WFTDA Preview: #25 Providence @ Montreal

By Justice Feelgood Marshall, Last updated Wed Jul 29 2009 6:06am

MONTREAL, CA -- The first WFTDA-sanctioned bout outside of the United States takes place in French Quebec on Saturday night as Montreal tries to knock off visiting Providence. Montreal is currently not ranked under either the official WFTDA system or DNN's unofficial top 25; Providence is officially ranked 7th in the WFTDA's East region and sits at #25th in the nation via the DNN Power Rankings.

The crew from over the border was unable to claim victories in their two WFTDA bouts at ECE, falling to Atlanta 137-116 and losing a last-jam nailbiter to Ohio, 102-98 -- but the New Skidz on the Block made quite a few new fans with their distinctively garish neon uniforms and penchant for honoring their namesakes. Added to a 184-45 May loss against Harrisburg, Montreal sits at 0-3 in WFTDA sanctioned contests, although they're 3-3 overall on the year, having defeated Canadian teams Calgary and Oil City and also having notched a win over Philly's B-team, the Independence Dolls.

This version of Montreal's all-stars lacks a couple of their double-threats, as Romeo and Beater Pan-Tease are both deployed both with the star and in the pack, but Montreal has no lack of jammers here: speed demons Iron Wench and Ewan Wotarmy, tireless Georgia W. Tush and agile Heartless Bitch and Izzy Skellington give the New Skids plenty of options on the line. In the pack, Boxcar Bethy  has been continuing to improve as a pivoting specialist while Trash N' Smash violently practices truth in advertising.

Providence is one of the oldest teams in the new-ish sport, having played at the original Dust Devil way back in February of 2006. After a bumpy rebuilding period that bottomed out in 2008 and saw them go 0-3 at the 2008 Eastern Regionals, they seem to have righted themselves this year -- they've gone 3-1 thus far, losing big to Charm City 171-76 in February but then knocking off Philly local team Heavy Metal Hookers, Harrisburg, and Maine.

The Rhode Island Riveters will likely be relying on veteran jammers Hysterica! and Craisy Dukes for most of the point-scoring, but PRD is deep in the pack, with Trophy Knife and Jetta Von Diesel excelling at positional play while Kid Ace, Bleeding Rainbow, Hot Sauce and Lotta Pain are all more likely than not to send an opponent flying.  

Montreal came achingly close to their first WFTDA win at ECE and will have a very robust crowd behind them at home; Providence looks to demonstrate some strength in the run-up to the Eastern Regionals in just over six weeks, so there's more than a little at stake here for both teams.

Bone Machine 11:11 // Boxcar Bethy (A) Local 210 // Ewan Wotarmy 7734 // Georgia W Tush 40oz // Heartless Bitch 33 1/3 // Iron Wench 5/16 // Izzy Skellington 18-2 // Jess Bandit (C) 8 // L'il Mama 1/2pint  // Lyn-Dah Kicks 75 // No Holds Bard 2x4 // Smack Daddy  // Trash N Smash 1.18 // Wrath Poutine Dirty 30

9 Alice Rumbledore // 1000 Baby Fighterfly // 00 Bleeding Rainbow // 5 Craisy Dukes // 40 F'Shizzy Borden // 101 Hot Sauce // 42 Hysterica! // VR6 Jetta von Diesel // 225 Kid Ace // 64 Lotta Pain // 90 Rhode Kill // 8 Sass E. McNasty // 2 Shelby Bruisin // 401 Trophy Knife