Ottawa Bout Recap (Part 2)

On Saturday evening of our Ottawa trip we headed to the bout. Although we played the Slaughter Daughters in 2009, there wasn't much we knew about them. Internet research revealed that the Slaughter Daughters were the 2011 Champions of the Canadian roller derby tournament Beast of the East. It also surfaced that two of their skaters, Semi Precious and Soul Rekker, were on Team Canada for the 2011 Roller Derby World Cup.  WHOA.

The Slaughter Daughters are part of Rideau Valley Roller Girls.

Our first few jams seemed to go well, but soon the Slaughter Daughters were able to take advantage of a big power jam. They had really good team work and their jammers were also very smart. It was still fun to play them. We were familiar with a lot of their strategy, but they were very adept at implementing it. I loved watching Knockout block Soul Rekker - they are both so good!  At one point when I was out blocking and KO was jamming, I saw her land a crazy apex jump.

Speaking of, Knockout earned MVP for this bout, along with Semi Precious.

The final score was Slaughter Daughters (Rideau Valley Roller Girls): 241 - Hellions of Troy: 74.

I do want to point out that I was said we didn't sing the national anthems before this bout. I've been to Canada/seen enough international bouts that I know most of the words!  Here is a link to a youtube video of O Canada: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwDvF0NtgdU to make up for it.

Check out our off-the-track Ottawa adventures in the blog post: http://hellionsoftroy.blogspot.com/2012/05/roadtrip-to-ottawa-on-canada-part-1.html

Roadtrip to Ottawa, ON, Canada (Part 1)

The weekend of May 12 the Hellions took a jaunt up to Ottawa, Canada.  Most of us made the 6 hour drive on Friday evening, getting in late but ready to greet adventure on Saturday.

I'll talk about the actual bout in another post.  This one will chronicle some of our hijynx from the trip :)

Pitstop at Fastrac.

I drove up with Massacre, Haidee, and Kitty. We stayed in an Ottawa Hotel with several other Hellions, which was actually part hotel, part senior living apartments.  We deemed it the Old-tel.  Imagine parading through a hotel lobby in fishnets and gear bags, walking pass older folks just biding their time.  I wish I had thought to hand them a flyer.

Ottawa was a really nice city.  On Saturday we headed to the Capital Hill area for brunch and to check out their Victoria Day / Tulip Festival.  Even though we missed Albany's TulipFest, we still got to check out tulips in Ottawa!  But, like Albany, the flowers were mostly past their prime.

It was also Tulip Fest in Ottawa this weekend.

Lehman, Val, and Eloda simulating a triple bunkbed on a picnic table in the park.  I don't know why.

Massacre and I in the park. 

Eloda and I in the park.  Notice our matching outfits.

Shock, Eloda, and I in a toy store. I walked up to them having a puppet conversation that was in barely-discernable english, but they looked like they were enjoying themselves. So I put a bird on it.

On Sunday we were able to enjoy some more of the city before heading out. Some of the people staying in the Old-tel got breakfast at a restaurant called STeaK.  I had waffles with steak -- two of my favorite foods TOGETHER.  I'm no food blogger, but I will say it was excellent.

As we finished, the rest of the Hellions descended upon the restaurant, and we were finally all together.  We took a picture to capture the moment of togetherness (only person who is missing is Epic!)

Next we ventured into a market area.  We found a sweet bakery with Canada cookies.

There was also a market area with lots of art, jewelry, vegetables, and all that.

After that we found the Parliament building area. I think Ottawa is a bit like Albany in that it's a capital city. The parliament buildings were spread out over a vast lawn with lots of people congregating.  Prime for taking pictures, of course.

Kitty doing a cartwheel on the lawn of the Parliament buildings.

Yay Ottawa! Yay Hellions family vacation!

Hellions of DNN tonight!

Tonight's bout in Canada - Hellions vs. Montreal's Les Filles du Roi will be broadcast live on Derby News Network. The game begins at 7pm est.
Miss it live? The bout may be archived - check back here for a link.

Good morning from Montreal

Hello from our beautiful castle-like hostel in Montreal! A large number of Hellions rolled into the city yesterday evening and proceeded to take control.
Actually, my first stop was poutine at Resto la Banquise on Rue Rachel. This is what I feel like today due to fries, cheese curds, and gravy (photo right).

Today we take on one of Montreal Roller Derby's home teams, Les Filles du Roi.  This means "the Kings Daughters" in French.

I first wrote about my excited due to this bout 3 months ago. Not only does Montreal kick ass on the track, but they are also widely known for being a close knit, fun loving league (ask anyone who's seen them at tournaments). While we're not playing the New Skids on the Block (MTLRD's WFTDA A-team), it's an honor to play one of their home teams. According to DNN's June Power Rankings, the New Skids are currently ranked #5 in the Eastern Region (and #18 overall). Gonna learn a thing or two tonight....
Especially since I will be watching from the sidelines. I'm an alternate for this bout (player 15 or 16 on a 14 person roster). It's all good. After watching my teammates at practice, I'm really excited to see how we do tonight. Our coaching had some good drills for us to work on this past week. So excited!!

Heavens No, Hellions YEAH!

The rumors are true: HoTRD to play Montreal - Les Filles du Roi this June

You may not have heard it hear first, but I'm here to confirm it! The Hellions will cross the border to Canada to take on one of Montreal Roller Derby's home teams - Les Filles du Roi.

Montreal Roller Derby was the first Canadian team to be accepted to the WFTDA. Their all star team, the New Skids on the Block, were the sweethearts of last year's WFTDA 2010 Eastern Regionals. This year, according to DNN's Power Rankings, they are currently ranked #7 in the Eastern Region (and #12 overall). They're 4-1 (W/L) in 2011, having only the 2009 WFTDA Champions, the Oly Rollers, last month.

Let me just say - I am super excited for this bout. Not only does Montreal kick ass on the track, but they are also widely known for being a close knit, fun loving league (ask anyone who's seen them at tournaments). While we're not playing the New Skids on the Block (thank goodness), it's an honor to play one of their home teams.

This will not be our first international bout. On July 18, 2009, HoTRD took on Rideau Valley's Slaughter Daughters @ Frear Park (our 2009 Season venue). This is before I joined the Hellions, but you can view video of the bout on USteam: Period 1 and Period 2. However, this will be our first time traveling internationally for a bout. Look out Canada!

The Hellions of Troy will travel to Montreal to play Montreal Roller Derby's Les Filles du Roi on June 11, 2011.

The rest of our summer season will be announced soon, so stay tuned!

Toronto Roller Derby

Me in front of Toronto's venue

This summer Mr. T and I both got our passports.  Last week, we spent a week in Canada and for part of it we were in Toronto.  We were lucky enough to catch a Toronto Roller Derby vs. Queen City (Buffalo, NY) game on Saturday night.  It was awesome!  ToRD's space is in what looks like a refurbished airplane hanger (it's also called "The Hanger", so go figure).  The event was a double header, with ToRD's upcoming girls (The D-VAS - Deadly Viper Assassination Squad) against Durham Region Roller Derby (also from Canada).  They played a shorter game (two 20 minute periods) which was fun to watch - it's great to see new girls working on their skills, especially since I was (am) in "their skates" just so recently.  Although evenly matched for the most part, the D-VAS pulled ahead to end the game with a final score of 105-63.

Mr. T rocking Hellions gear!

But the main event was ToRD vs. Queen City.  It was a great match between both league's star teams: ToRD's CN Power vs. Queen City's Lake Effect Furies.  Watching them warm up was even entertaining.  Both teams had solid warm up drills, and the Furies especially demonstrated their teamwork.  One impressive drill was where they all skated single file, and the front skater would call out a skill (plow stop, turn around toe stop, etc) and they would all do it perfectly in unison.  Every single girl could plow stop in under ten feet (more like five) - without crashing into the girl in front of her.  Tight!

The first period they seemed like they would be evenly matched.  Up until the end of the first period, the score was within about 5 points, with the lead switching between teams.  At the end of the first period, the Lake Effect Furie's were ahead, but not by much.

A couple jammers lined up and
ready to roll!

The second period is when the Furies really started to blow things up.  Their game play remained tight throughout the period, where CN Power on the other hand seemed to be tiring out.  They kept fighting, and still had a few impressive jams.  At one point, CN Power had an impressive 15 point jam by one of their star jammers, DefeCaitlin, and the crowd went wild.  Soon after, however, the Furies had an equally impressive 15 point, which also made the other half of the crowd go nuts - there were tons of Queen City fans at the bout, too!  CN Power seemed to be sending out DefeCaitlin every few jams to try to shorten the gap. If anyone could do it, it would be her.  She skated strong all throughout.  But it wasn't enough, and the game ended with a score of 110-79 with the Lake Effect Furies on top.

One last thing I want to say about the bout was that the two teams played each other with great sports(wo)menship.  Opposing jammers chatted as they lined on up; blockers gave and took strong hits and then acknowledged each other for their stamina.  You could tell these skaters are in sister leagues.