Those who were with us yesterday may have noticed the Ligue Fédérale des As Winter Classic posters upon your arrival at Collège Notre-Dame. Unveiled with little fanfare, the posters were hot-off-the-presses and showcase our event logo which, like the poster, took weeks to develop.

After Alexandre Paré last month whos been having a great and surprising season with us this year, it was the turn of Mr. Sebastien "smily-face" Mainville to be voted the player of the month in the LFA. As is customary every month, we had candidates who deserved their nomination such as Nick "the machine" Chagnon that despite serious discomfort during a game stayed in it as long as he could - the love of the taste of "puck" and competition fueling him on.

With the end of another month of activities in the Ligue Fédérale des As comes the time to vote from our ranks for the player of the month for November. It’s a task that will be more difficult than usual given 15 players changed addresses and one new player joined our ranks to replace a player who hung up the skates for health reasons. Two players, in fact, if we count the goaltender for the Tomahawks, Nicholas Chagnon, who should be back at the beginning of February if all goes well, but nothing is certain at the moment.

After several months of preparation, we are starting our official fundraising campaign for our Winter Classic for the benefit of the Montreal Canadiens Children's Foundation. The game will take place January 16 in Verdun on the Canadiens’ outdoor rink.  The campaign is twofold: 

There’s a headline to avoid stepping on toes, to pass unnoticed, to avoid causing offense to sensitive hearts. It’s a way for me to get in line, to avoid making waves, to not share my opinions but to fade into the background in this increasingly generic society where we ask people to use their wallets instead of their brains.

Like the Canadians who had an incredible start to their season, the Acapulco Tomahawks from La Ligue Fédéral des As dominated the league remaining undefeated before Saturday’s game against the Pub St-Paul Avengers. Led by the tandem Harvey & Aspirot, Renault Sebastien’s men inflicted a first defeat to the "Red Machine, it needs to be emphasized they were missing two key players from their team; Kevin Williams and David Simon. The veteran JP Harvey and rookie PL Aspirot overwhelmed the opposing defensive front that seemed disoriented facing the agility and power of the two blue forwards who were supported by a team that was hungry for a win after experiencing tough games recently.

We were there not so long ago, yet on Saturday after the exchange, the field day to see what the guys thought. You understand that it is difficult or impossible to make everyone happy, and the LFA is no exception. It is still fascinating to see how people are afraid of the unknown, uncertainty and more change. 

Things always happen for a reason... Anyway… That’s what they say. Following an eventful week, we have now reached our October break, thanks to a tournament happening next weekend at the College Notre-Dame arena. After five weeks of action, including the opening week with pre-season games, we have witnessed one team dominating the Ligue Federale des As: and they are the Acapulco Tomahawks (first Mexican city to be home to an ice hockey team). Taking in consideration requests and concerns from the others teams, the selection committee will meet up and study the case and will make the necessary adjustments before pursuing the season. Without making big adjustments among the teams and despite some wacky ideas spreading, we will still have to make changes to balance the league.

For the second time this season, the pub St. Paul Avengers found themselves in a draw against the Bily Kun Czechers, which, to add a little more spice to our sauce, forced the newly instituted shootout this season.  Each team has three shooters followed by a fourth, fifth and so on if a tie remains, until each player from the teams shoots before returning to the first shooter.