BC would like to put together a team to participate in the US OPEN FLOORBALL Tournament in Anheim, August 23 & 24th.  We can go with between 8 and 16 players.  If you are interested in attending, please contact Blair at blair.zimmerman@bcfloorball.com.  More details at http://www.usopenfloorball.com/

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The gang is all here!

It was great to see so many kids come out and participate in the Fair Play Youth Floorball Tournament held at the Roundhouse last Saturday. There were 4 teams in each category of ages 10-12 and 13-15. All 8 teams that competed can be congratulated for truly showing excellent sportsmanship in all areas. They were respectful to their opponents, they followed the rules of the game as well as the call of the ref. A great floorball group!

The level of play also deserves praise as it was the highest we have seen to date. Many of the players had there best performance to date. Most impressive was how the kids played as a team, working the ball around the court, passing to each other equally, unselfishly.

In the 12-15 age group, the Red Devils went undefeated and had a close final match against the Sentinel Spartans, just edging them out 9-6. Special note to Matt Durrans on the Devils who is only 8 and stood his own and them some to this high intensity match. Dingos took third and the Eagles fourth. MVP went to Jamie Turner of the Red Devils. Team with best Sportsmanship went to the Dingos.

In the younger age group the snickerdoodles also went undefeated and took gold. The Snickerdoodles really played as a team and it was this teamwork that allowed them win gold over the Flames. The Moose saved their best match to the end and took bronze over the Mighty 4s. Snickerdoodle’s Kevin Fabian and his strong defensive played was awarded MVP. Team with best Sportsmanship went to the Moose.

A huge thank you to the kids for their excellent behavior. Also to the parents and their support. There must of been close to 50 watching. Special thanks to all the volunteers, the coaches, refs, scorekeepers for their kind and caring attention of the kids. Also to the staff of the Roundhouse; especially Steve and Josh.

Kevin Fabian on the Snickerdoodles breaks out on a rush against the Flames.

Roundhouse Eagles go over tactics with coach and volunteer extraordinaire Andi Vogel.

Spartans Blake Newton has hand out to congratulate gold medal winner Jamie Turner.

We are happy to announce the 2nd Annual BCFF Floorball Challenge will take place on Saturday, May 24th from 8 AM-6 PM at Mulgrave in West Vancouver. We have a great mix of players so far, both men and women, some who have played many years in Europe and others who have just started playing the game. It will be a day of great fun and good chance to play some competitive floorball. All are welcome.

Tournament format is individual registration. $50 including lunch. Teams of 9 players will be drawn. Each team will play 4 games. Games are 2×15 min. periods. Teams are coed. Banquette party to follow, location tba, please RSVP. Limited spots left. First to sign up will be accepted. Please contact Simon Lam at slammy@gmail.com to register.

2nd annual BCFF Floorball Challenge
Saturday, May 24th, 8-6
Mulgrave School, West Vancouver
Individual registration. $50/player. Lunch included.
Contact Simon Lam at slammy@gmail.com to register

*Depending on registration, details may change.

Lauri Hannelius competed in his third WFC with Team Canada. Lauri played a key role on defense, helping the team win bronze, netting 7 goals and three assists. Now that he has had a chance to rest, he shares some thoughts on the Championship.

Aside from winning the bronze, coming oh so close to making it into the gold medal match, how did it go? How was the team?

After losing the semifinal to the coming champion Slovakia everybody was feeling quite empty. Our goal was to play in the final and win the tournament, but we ended up third which is also good result thinking about it afterwards. Team Canada was better than ever and we had three good lines who could all score goals. I was very satisfied of the newcomers in Team Canada. New players from Quebec contributed a lot to the team playing together as a line and were dangerous whenever they stepped on the field. Also the new Canadians from Europe found their place right away on the team and gave hard times to the opponents. Both new goalies were surprisingly good and we could have put either one in net. Also the players who were already with Team Canada in 2004 and 2006 were very important to the team and like I said I was very satisfied to the team this year. Too bad we didn’t get the chance to taste the gold together.

We were happy to see that on the scoresheet and live video you had a strong tournament. Were you happy with your performance?

I was quite happy with my own performance; both defensively and offensively. Our line played well, especially on power play. We easily had the best power play in the tournament.

I imagine Team Canada improved in many ways. To prepare for 2010, what is Team Canada missing? What is our new weakness?

The team improved a lot from the last WFC, especially offensively. We played the round robin with three clear wins with a goal difference 33-5. That shows the offensive power and also good defense but still I would say that defense might be the weakness if I have to find something. In the first three games the opponents weren’t really dangerous and it was maybe too easy round robin. Then in the semifinal we met the strong Slovakia which was a totally different quality opponent. Maybe we weren’t quite ready for them defensively and I’m not talking about only defenders but the hole defensive play with all five players. So maybe that is something that we have to improve.

How was the quality of play at the WFC?

The quality of play in the WFC C-division was divided pretty much in three groups. At the top were Slovakia, Canada and Spain which could all do well in the B-division as well. Then came Australia, France and Serbia, who had no chance against the top teams. And then on the bottom there was Liechtenstein, Korea and Georgia who are more or less beginners. The top three teams showed some good floorball and the IFF officials were impressed also of their game. I’m sure that when the WFC system will change to 2010 championship, these teams will be much higher in the rankings than
they are now.

-Lauri-

illustration by Koki Norimatsu

Mulgrave Junior School has recently had the pleasure of welcoming guest instructor and national team member Blair Zimmerman to introduce the new (for us) and exciting game of floorball to our grade 4-6 students. From a teacher’s perspective, floorball is a perfect fit for our students, as it focuses on skill development, involves plenty of running, and has very little contact.

From a student perspective the game is very exciting, everyone can play it, and it resembles our country’s national pastime…hockey! Without a doubt the introductory clinic was a huge success and now Mulgrave Junior School is ready to offer teaching units and extra-curricular activities in floorball. Thank you Blair for coming in and enthusiastically presenting this great game to Mulgrave.

Gareth Ronald-Jones
Mulgrave School, West Vancouver

Please contact BCFF to arrange a Floorball Demonstration of your own.

It was not the match that we had hoped for but a third place in the C division was a one place improvement from 2006 and this is what the players had in mind this morning before their 10am game against Australia.

It did not really show how bad they wanted it though as their last game against Australia, played in front of about 150 spectators, was rather flat. Canada was not convincing at all, with many of their passes getting intercepted in the offensive zone and again showing their weakness in defense.

Following the disappointing loss against Slovakia yesterday, the Canadian players seemed to lack the team chemistry built during the last week but they still found the last bits of energy in them in the second half of the game to increase their lead against Australia and win the game. They had trouble against a team they easily beat 11-1 last week and while they had 51 shots on goal in their previous match-up, they only had 30 shots today against the same team. Sam Garrison was in the goal for Canada for the second time of the Championships stopping 23 of the 28 shots on goals from the Aussies.

Congratulations to Patrice Paré! With his 5 goals and 1 assist in today’s game, he received the player of the game honors.

Slovakia’s team won the C-division today against Spain, beating them rather easily 6-2 in front of 750 very enthusiastic fans. With today’s win, Canada is now ranked 23rd in the world in floorball behind Slovakia and Spain.

Here are the other awards of the championships:

Best forward: Patrick Ducharme, Canada
Best defender: Enrique Gomez, Spain
Best Goalkeeper: David Antic, Serbia

There will be no divisions at the 2010 Championships, but the final standing will affect the ranking of the teams when the ballot is made for the WFC Qualification groups.

____________

Here is where our journey ends this time around and gradually players will be heading back home during the night to catch their flight or will leave during the day tomorrow. The players still have one more night all together tonight at the team dinner to enjoy some time with each other and celebrate a well deserved 3rd place.

Well boys, it was a pleasure to spend the week with you, to spend more time with the ones I knew and to get to know new players and I, for one, can say that I am very proud of how you played this week and am proud to be your #1 fan! J

Go Canada!

FIRST PERIOD

Canada seemed rusty and unmotivated throughout the first period giving Australia good scoring opportunities but it was Stéphane Laporte who scored first to put Canada in the lead, assisted by Patrice Paré at 6:15 into the period. Canada was not as dominating as we had seen earlier during the week and the Quebec line was lucky no goals were scored on the couple of 3-on-1 the Aussies generated. To save the play on an offensive giveaway, Stéphane Laporte got the first penalty of the game for high stick at 15:50 giving Australia a 2 minute one man advantage. Australia blew its power play by also taking a penalty one minute into it for incorrect pushing. Both team played 4-on-4 for about one minute and Canada missed a few good scoring opportunities on their own power play but could not finish off the passes to score. The first period ended with Canada in the lead 1-0.

SECOND PERIOD

Canada had a lot of trouble still in the second period which allowed the Aussies to tie the game with less than 2 minutes played in the period. A few seconds later, Australia took a 2 minute penalty but unlike the previous match between the 2 teams where Canada scored 6 times on as many power plays, this was a completely different match and Canada was multiplying the mistakes and was not as efficient on the power plays.

After receiving a hit in the face not seen by the referees, Patrice Paré went on to score on a pass by Patric Ducharme, Canada was back in the lead 2-1. Australia took another penalty at 10:41 for hitting the stick and this time Canada took advantage of it with Lauri Hannelius increasing the lead by 2 goals at 11:45 on a pass by Philip Schuler. This goal seemed to have woken up Canada a little bit who added to their lead a few seconds later, at 12:16 into the period, when Ryan Andreotti scored the 4th goal for his team. Unfortunately less than 30 seconds later, Australia replied with a goal, it was 4-2.

On a jumping ball that got behind the Aussie goaltender, Lauri Hannelius scored for Canada on a pass by Erik Kaill but the Aussies once again replied right after with a quick goal, it was 5-3. With less than 2 minutes to play in the second period, Patrice Paré scored again on a pass by Patric Ducharme giving a 3 goal lead to Canada at 6-3, which is how the period ended.

THIRD PERIOD

Australia scored a 3:07 into the last period. Canada was still in the lead 6-4 but the Aussies were continuing to attack and taking advantage of the Canadian defensive mistakes. Both teams then had good chances of scoring but it was Patrice Paré who scored again on a pass by Simon Leblanc with a little less than 10 minutes to play in the game. It was 7-4 for Canada.

As it often has been the case, Canada did not take advantage of the momentum and allowed the Aussies to score a few moments later; we were back with a 2-goal lead at 7-5. Patrice Paré beat the goaltender for the fourth time of the game on a pass by Patric Ducharme and then Randy Sa’d increased to the Canadian lead a few seconds later at 12:56 on a pass by Seppo Lattu: it was now 9-5 for Canada. Canada was on a roll and following an Aussies’ defensive mistake, Patrice Paré scored yet again, his fifth of the game on a pass by Sascha Weber with less than 5 minutes to play in the game.

Eero Piilokivi took a penalty for Canada for incorrect hit at 16:23 giving a chance to Australia to get back in the game, which they once again blew by getting a penalty as well 15 seconds later, obliging both teams to play 4-on-4.

With less 30 seconds to play in the game, Canada took a penalty for having too many on the field but it was too little too late for Australia and Canada won the game, finishing in third place of the C division.

Final Score: Canada 10 – Australia 5

For the official game stats, please visit:

http://www.floorball.org/default.asp?sivu=5&alasivu=251&kieli=826

http://www.floorball.org/joukkuekortti.asp?joukkue_id=1203341711&sarjaId=20&dbSarja=1203340296

To watch the games live on Web TV, please visit:

http://www.robur.sk/floorball/schedule-sk.php

Sophie-Anne Ferland

Canada’s run for the gold came to a halt in their semi final match against Slovakia today. In front of the home crowd, Slovakia found themselves down two goals early, but were able to come back and take the lead in the second period, 3:2. Slovakia’s third goal was followed by a fourth only two seconds later and Canada played catch up the rest of the game. The two teams exchanged goals a few times, but Canada wasn’t able to pull ahead. For more details visit http://www.teamcanadafloorball.com/ World Championship Blog.

Canada meets Australia on Sunday to compete for the bronze medal. Slovakia and Spain play for gold.

It’s been a busy few days and I haven’t had much time at my computer but I’m here now and have tons of news. I’m going to keep things simple because the situation is pretty cut and dry. Our team assumed we had wouldn’t have much trouble in the round robin because of the competition in our pool. We weren’t shocked at the fact that none of our opponents in the first round put up much of a fight. After beating France, we rolled past Liechtenstein 10 - 1 and then Australia, 11 - 1. Our defense is playing solid and our Quebec players and power play are tearing it up on offense. The reality is that we haven’t really been tested since our exhibition matches.

This tournament can pretty easily be divided into three tiers based on the quality of the teams. In the top, Canada, Slovakia and Spain; in the middle, France, Australia and Liechtenstein; in the lower Korea, Serbia and Georgia. The key match in the round robin is clearly the one between Slovakia and Spain that we just finished watching - in the semi finals, the winner would play Australia and the loser, Canada - this is based on us finishing #1 and Australia #2 in our pool. Given the disparity in the quality of the teams, finishing at the top of the B Pool would be extremely important for Slovakia and Spain. Our team’s impression was that Slovakia is stronger than Spain but that the match would be tightly fought. The game was a complete
rollercoaster.

Slovakia dominated in the early minutes, scoring once and squandering many opportunities. Spain made mistake after mistake and looked horribly uncomfortable but things started to change as Slovakia took silly penalties. Spain notched the tying goal and eventually took a lead; one weak goal that appeared to be tipped and one on a bad turnover. Slovakia eventually tied the game but had their rhythm thrown off by the success the Spaniards had. At some point it seemed as though both teams had become rather equal; no one team dominating the other as odd chances were exchanged.

In an unexpected turn, Spain capitalized to take the lead 3 - 2 and then again on a horrible turnover to extend the lead to 4 -2 while in the third period. Slovakia was still clearly the more skilled team and had the advantage of a packed house of chanting fans behind them; we knew it wasn’t over. They marched down the court again and again and it seemed as though Spain was content to just try to kill the last five minutes. In an odd series of plays, the Slovaks got the ball to the front of the net and when it was jarred loose, a free man banged it in. They had new life with the lead cut to one, 4-3.

The Slovaks pushed and pushed, creating several perfect opportunities - I was literally jumping up and down in my seat because the action was so intense and it looked like on three or four occasions, they pretty much had the ball in the back of the net. Like in the first period, the finish just wasn’t there as the minutes became seconds and soon there just wasn’t time to generate another opportunity. Heartbroken, the Slovaks choked in front of their home crowd. They out-chanced and out shot their opponents but fell to a very hot Spanish goalie and some bad luck finding the back of the net. We couldn’t have asked for a more entertaining game to watch.

What does this mean for us? Well, we will play the Slovaks in the semifinals tomorrow at 2:30 pm (8:30 am EST). We believe they are the tougher of the two but ultimately if we want the top spot we will have to beat both teams. The guys were kind of hoping for a storybook final with the hometown crowd going crazy but that won’t be the case. We are all very excited for tomorrow’s game and know what we have to do. We do face one disadvantage though; we haven’t been tested by a quality opponent since we played our exhibition matches. Many questions are left to be answered as a result. Have the defensive issues we encountered in the exhibition matches been answered or have we simply not faced a solid offence since? Have we found our scoring touch and taken our offence to the next level or were we simply privy to weaker lines of defense? I am pretty sure it’s some combination of both and at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what the answer is - tomorrow one team will move onto the finals and we know what we need to do in order to make sure that is us.

Hope you can catch the match tomorrow - we need all of the support we can get!

With a decisive 11:1 win over Australia, Canada captures 1st. place in the A division and awaits to see if their opponent will be Spain or Slovakia in the semi finals on Saturday.

Strong play and scoring came from all over, but we must give special attention to Patrick Ducharme of Montreal who had another explosive game today, netting 6 points, capturing game MVP for a second time.  Patrick now leads A division scoring with 15 points!  Lauri Hannelius also had a great game with 3 goals and 2 assists.  Further highlights need to go to the net minders Sam Garrison and Martin Belanger.  Only 5 goals in 3 matches have made their way past these guys!  Well done Team Canada!

In the B division, Spain ad Slovakia sit sweetly at the top, both with no loses and considerable victories, to say the least, over Serbia, Georgia and Korea.  Tomorrow the two teams meet and perhaps have their first real test thus far to determine who finishes first and second.

Canada will play second place.  Australia will play first.

We are happy to announce a new web site for the Canada Floorball Federation http://www.teamcanadafloorball.com/.  Please explore this site and take advantage of a lot of the great information, resources and links on it.  My favorite section is COACHING, prepared by Unihockey.  Here you will find easy to follow video description outlining all kinds of floorball skills, giving you real insight on how perform different moves, passes, where to place the ball on a slap shot… and the such.

The CFF web site also has a summary and more details of Canada’s victory today under “World Championships Blog”.