Quebec City, May 17, 2009
Carlo Bossio won the prestigious Quebec
Cup for the second straight season, leaving no doubt that
he still reigns as the King of Coleco Table Hockey. Carlo
trailed Martin Labelle 1-2 in tournament wins this season
after three events (Montreal, Sherbrooke, Drummondville),
but Carlo defied the odds by prevailing in Gatineau and
Quebec City, edging out Martin 3-2 in tournament victories
and claiming his second consecutive Quebec Cup.
Heading into Quebec City, the odds still
favored Martin Labelle. But given the high level of competition
and abundance of talented players in the Hockey-Sur-Table
Quebec circuit, no-one could predict whether Carlo and Martin
would decide their contest head-to-head in the playoffs,
or whether one (or both) would get derailed by a hungry
giant-killer. The only guarantee is that one of them would
win the Quebec Cup.
Lurking in the background of this Bossio-Labelle
contest was the perennially dangerous Pat Cote, who won
the Quebec Cup in 2006-07, and Dany Leclerc, who won the
Quebec City tournament in 2008 and – as it turned
out – played like a true defending champion. After
three rounds and twelve hours of fierce competition, the
dust finally settled, with Dany (3rd) and Pat (2nd) joining
Carlo (1st) and hoisting their Quebec City hardware.
Dany Leclerc (3rd), Pat Cote (2nd),
Carlo Bossio (1st)
Martin Labelle had a strong start to his
day, playing well defensively and scoring almost at will
on everyone he encountered. After the first two rounds,
Labelle was #1 playoff seed, having won an unprecedented
19 games in a row at one point, beating virtually all the
top-10 players en route. By contrast, Carlo was visibly
struggling early on, and seemed constantly to be calculating
all his potential playoff match-ups as he tracked the progress
of the critical A-pool round-robin. Carlo finished that
round seeded #5 in the playoffs, to Martin’s #1. In
theory, that should have given Martin a slightly easier
path to the finals. But in practice, theory means little.
It’s all about match-ups, and in Quebec’s best-of-three
playoff series anything can (and often does) happen.
The Playoffs
In the first playoff round (the round of
16), the top 8 seeds all prevailed. That in itself is unusual,
because upsets come early and often in this hotly-contested
table hockey circuit. But the second playoff round, the
quarter finals, would determine the Quebec Cup, and in dramatic
fashion.
Martin (#1) drew Dany (#8), while Carlo
(#5) drew Alex (#4). Both series were deadlocked 1-1, and
both series went into game 3 overtime. Martin had beaten
Dany 6-5 in their game 1, but Dany had levelled the series
with a 4-3 overtime win in game 2. That game involved a
very controversial call, as an apparent game-winning and
series-ending 4th goal by Martin was disallowed after the
fact, because Martin’s goaler had fallen off his stump.
According to HSTQ rules, play is stopped
when a goalie falls off, and a face-off ensues. But in this
case no-one had noticed that Martin’s goalie had fallen
off until after Martin had scored the apparent winning goal.
Be that as it may, Martin’s goal was disallowed, and
Dany scored in overtime to force game 3.
Meanwhile, in the other crucial series,
Carlo won game 1 (4-2), but Alex came back to take game
2 (4-3), thus forcing game 3 in this series as well.
Martin and Dany played their deciding game
first, and they went into overtime deadlocked at 5-5. Martin
seemed the tighter of the two players, while “cool-hand”
Dany exhibited looseness by talking to Martin and even cracking
a couple of jokes during otherwise tense overtime action.
They went scoreless for a long while – at least half
a game – until Dany managed to place a perfect flip
shot (right defenseman off the net) into the top corner.
That was the end of the series, and almost the end of Labelle’s
Quebec Cup aspirations. Now his fate lay in the hands of
Alex Anoussis, who faced Carlo in their game 3. If Alex
prevailed, Martin would still win the Quebec Cup based on
overall standing.
Not wanting to lessen the drama, Alex and
Carlo went into game 3 overtime as well, tied at 3-3. Their
sudden-death contest went scoreless for at least 3 minutes,
but not for want of opportunities. There was outstanding
goaltending and clutch defense on both sides, and if anything
Alex had more gilt-edged scoring chances than Carlo. But
he could not quite connect. Give Carlo enough time, and
he will usually find a way to win. And so he did, in a thrilling
4-3 finale.
So Carlo advanced to the semi-finals, but
he still had to defeat his brother Gino to overtake Martin
in the overall standings and clinch the Quebec Cup. Carlo
prevailed over Gino in 3 games (6-4, 4-6, 6-2), while Martin
could only watch from the sidelines as his chances slipped
away.
The final featured Carlo against Pat Cote,
and by now Carlo had found his stride. These two have played
in many a final series, and Carlo once again defeated “Le
Phenomen” in three games, winning the Quebec City
tournament – and with it, the coveted Quebec Cup.
Carlo finds a moment to smile during
the final series against Pat
Pat Cote: always
dangerous, always among the best
Gino Bossio signals his approval
Great champions always find
a way to win, and Carlo is no exception. In 2007-08 he clinched
the Quebec Cup early on, by taking the first three tournaments
in a row. In 2008-09 he had to come from behind, trailing
Labelle 1-2 in tournament victories. He survived a harrowing
game #3 overtime against Alex Anoussis, and went on to defeat
Gino and then Pat in consecutive 3-game series, completing
his Quebec Cup encore “the hard way.” Kudos
to Carlo: He will be the man to beat in 2009-10.
Labelle Bids Farewell
Meanwhile, during the Quebec
City trophy presentations, a special and deserving tribute
was paid to Martin Labelle. Prior to this tournament, Martin
had announced his retirement from organized table hockey
at season’s end. He will be missed. Denis Begin and
Burt Brassard, the Quebec City organizers, thanked him for
all his magnificent contributions to the sport, which include
reincarnating a new and improved Coleco 5380, organizing
the Sherbrooke league and annual Sherbrooke tournament,
and guiding Hockey-Sur-Table Quebec as its able president.
The New York City Table Hockey Association
(NYCTHA) also expressed its deep appreciation to Martin,
presenting him with a special award for his exceptional
service to the sport. On a more personal note, Martin got
me out of retirement 3 years ago, with his Labelle-Coleco
(#47 of the 56 great boards he built). Thanks to him, my
comeback has been possible, and it has brought more challenge,
joy and friendship into my life, these last three years,
than I can express. Bravo Martin Labelle, and best wishes
in your new career paths.
Martin Labelle retires from table
hockey
Organizer Burt Brassard shows his appreciation
Aside from the colossal contest for the
Quebec Cup, this Quebec City tournament also decided one
smaller contest: namely the final spot in this season’s
top-10. Coming into the tournament, Alex Anoussis and I
were competing for this 10th and final spot. As fate would
have it, we met head-to-head in the round of 16. Alex defeated
me in 3 games (6-4, 1-4, 5-3) to clinch his place among
the top-10 in 2008-09. So I have to settle for 11th place
this season. Interestingly enough, this was my 11th tournament
on the Quebec tour, and I also finished 11th on the day.
So for me, 11’s were wild.
Another story that deserves to be told is
the comeback of the Anoussis brothers – Sam and Alex.
They emerged from retirement two years ago, are competitive
in the ferocious Montreal league, and are now (once again!)
genuine forces to be reckoned with. Both of them finished
in the top-10 this season, and both aspire to climb higher
in the rankings. So the old Montreal Table Hockey League
from the 1970s and 1980s now comprises 20% of the current
top-10 (and 27% of the current top 11), an ongoing legacy
of Montreal's dominance on the Coleco board.
Sam Anoussis, Yours Truly,
Alex Anoussis
Veterans of the old MTHL, still going strong
Today’s Montreal league
is awesome. It boasts seven of the current top-ten players
in Quebec (Carlo, Gino, Pat, Dany, Sam, Alex, Eric). There
is no better preparation for Coleco tournaments than competing
in this league. I am happy to see Montreal still at the
epicenter of Coleco Table Hockey, and stronger than ever.
Finally, thanks to Burt Brassard and Denis
Begin for organizing yet another outstanding tournament
in Quebec City! Until next season – a la prochaine.
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