Montréal, QC

By Artsy Choke and The Oxford Commakaze

In the final game of the 2016 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Montréal, the London Rollergirls (#1 seed) from London, United Kingdom, clung to a small but hard-fought lead to take the win over the Texas Rollergirls (#2) from Austin, Texas. Both teams have guaranteed spots at the 2016 International WFTDA Championships in Portland, Oregon, but a first-round bye – and bragging rights – were on the line in the final game of the Montréal tournament, with London coming out on top.

By Whacks Poetic

Many things were on the line in the second-to-last game of 2016 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Montréal: a medal, third place, a winning record at the tournament, and — most importantly — a trip to the 2016 International WFTDA Championships. Montréal Roller Derby from Montréal, Québec, Canada, has finished fourth in two of the past three years, and taking the win at home would make any previous heartbreak forgotten. Bay Area Derby from Oakland, California, has gone to Championships all but two years in the WFTDA’s history. Montréal, after so many fourth-place finishes, managed to best the perennial Champs contender, Bay Area, and booked the first trip to Championships for a Division 1 Canadian team.

By Artsy Choke

In Game 15 of the Montreal D1 playoffs saw Dallas Derby Devils take on Boston Roller Derby. This game determined the fifth and six place slots of the tournament.

The game started slowly, with only six points a piece up on the board at the end of the fourth jam after Dallas’ Bayleigh Wheat forced Hardcore to call it off. In jams 5 and 6, Dallas’ Bazooka and Anita Riot scored a combined 25 points, shutting Boston out.

By Whacks Poetic

The Detroit Derby Girls from Detroit, Michigan, and Rocky Mountain Rollergirls from Denver, Colorado, had already given us some of the closest edge-of-your-seat games this weekend at the 2016 International WFTDA Division 1 Playoffs Montréal. The weekend started with a 4-point win by Rocky over the Kallio Rolling Rainbow from Helsinki, Finland. Detroit had already experienced two 25-points-or-fewer games this weekend, winning a close game against the Sun State Roller Girls from Brisbane, Australia, and losing by almost the same margin to the Dallas Derby Devils from Dallas, Texas. But the seventh-place game Sunday afternoon made those look like smooth-sailing blowouts, as the teams stayed within a few points to each other the entire 60 minutes. The win came down to single digits and came down to how many points each team had scored on an incomplete scoring pass. Ultimately, Rocky would take home the win, 196-195, and earn seventh place at the tournament.

By Artsy Choke

Day three of this playoff weekend here in Montreal started with another game between two non-US teams as Kallio Rolling Rainbow of Helsinki, Finland took on Sun State Roller Girls of Brisbane, Australia for the 9th spot in the tournament.