OHIO CROSSES THE BORDER FOR QUAD CITY CHAOS
The #22 Ohio Roller Girls will invade Canada for the second straight year this weekend as they participate in Quad City Chaos, hosted by Toronto Roller Derby. Ohio will compete in three bouts over two days against #17 Montreal, #29 Toronto, and #42 Bleeding Heartland. Last year’s Quad City Chaos was the first ever fully WFTDA sanctioned event held in Canada, with three of this year’s teams making return trips for the event. As previously mentioned, this will be Ohio’s second trip to the event, following an impressive 3-0 record at last season’s QCC with wins over Toronto, Rideau Valley, and Queen City. This will be the fifth consecutive year for Toronto serving as host league, where they have amassed an 8-4 record at the event. Montreal will be making their third appearance at Quad City Chaos. After going 6-0 at the event in 2010 and 2011, the New Skids on the Block took a couple of years off before coming back for bouts against Ohio, Bleeding Heartland, and Toronto. They will be the highest ranked team competing in Toronto this weekend. This will be Bleeding Heartland’s first trip to Quad City Chaos.
#22 Ohio vs #17 Montreal
Looking at the schedule for Quad City Chaos, the tournament’s organizers certainly didn’t do the Ohio Roller Girls any favors. OHRG will compete in the tournament’s first and last bouts of the weekend. Ohio’s first test will be at 10:00 a.m. Saturday against the Montreal New Skids on the Block. A 10:00 a.m. bout time means that if the Ohio skaters left Friday after work, they would arrive in Toronto around 2:00 a.m. This leaves the skaters only a few hours of sleep before taking on their toughest competition of the weekend. Historically, the Ohio Roller Girls have never lost to Montreal, sporting a 2-0 record over the New Skids.
They first met back in 2009 at the East Coast Derby Extravaganza in Philadelphia where Ohio won on the final jam 102-98. It was only Montreal’s third bout as a sanctioned WFTDA team. Fast forward from 2009, and Montreal has been the most dominant and highest ranked Canadian team for five years running. Many derby enthusiasts thought Montreal would be the first ever international team to make it to WFTDA Championships last season, as they entered playoffs ranked #8 in the world and a #2 seed at the Ft. Wayne Playoff. Unfortunately for the New Skids, it was again Ohio raining on their parade, as the tournament’s #6 seed scored the upset 212-149, knocking Montreal into the consolation bracket and punching Ohio’s ticket to Champs. In fact, Ohio is the only team at Quad City Chaos that Montreal has a losing record against. Montreal is 3-0 against Toronto and will face Bleeding Heartland for the first time.
Both squads suffered from retirements in the off season. Ohio is without blocker Pippi RipYourStockings and league MVP Phoenix Bunz, but will benefit from transferring skaters Sk8 Crime and Hop Devil from the Cincinnati Rollergirls. Quad City Chaos will mark the first time that both Sk8 and Hop will compete with the Ohio travel squad as they were just added to the OHRG charter roster. Montreal lost long time skater Iron Wench also to off-season retirement. With no more Wench, Montreal will rely heavily on veterans Georgia W. Tush, Greta Bobo, Lil Mama, and Mel E Juana to carry the workload on the jammer line.
#22 Ohio vs #42 Bleeding Heartland Flatliners
Following their early morning bout with Montreal, the Ohio Roller Girls will have a break before the co-headlining bout on Saturday night against the Bleeding Heartland Flatliners (Bloomington, IN). Although it may not match the rivalry Ohio has with Arch Rival or Cincinnati, the Ohio Roller Girls and Bleeding Heartland have had a subtle rivalry brewing over the past four years. Although Ohio holds a 4-0 record over the Flatliners, the first three times they played each other, Ohio won by a total of only 67 points over the three bouts. Take away the lopsided 241-87 victory by Ohio last season, and Bleeding Heartland has always seemed to give OHRG trouble.
Bleeding Heartland has climbed the rankings over the past two years due to the physical/speedy hybrid type of game they play. Just missing the postseason in 2012 by one spot, the Flatliners climbed to #35 in the final WFTDA rankings in 2013 to qualify for their first playoffs. After an improbable second half run by the Cincinnati Rollergirls, the Flatliners narrowly missed out on a first round victory in the postseason. They ended up going 0-3 at playoffs and slid back down to #42, on the cusp of again qualifying for Division 1 (top 40). A good showing at Quad City Chaos would definitely help the Flatliners break back into the top 40.
Bleeding Heartland already has two bouts under their belts in 2014. They started with a non-sanctioned bout against the Naptown Rollergirls, which they lost 222-112. A few weeks later, they again played Naptown in sanctioned play, but suffered the same result 295-148. Ohio is currently 1-0 in 2014 with a 194-12 win over Nashville on March 8th.
#22 Ohio vs #29 Toronto’s CN Power
The final bout of Quad City Chaos will feature the Ohio Roller Girls against Toronto’s CN Power. Ohio is 2-0 against Toronto with wins in 2012 (196-91) and 2013 (201-155). As evident by the two scores, Toronto is getting better and is desperately looking for their first ever victory over Ohio. They are a team that has taken the WFTDA rankings by storm over the past year. Much like Bleeding Heartland, the CN Power also made their postseason debut at last year’s Division 1 Playoffs. They earned their way by climbing 20 spots in the rankings over the 2013 season, jumping from #49 to #29, where they currently stand. At the playoffs, Toronto surprised the derby nation by securing victories over Sacred City and Boston before finally losing to Championship-bound Atlanta in a tightly fought bout.
Toronto has played one bout as they prepare for Quad City Chaos, against Killamazoo. They will use the Killamazoo bout to prepare for the physicality they will face against Ohio, Bleeding Heartland, and Montreal. Regarding their 2014 season, Toronto has scheduled a grueling path for (hopefully) a return trip to the Division 1 playoffs. Teams on the docket this season for Toronto include: London, Detroit, Rocky Mountain, Steel City, Atlanta, Brandywine, Charm City, and Nashville. Toronto will feature returning skaters Mia Culprit and Nasher the Smasher in the pack and Dusty, Kookie Doe, and Motorhead Molly with the star. Nasher the Smasher was named Toronto’s MVP at last year’s Quad City Chaos.
GANG GREEN VS TORONTO’S BAY STREET BRUISERS
Ohio’s Gang Green will also compete at Quad City Chaos against Toronto’s reserve squad, the Bay Street Bruisers. Gang Green is currently 1-0 this season with a sound victory over Nashville’s Music City Brawl Stars while the Bay Street Bruisers are 2-1. The Bruisers lost to Nashville’s Brawl Stars (170-114), but have posted victories over the Cincinnati Violent Lambs (243-115) and Bleeding Heartland’s Code Blue Assassins (378-49).
At last season’s Quad City Chaos, the Bay Street Bruisers went 2-0, including a 207-112 victory over Gang Green. The victory last year for the Bruisers was a bit of retribution for the Canadian squad as they lost to Gang Green two seasons ago during a home bout. Both Gang Green and the Bruisers will be looking to take the coveted rubber match as they face off for a third time this Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
Tournament live feed will be available from Derby News Network and Canuck Derby TV!
Saturday, March 22, 2014:
10 am – Ohio vs. Montreal Skids
12 pm – CN Power vs. Bleeding Heartland
2 pm – Bay St Bruisers vs. Gang Green
4 pm – break
5 pm – Ohio vs. Bleeding Heartland
7 pm – CN Power vs. Montreal Skids
Sunday, March 23, 2014:
11 am – Bay St Bruisers vs. Montreal Sexpos
1 pm – Montreal Skids vs. Bleeding Heartland
3 pm – CN Power vs. Ohio
Photos courtesy of Dorn Byg, Joe Mac, and Greg Russell.
