. As much as the game was about control, discipline was clearly going to be a factor as well. Traditionally, the Chicks have had some discipline problems, an issue that they’d been working to clean up all season. Given the close nature of this one, it was of course a penalty—to the usually squeaky clean Mach Wheels at that—that may have been turning point. Dust Bunny made up for her early call in the first half by putting up 14 points on a power jam (she would score 42 in the bout), finally grabbing momentum for her team and changing the course of the game. Penalties would wreak havoc on the careful play that the Chicks had been maintaining, and during a penalty-filled streak of seven jams three quarters of the way through the half, the Gores outscored the Chicks 42-4, essentially putting an end to the any hopes of a Chicks’ comeback. The penalties would prove to be the story of the second half. With the Chicks visibly rattled about their trips to the box, they ended up collecting twice as many minors as the Gores and four times as many majors. The Gores were too prepared and too fit to not to take advantage of all that space on the track. Despite some excellent play by the Chicks’ pivots who lessened the blow on a lot of the pack disadvantages and power jams with some heads-up defense, the Gores were relentless in the end, confident and collected on their way to the 76 point victory and their third ToRD Championship.

It was a fitting close to an outstanding season for ToRD; a bout that was a fantastic platform to showcase the best talent in the league. It also capped another extraordinary season for the Gores who have taken part in all four ToRD championships. With five rookies on the roster and two more in the wings as alternates, the potential for a continued dynasty looks likely. Luckily, with the new start date for the season not too far around the corner, we won’t have to wait too long to find out.

THE STATS

The Gore-Gore Rollergirls                                 The Chicks Ahoy!

Team Stats
Margin of Victory/Loss: +76 Lead %: 57% Plus/Minus: +29 Blocks: 90 Assists: 26 Major Penalties (Minor): 5 (20)	Margin of Victory/Loss: -76 Lead %: 45% Plus/Minus: -37 Blocks: 67 Assists: 52 Major Penalties (Minor) 22 (47)
Player Stats (minimum 7 jams)
Points: Bambi 45  Lead%: Dust Bunny 64% Plus/Minus: Lady Gagya +68 Jammer Plus/Minus: Bambi +38 Blocks: Hurlin Wall 15 Assists: Santa Muerte 5 Major Penalties (Minor): Brim Stone 3(3 tied at 3) JQ: Bambi 46 Dust Bunny 45 Lunchbox 40	Points: Mach Wheels 13  Lead%: Dyna Hurtcha 71% Plus/Minus: Dolly Destructo -1 Jammer Plus/Minus: Dyna Hurtcha +3 Blocks: Marmighty 13 Assists: Nasher the Smasher, Dolly Destructo 9 Major Penalties (Minor): 4 tied at 3 (Mega Bouche 9) JQ: Dyna Hurtcha 33 Mach Wheels 30 Candy Crossbones 29 Kari Mia Beere 24

Couldn’t get tickets and want to see what all the fuss was about? Just want to relive the spectacle? Tune into Rogers TV on Saturday, December 4th at 8:00pm for the bout in its entirety. Stay tuned to ToRD.TV for layer9‘s coverage of the bout as well as player interviews.