BCFF CANADIAN FLOORBALL CHAMPIONS, originally uploaded by look2.

Team BC Captures Canadian Title in debut appearance.

Team BC was smiling the whole way home knowing they pulled off a gold medal victory at the Nationals in Calgary. To have BC’s name engraved on the cup on their debut appearance is an accomplishment the whole team is proud of.

As expected, the competition was fierce. All provinces fielded strong teams and the line between victory and defeat was very thin as many games over the weekend, not just BC’s, were decided by only one goal.

BC walked away with the top spot on day one with a win against Alberta and Quebec and tie with Ontario. This put them up against Ontario in the semi finals. Ontario showed strong strategic, positional play, especially on defense, limiting BC’s goal scoring ability. As in their first weekend meeting, the game ended in tie, sending it into a sudden death playoff. Thankfully, Marco Bertocchi scored on a hard shot from the point to send BC to the finals.

In the other semi finals, Quebec showed their experience controlling the ball, setting up each other in the offensive zone for some spectacular moments, defeating the younger, energetic Team Alberta.

Quebec was the match up BC was hoping for as they knew they would have to bring nothing less than their A game to stand on the same court with these guys. Both teams came out wanting to win, playing hard. At the end of the 2nd period, BC found themselves in penalty trouble. With two players in the box, they were facing a 5 on 3 penalty kill. It was here BC turned the tables on them with the hard fore checking of Blair Zimmerman causing a loose ball that lead to a short handed goal on a breakaway. If that didn’t sting, you could certainly see the pain in Quebec’s eyes as Blair repeated the task a simple 30 seconds later putting BC up 3-1 with one period to go.

Victory is a taste Quebec is use to and was certainly part of their dinner plan. Quebec fought back the hardest we had seen them play all weekend, finding new speed and energy. Jonathan Burnham, took advantage of a careless turn over in BC’s own end and narrowed the gap to one goal. Quebec could smell blood and quickly followed with the game tying goal from their dangerous power forward, Stephane Laporte. It was a nail bitter for both teams until there was less than one minute left in the game when Team BC’s Aaron Hoffman from Vernon scored the game winner on a rebound. A great game to win…a hard battle to lose.

It was the fact that Team BC got solid efforts and contributions from the entire team that lead them to the gold medal. They never let up and gave their all to the final whistle. Special recognition has to be made to Markus Moisio for giving everything he had, showing team commitment and self-disciplined play. Chris Mohn for his stellar goaltending shocking many players by stopping what they thought were definite goals. Also to Christian Kortman for his beautiful goal to goal rushes ending in the release of his cannon like shot.

Special thanks to the host province, Alberta and the volunteers that made the weekend happen, especially to the players who took on the difficult, thankless job of refereeing. The ref’s all did an excellent job of making consistent calls. We don’t always show it, but we have more respect for them than they know! Our hats go off to them!

Today we enjoy! Tomorrow we figure out how the #@*% we are going to win this thing again next year!

Thank you to the new National Champs for a great weekend!

Goalie
Christopher Mohn
Devan Petterson

Defense
Marco Bertocchi
Christian Kortman
Michael Lindgren
Karl Marits

Forward
Greg Beaudin
Aaron Hoffman
Simon Lam
Freddie Melen
Markus Moisio
Cecilia Rongedal
Greg Rozitis
Andi Vogel
Blair Zimmerman

This weekend, Team BC heads off to Calgary to compete in the National Floorball Championship for their first time. The two day event will include round robin matches against Alberta, Quebec and Ontario followed by playoffs the second day. Even tough Quebec is the current champs and favorite to win, competition will be tough all around and the gold medal could go to anyone. As there are 5 sixty minute games in two days on full court, a frightening thought, the team with the most stamina and legs in the end will certainly have an advantage.

BC is going with a full team that includes a solid mix of experience, finesse goal scorers, speed, hard checkers and some awesome goaltending. As shown at floorball Wednesday night, Team BC is certainly ready to play and anxious to show the rest of the country that they can compete with anyone.

Good luck Team BC!

It was great to see a lot of new players make their tournament debut at the Montreal Open November 2007. Red Phoenix from Montreal, the gold medal winners, was filled with new names and faces that we all quickly got to know. This group has been playing together for a number of years as ball hockey players but only recently picked up a floorball stick for the first time. For these elite ball hockey players, they had no problem transferring their skills to floorball as their performance on the court was quite remarkable to watch. Many were impressed with how quickly and fluidly they moved the ball around the court finding an open player to send a quick hard shot home. These guys had speed, grit and very good moves. They were a pleasure to watch and play against.

It was most encouraging to see how well the Red Phoenix Players, National Ball Hockey Champions, adjusted from ball hockey to floorball in such a short time. This new group has really increased the standard level of play. This certainly shows the potential we know we have in Canada to be a top contender on world floorball stage. Keep it up Red Phoenix!

Following is an interview with Stephane Laporte, one of the stars of Red Phoenix and new member of the Canadian Men’s National Floorball team and his story of moving from ball hockey to floorball.

Where were you born?
I was born in a city called St-Jean-sur-le-Richelieu on the southern outskirts of Montréal.

How long have you played floorball?
I have been playing Floorball for 4 months now.

How did you get introduced?
One of my ball hockey friends asked me to check out the Québec Floorball web site. I found it different and interesting.

What was your initial reaction?
My initial reaction was…the goalie has no equipment.

Tell us about you background with ball hockey?
I have been playing Ball hockey for around 20 years. I started on the streets when I was 12, like a lot of kids my age. At the age of 20, I got involved in organized Ball hockey with refs and stats.

Name of ball hockey team?
Royal made up of mainly 8 great players playing tournaments 3 vs 3. I also played with Red Phoenix, the best Royal players mixed with the best Red Phoenix players, including the guys now playing Floorball. The other team I played with was Red Army, Royal players mixed with players of other teams.

Tell us about the success of your ball hockey team.
I was fortunate to have great teammates and together we have won numerous championships. The ones I particularly cherish are the Canadian (3vs3) street hockey National Championships (Team-Royal). You can see us on playon.ca. The winter 2005 Quebec elite championship (Team-Red Phoenix) and last but not least the 2007 East regional B championships in Montréal (team-Red Army). My favorite road trip was going to Turks and Caicos (paradise). You can see this on ultimateroadtrip.com if you don’t believe me.

Why did you switch to floorball?
I switched to Floorball because I consider it safer, quicker and more skill oriented rather than rough and unsportsmanlike often seen in Ball hockey.

Do you play both floorball and ball hockey?
Right now I still play in both Ball hockey and Floorball but will sooner or later lack the time to do both. What I enjoy most about ball hockey is the tournaments, so I do intend continuing playing in tournaments but want to concentrate on getting skilled in Floorball. Eventually, once all my Ball hockey buds switch to Floorball, then I believe that Floorball tournaments will be the new hype. So watch out Europe here we come!

How is floorball better?
I find Floorball to have more sportsmanship. It is a quicker, higher paced sport, easily assessable founded on finesse and spectacle. I think it has a lot of potential for all ages. I notice in Québec that we have many skilled Ball hockey players with the ability to adjust very quickly to Floorball. The future looks good, from what I’m seeing right now in Canada, we will be surprising many countries in 2010.

What advice do you have for other ball hockey players?
The only advice I have to all Ball hockey players in Canada would simply be to give Floorball a serious try. Keep in mind that Floorball is a relatively young sport in Canada and only with the emergence of new Canadian players will this sport grow in popularity. If you feel you have issues with your manhood and find it to be sissy like then you are not at the right place but for all those loving new challenges and love giving your best then come on in.

Stephane Laporte

Please note that Thursday Night Drop-in Floorball at Mulgrave School, 8pm - 10pm  in West Vancouver has been cancelled until April.  News concerning the spring season will be posted as it becomes available.