Good Times Ahead – Playoff Preview

The time has finally come. The beautiful spring blows another winter season into its playoffs rounds. This past week of games had very little meaning and it showed on the field. All in all looking back on the season, I can’t say I’m disappointed with either division. Quite the opposite actually, I think this season was legendary and action packed. Ok yes, there were moments some of us would like to take back, plays we wish we would of made. But what’s progress without learning curves right? Last time I checked Steve Jobs didn’t have success without quite a bit of struggle. Since we’re being honest, the only thing I would complain about if I chose to complain about something, it would be the lack of competition at the top and bottom of division one. I’m really looking forward to the season where more teams stack up against the division 1 established power squads. Division two was a treat to follow from day one. I just wish we could copy that level of competition and parity and bring it into division one. I believe we will one day see this change; will it be next year with the readjustments of the rating? Hopefully, sooner rather then later will be best for the league and the players involved in it now! On another note, congratulations to everyone who has made it into the post season! I’d also like to thank every team who unfortunately are not going to be part of the playoffs for their honest efforts but coming up a little short. I expect nothing else then to see you guys come back next season, stronger, and take another crack at it!

 

Quick look back:

– Did any one expect Cold Fusion to toy with as many teams as they did? I can’t say I predicted this much success. Justin Lavallee came out of left field and led his team to a 9-1 season. I had them going 5-5 and I felt I was being generous because I didn’t want to fear for my life if I ever had to line up against them. Congrats on an amazing season, and I wish you all the best in the post season.

-Express had one of their worst seasons ever as a team. A star-studded line up with names like Arsenault-Hum, Pat Chenard, SCC, the Thuot brothers, and a supporting group of guys that should make this team a much better team then they were this season. 2-8 for 8th overall is going to haunt them all off-season.

-Finest going 10-0… Are you surprised? Did you think you could beat them? Do you think you’ve adjusted and are going to beat them in the playoffs? Like a broken record I will say again; these guys are like the GOD DAMN NAVY SEALS… they’re an army of one, with one goal, one freaking heartbeat. So unless your team has miraculously found the Space Jam magic purple drank… good luck when you have to line up against them in the playoffs.

– Opposite side of the spectrum, 0-10 for BC et Les McGonagals. A team, who struggled to find their identity all year long, ended up not being able to field a team in week 10 thanks to a coach’s wishes. Never thought they would find so little success with the talent they had on the team. Hopefully these guys find a way to bring forth a better roster in the future and don’t fall into the Usual Suspects frame of thinking, (maybe if we don’t change anything we’ll be better?)

-Lessons to be learned: your self confidence and ego can only take you so far: when Josh Koscheck thought he could stand in the ring with GSP, we all knew he’d be lucky to come out of that alive. Luckily for him he survived, he also wasn’t aloud to get on a plane because his body was growing a smarter brain through his frontal lobe. It’s ok to be proud; it’s also smart to go into the division your cap allows you to play in. I’m not pointing fingers but if you feel like I’m talking about your team, that’s because I am.

-This season, over a three-week stretch, we saw way more fights than all of last year. It has likely implemented a rule change that would suspend any player who part takes in such activities to be suspended for a full calendar year. Harsh? Absolutely not! You want to fight, join a fight club. You want to be impulsive and irrational, join politics or go play in an arena league full of “tough guys”.

-It’s unfortunate when you hold such a key advantage on offense having Kevin Wyeth at QB but your defense gives up a divisions’ worst 377 PA. Very rarely will you find a team with a negative +/- finish with a positive record of 6-4. The only reason for that is… Kev! Now if you want to continue gambling on every series, go for it. If I had one word of advice for you, it would be this: we all know they’re going to score on you, might as well be as aggressive as you possibly can so you’ll at least be in position to make plays if the quarterback has a brain cramp. Roll all of your coverages. Show man but don’t play it. If you know what match is, USE IT! And on that note, Kev… Put the team on your back and run big guy!

-To all the teams who made the move up into a higher division, congrats. It takes balls to come out of your comfort zone. I’m sure no one regretted the decision for one second. Even though you might not have found the same success as in the past, and maybe you did, I’m sure you enjoyed the competition. I don’t know about you guys but I’d rather lose a game I competed in and had a ton of fun doing so, rather then destroying a team and never being challenged.

-It’s nice to see the league growing. Most importantly, it’s nice to see the league attract top quality CEGEPs and CIS players… Sprinkle a couple professional football players, and you got yourself the most competitive Flag football league available. We don’t give much love to all the work that goes into the product we all anxiously look forward to weekly. So much so that the majority of the players play on multiple teams because one game a week just doesn’t feed their appetite or itch. So on behalf of the players… Thank you. Thank you for giving us a much-needed outlet for our addiction to the sport we love so very much. I know this isn’t like strapping on your shoulders pads, but it’s all most of us have now.

 

Division 1 Freaks of the Week:

QB: Tam Vilaydeth ~18/31 for 241 and 8TDs 1 run for 22 yards~ Great game, unfortunate there was no pressure associated with the game.

WR: Guillaume Robert ~4 Receptions for 101 yards and 2 TDs~ Real tough week to pick a FREAKK when so many guys had themselves a Freakish outing! But I choose Guillaume for the freak one hand catch for a 40 bomb!

DB: Alex Nadeau-Piuze ~8 Tackles 2 picks 6 and 3 PDs~ This is not a joke people, Alex has morphed into some kind of defensive FREAAAKK.

R: N/A

If we had a game between the division one FREAKKSSS and division two freaks, here is what the rosters would look like after tallying this years’ freaks… the number in brackets refers to the number of times you ended up on the freak list this year.

Division one:

Kevin Wyeth (2), Rochdi Benabdelkader (2), Charles-Antoine Sinotte, Marco Masciotra, Jamal Gittens, Patrick Jerome (2), Matt Kirouac (2), Adi Sharma, Ryan Aridi, Simon Charbonneau-Campeau (2), Jonathan Grizzley, Tim Kramer, Tam Vilaydeth (2), Ryan Kastner, Jo Duclair, Micheal Harrington, Alex Nadeau-Piuze (3), Theo Ojeaha, Akked Moore(2), Felix Prevost, Sean Kennedy, Nicolas Arseneault-Hum, Serge Pilon, JP St-Pierre, Guillaume Robert,

Division two:

Frederic Dupuis, David Polynice, Chris Pinsonneault (2), Jordan Panetta (2), Francis Lapointe, Matt Kirouac, Leon Holder, Adam Bailey, Jordan McLaren, Alexandre Gatien, Jourdain Alexis, Francois Lebeau (2), Jason Prince, Rich Humes, Frederic Rousseau-Blass, Pascal Murray, Jeremy Anderson, Corey Pecker, Maxime Giroux, Tony Tabet, Samuel Lagloire-O’Connell, Samuel Bibeault,

 

The KISH Award for week 10: *for the best two-way player of the week.

!!! Alex Nadeau-Piuze!!!

 

Awards:

Here are my votes for the awards in division one and two. Remember this is my opinion; know that my vote is one of many and therefore holds no more weight than any other media member covering you guys. Here is my fair and apprehensive vote… hopefully I don’t make too many enemies doing this:

Quarterback of the year in division 1: Kevin Wyeth (Montreals Finest) 212/290 for 2302 Yards 60 TD 127 QB RAT. 89 Yards Rushing and 1 TD

Quarterback of the year in division 2: Corey Pecker (Legends) 186/284 for 2061 Yards 53 TD 115 QB RAT. – 145 Rushing yards and 1 TD

 

Receiver of the year in division 1: Patrick Jerome (Terror Squad) 53 REC 623 Yards 19TD

Receiver of the year in division 2: Chris Pinsonneault (O.N.S) 46 REC 562 Yards 15TD

 

Defensive player of the year in division 1: Ryan Aridi (DK) 3 TKL 14 SK 1PD

Defensive player of the year in division 2: Jordan McLaren (Cold Fusion) 18 TKL 8 INT 6PD

 

Best two-way player in division 1: Alex Nadeau-Piuze (Flag Moi L’Sac) 168/251 for 1811 Yards 48 TD – 29 runs for 352 yards and 5TD 121 QB RAT. / 41 TKL 5 INT 8PD 4 Defensive TD

Best two-way player in division 2: Matt Kirouac (Clockwork) 53 REC 599 Yards 13TD – 3 TKL 11 SK 2PD

 

My Regular Season picks:

In division one last week I went 3-1. That wraps up the season in division one and I finished 25 out of 36 for 70% winners. For those of you who are going to challenge the math, there are four games missing because I didn’t have predictions week one. Two weeks ago in division two I went 7 and 2, which sums up the season at 53 out of 72 for 74% winners this year.

 

Quarterfinals for division2:

Shakalooins (6th) VS Gladiateurs (3rd)

Previous match-up: 39-20 Glads

Although last game was heavily tilted one way I believe this game will be a lot closer. When comparing skill versus skill it isn’t obvious which side is favored. One thing is certain, the way Gladiateurs have closed up their season winning 6 of their final 7 games, they are the heavy favorite on paper. Captain Francois Lebeau will be in the running for quarterback of the year and he will need to maintain that intensity through the playoffs. The addition of Alex Nadeau-Piuze early in the season has definitely paid dividends and should continue to do so. Defensively for Shakalooinz the key is to not get frustrated. Playing defense against such a chemistry-based team can be annoying at times. Even if you think you’re in perfect position, Frank and his receivers will find a way to beat you.

Key players for Shakalooinz:

Bobby Mikelberg, Guy Laflamme, Mattey Ossom

Key players for Gladiateurs:

Francois Lebeau, Alex Nadeau-Piuze, JS Gradowski

My pick: Gladiateurs 32-24

 

Flag Football Fantasy (4th) VS Served With Ice (5th)

Previous Match-up: 25-12 FFF

This one is extremely tricky for me to talk about. So let me make one thing clear, I think Nathan should continue throwing. Nathan is 3-3 as a QB while Benny Goodfriend was 3-1. But you have to keep in mind the following: Benny’s 3 wins were against opponents who all together tally up for 3 wins combined. Nathan played 6 teams who are now in the playoffs; every loss came to a team who now has a first round bye. Ultimately, it isn’t my decision to make but my predictions will be based on the fact that Nathan is throwing. Served With Ice is going into the playoffs with 7 legible players, problem is the key player missing: Tony Desmond. A lot of pressure now lies on two receivers, Karl Lavallee and JD Chevalier. With the defense FFF is going to present on game day, I highly doubt that’ll be enough to beat what is the best defense in division 2. Nathan needs to learn from his last game of the season, take a sack instead of forcing throws that might get picked off.

Key players for FFF:

Nathan Taylor, Adam Bailey, Chris Robertson

Key Players for S.W.I:

Jordan Penetta, JD Chevalier, Karl Lavallee

My prediction: 32-30 FFF

 

O.N.S (4th) VS Wolverines (5th)

Previous Match-up: 39-36 O.N.S

I can’t remember the last time I saw a team finish with the best offense and the worst defense. That’s a feat ONS was able to achieve this season. Wolverines were able to achieve shutting up all the haters who counted them out early on this year… myself included. Last time they met wasn’t very long ago, week 10 of the regular season. Tony Tabet was near perfect in that game and still lost. Kevin Wyeth needs to continue thriving under pressure; a humbling experience when you’re used to throwing for Finest. I have no problem seeing Tony finding his receivers at will. ONS defense has glaring holes and an obvious lack of rushing ability. The key will be to keep the ball out of Kevin’s hands.

Key Players for ONS:

Kevin Wyeth, Chris Pinsonneault, Brian Lariviere

Key players for Wolverines:

Tony Tabet, Theo Bekelis, Raffi2

My prediction: 46-32 O.N.S.

 

Clockwork (3rd) VS Les Monsieur Chats (6th)

Previous Match-up: 32-25 LMC

Star studded match-up that I can’t wait to watch Sunday night. This one should be quite entertaining to say the least. The last time they met was week one. So it’s hard to say that this is something we can look back to and actually consider relevant. Very similar in styles, both teams like to score an abundance of points and take multiple shots at the end zone. Although you would think based strictly on regular season record that Clockwork is the favorite going into this game, I’m not so certain it is the case. LMC has a lot to bring to the table in terms of football skills. They also bring forth quite a bit of size. On the other hand, Clockwork may fall short on size but they make up for it in speed. This one is a toss up for me. I believe it’s going to come down to whom ever has the ball last.

Key players for Clockwork:

Marco Masciotra, Matt Kirouac, Jamal Gittens

Key players for LMC:

Nicola Centomo, Samuel Bibeault, JC Mercille

My prediction: 44-38 Clockwork

 

Thank you for taking the time to read my article. Once again good luck to everyone who has made it into the post season! I’ll be back at my regular station on the weekly podcast so don’t forget to tune in Thursday night around 10:15! The link is on the FPF site’s home page. Follow me @VinceNardone for very little action on twitter or stop me at the field to chat. Till next time… Win or be left with the unbearable wait for the summer season!