News

by The Great Gashby

Photo by TJ Chase Photography

The air was thick with anticipation on Saturday, April 25, 2015 at the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster. For the start of Terminal City Rollergirls’ Season 9.0, two fantastic match-ups were on the docket. First up, in a rematch of last year’s season finale, it was the Faster Pussycats vs. the Riot Girls.  The feature game showcased international WFTDA-sanctioned roller derby, with our Terminal City All-Stars taking on the Helsinki Roller Derby All-Stars.  And even though the Vancouver Canucks were playing in Game 6 of their series against the Calgary Flames, a sold-out crowd came out to cheer for their teams. 

Both the Riot Girls and the Faster Pussycats had impressive showings in the pre-season round robin. And with the kinks ironed out and the rookies brought up to speed, it was all systems go for Season 9.0. The Pussycats capitalized on a power jam opportunity and pounced to an early lead, but the Riot Girls were undaunted. Annie Means Necessary took back the lead for the RGs with a natural grand slam, and set the tone for the remainder of the bout. In a series of short jams and quick points, both teams added to their scores, but ten-point jams by End’erWigglin and Annie Means Necessary helped the Riot Girls increase their lead.  The Faster Pussycats retaliated with a fourteen-point jam by rookie La Zole, who kept up her gritty, fight-for-the-last-point style through a full two-minute jam that included two power jams. However, a jammer penalty at the end of the first half hurt the FPC, and resulted in the RGs adding nineteen more points to their lead. At the end of the first half, the score was 112 to 64 for the Riot Girls over the Faster Pussycats.

Powerful jamming and consistently strong blocking continued to allow the Riot Girls to add to their lead.  In particular, quick offensive moves by Hurt Russell and Felicity Brammer helped the RG jammers break free of the pack and score points.  The Pussycats answered back with great jamming from their small powerhouse jammers including Starlet Scarlet, Drago and Tiki Timebomb. However, it wasn’t enough to retake the lead.  The Riot Girls continued to get nickel-and-dime points to win the bout, 195 – 95 over the Faster Pussycats. MVPs for the game were La Sole for the Faster Pussycats, and Felicity Brammer for the Riot Girls.

Two of Vancouver’s finest teams, the Vancouver Canucks and Terminal City All-Stars, were out Saturday night looking for the win. This was the All-Stars first game of the season, and some new faces were present on this year’s squad, including Public Frenemy’s Red Sonja, and Faster Pussycats' Jackson. And what a way to begin their All-Star-dom, in front of a home town crowd against the Helsinki Roller Derby All-Stars.  

Helsinki jumped to an early lead in the bout, capitalizing on a flurry of Terminal penalties.  Helsinki’s Maria Kosonen, MIA and Taru Saxelin formed a dynamic trio of jamming power that TCRG initially had a difficult time containing.  However, by capitalizing on a Helsinki jammer penalty, Evada Peron racked up the points to bring Terminal within one point of Helsinki’s lead.  Terminal’s Maiden Sane kept the momentum going, and Terminal overtook the lead.  Star passes and penalties for both teams towards the end of the first half made for some exciting derby with plenty of points scored by both teams. At the half, the score was 118 to 86 for Terminal City over Helsinki.

At the start of the second half, both teams had strong dynamic walls that kept the point scoring low.  Terminal’s blocking dynamos, including Brittany Palmer, Eve Hallows, Sundown and Scarlett Bloodbath, kept Helsinki from scoring points for six straight jams.  Helsinki’s Varpu Knuutila and Paulina Brandt used their size and speed to their advantage while jamming, and capitalized on a couple of Terminal jammer penalties.  Terminal continued to lead throughout the second half by a margin of between thirty to forty points, but the score differential didn’t reflect how close the game felt. Momentum shifted in Helsinki’s favour towards the end of the game.  These energizer bunnies just kept on going, and with one final burst, they tried to close the gap.  But it was too little too late; Terminal took home the win in their season opener, 215 to 185 over Helsinki Roller Derby All-Stars.