A breath of fresh air.

Sure, this first line might feel like I’m self-centered, only care about myself and how I’ll be different from the previous writers Division A/B has had in the past, but worry not, my intentions were, well, not that? It is, in fact, in regard to the new teams moving up in the divisional ladders to face top-notch talent and prepare themselves for what is to come.

With teams like Braves making a move into Division A after their fantastic season in Division 2 a few weeks ago and Monstars returning to, what we can only hope, is their former Spring glory, there’s plenty of fresh air to go around and I haven’t even touched Division B yet.

As many of you either know me, heard me on last season’s podcast or simply seen me around the fields, I’ll keep the introductions brief (I actually hate these whereas certain colleagues of mine who’ll remain unnamed for the sake of objectivity seems to write these articles only for his/her chance to say something meaningful here).

Let’s get started.

 

Preseason

With the schedule officially out, the teams unveiled on the FPF website and the season kicking off in a few days, it really feels like Spring is here. I could ask one of you to let Mother Nature know as she seems completely oblivious as of late, but I’m sure we can all agree this is a better football environment than the scorching heat of Brossard on a week night.

Since there’s only so much information to go around and nothing to recap nor players to give praises to, this week’s article will be slightly different from my usual format, but worry not, I’ll be back in full season form once I’ve seen a few snaps from each of you in the upcoming days. Feel free to come say hi and talk about FPF if you see me either at Lachine on Sunday nights, Brossard on Tuesdays or Papineau on Mondays; there’s very little chance you can go around and not see me.

 

Thoughts of the Week

• I’m not sure whether it’s a good or bad thing that I’m in charge of Div A and B articles just yet.
• Unlike Moe Khan keeps saying, this Finest team is showing NO sign of slowing down or being the “weakest squad ever”.
• Interesting additions for Braves. I wonder how it’ll all mesh together.
• Rare Bears; clever.
• Rich & Famous is probably one of the best puns in FPF history.
• Could this finally be the year KGP goes back to its former self?
• I don’t know about you guys, but I feel in midseason form with all the FPF Jr going on.
• As much as I’d love to see Rare Bears take on DA Finest in the finales this season, I’m secretly hoping someone dethrones either of the two and makes it there.
• Daniel Lazzara, where are you?
• Feels good to finally have smaller divisions to cover.
• I won’t recap things I didn’t witness myself.
• On the flip side, I’ll see at least half the games so I should have decent content.
• Ranking Division B was much tougher than it looks.
• Everything is bullet-form. I love it; easy formatting.
• No, I haven’t found myself an editor yet. I also don’t really care.

 

Preseason Rankings

Division A

1. DA Finest: They are the reason people don’t want to play Division A. They’re the best team in the top division and they’ve showed no sign of slowing down. The only potential reason I could see for them not to be in the #1 seed is the potential absences from Kevin Wyeth, but if he has enough GP for the playoffs, there might only be regular season losses.
2. Rare Bears: Basically D-Boys in disguise, the return of Jacques Void is a scary thought considering how strong this roster already is. Adding Sasha Papich defensively might push them over the top as he’ll fit in perfectly with their defensive scheme and add depth in case of people missing a few weeks. As long as Marco Masciotra is throwing to Jamal Gittens and Theo Ojeaha, they belong at the top of their division. Sadly, they fall short of the top for now.
3. Monstars: They’ve surprised more than one bystanders last season in Division A and I’m quite happy to see them give it another shot this season. Considering what they were able to accomplish in Division 2 last Winter, there’ very little doubt Monstars can hang with the best teams this summer, but the real question mark remains whether or not they can beat Rare Bears/Finest. The WR Tandem of Anthony Brisebois/Frederic Viens alongside Theo Bekelis and Quaysie Gordon-Maule is definitely a receiving corps able to compete. Whether or not their defence makes plays is my only concern.
4. Braves: After taking D2 by storm, they emerge in Division A with the new additions of Vince Nardone who proved he can still play defence in D1 with his quick stint last Winter and JD Chevalier who should mesh up real nicely with this team. There is a reason these guys’ ratings spiked after only 1 season and they’re in Division A to prove the doubters why. I’m eager to see how it all pans out.
5. Top Guns: On paper, this team is absolutely loaded with talent. In reality, it all comes down to who’ll be there week-in and week-out. If they can have this roster every week, they’ll take more than one team by surprise and they’ll have a memorable season that could upset pretty much everyone’s predictions. Paul Lapierre is a proven QB in Division 1 and should have great numbers when it’s all said and done; will his defence hold up to allow him to make those famous comebacks?
6. Rainmakers: I know they were looking for a few players to polish their roster, but from what I’m seeing, they haven’t found the missing pieces just yet. Sure, the core is strong and they’ve got an explosive offence that will keep them in pretty much all of their games, but last season’s woes came from the defensive side of the ball and I don’t see it being fixed preseason. Prove me wrong.

 

Division B

1. STL: Last season’s roster was an absolute juggernaut that performed as expected and I don’t see it being any different this time around; they kept their best players and shuffled a few pieces around to fit the cap. As long as Dylan Taylor has the Ojeaha brothers to throw to, this offence will remain one of the best in the division. If their newcomers can carve themselves a role early on, they’ll be the scariest team in the division.
2. Six Fast Guys Minus Ryan: A few roster cuts, a handful of acquistions and we’ve got ourselves a monster of a roster this season. 6-R kept their playmakers and somehow added Alex Pilon, James Floreani and brought back Dean Demetriou and Jasmi Rioux into the mix. Unless Frederic Viens goes away on vacation again, they’re a top contender for this year’s title. Can he keep everyone’s ego in check is the only possible question mark.
3. Incredibles: This team is basically the same minus Alex Pilon from last Winter and they’ve performed quite well in Division 2. Moving “down” a division, they should be considered a top dog this early on. This defence should be able to bail their QB out more often than not and bolster one of the best secondary in the division. Unless something goes horribly wrong, this isn’t the last time I mention Incredibles in a good way.
4. Coyotes: After winning Division 3 last Winter, they’re only possible move was to keep moving up and they did just that. With the new addition of Danny D’Amour and Ryan Lelinowski, Coyotes might have found a fix for their “size” problem and added absolute studs across the board. Sammy Feder is an underrated QB and his receiving corps is good enough to compete with any Dbs in this division. There’s a reason they are ranked this high preseason and no it’s not favouritism.
5. Rich & Famous: Rich Humes first stint at Division B comes with a loaded roster and a plethora of offensive weapons. Considering he already have chemistry with most of these guys already, the move felt natural. The new acquisitions, including Marco Masciotra, Shawn Steen and Ryan Aridi, should only help the transition. With a loaded secondary, it falls on Rich Humes to perform as expected for these guys to climb the rankings.
6. Kings: They surprised many last season with their late push into the playoffs and I feel like this season won’t be any different. Mathieu René shines with the right weapons and this roster is built exactly the way he wanted it. With a very physical defence and great receivers, there’s very little doubt they’ll find success this season in Division B. My only question is how far will they go?
7. QUAN: With a roster built with many players from lower divisions, many will overlook QUAN and misjudge them, but don’t fool yourselves. With many underrated players on this roster, who better than Alex Holowach to help them emerge on the big scene and become known commodities? On top of all these newcomers, there’s the returning Perry brothers and Jamil Springer who will simply be dominant in Division B.
8. KGP: With many new faces, KGP returns with another small, but talented roster. Guys like Justin McLean and Gordon Hogan should excel in Phil Cutler’s offence alongside Sean Brophy and their defence is bound to find success behind rusher extraordinaire in Julien Paiement. Unless too many guys miss too many games, KGP should be back to their former glory days anytime now.
9. Drop The Mic: There is A LOT of talent on this roster. In fact, every single name on there can turn a game around in Division B. The only possible concern lies in Mario Porreca and his ability to adapt in Division B as a QB, but his defence should bail him out almost every single drive considering how stacked they are. It’s only a matter of time before we know how dangerous this offence can really be.
10. OTF: With the same great receiving corps, but a new QB under center, OTF is mixing things up to see what went wrong last season. Considering they’ve kept most of their games real close, I’m not too worried about these guys coming into this season. If Justin Smolar can still perform at this high level, OTF will upset more than one team before it’s all said and done.
11. Broccasion: The same famous core is back and ready to compete. With the return of Johnathon Louis, it should give them the ability to stretch the field once more and another great defensive player. Kyle Lebofsky continues to be a menace on this team and if Kristian Cerantola’s connection with his brother remains ever so deadly, they should be able to compete with every team on this list this season.
12. Lightweight: Submitting probably one of the thinnest and weakest roster (cap related) in the division, they are question marks all over. There’s enough play makers on this roster in Francois Hogue, Francois Raymond and Francesco Spanti to compete with anyone in the division, but it’s a question of execution rather than straight up star power. Time will tell.à

 

Early jabs at Awards

It wouldn’t be a preseason article without a little bit of drama and random predictions. In an attempt to bring you both at once, here’s my preseason top picks for the awards this Spring season.

Division A

• Quarterback of the Year: The Kevin Wyeth award goes to Marco Masciotra for the second straight Spring.
• Receiver of the Year: Frederic Viens. He’ll have an absurd season.
• Defensive Player of the Year: Guillaume Dagenais. If he plays all 10 games, he’ll finish with the best defensive stats in Div A.
• Two-Way Player of the Year: Rod Mashtoub. This is THE year Marco Masciotra doesn’t win “his” award.

 

Division B

• Quarterback of the Year: Frederic Viens. There’s a very high probability that he breaks his very own record of best completion percentage in a season.
• Receiver of the Year: Ryan Lelinowski. He’ll quickly become Sammy Feder’s favorite target and bring new meaning to high-octane offence.
• Defensive Player of the Year: Sasha Papich. I’ll be shocked if someone else finishes with more interceptions this season.
• Two-Way Player of the Year: Theo Ojeaha. Unless he’s not eligible, we can already put his name on the plaque.

 

Previews

Division A

• DA Finest vs Braves: The schedule was not kind to Braves as they’ll face the best team in the division on their very first game in Division A in the Finest. There is a rumor going around that Kevin Wyeth might miss a handful of games this season and we’ll see Patrick Chenard under center for the Finest in his absence; I secretly hope this is the case for their week 1 game as Braves will need to tweak their playbooks and prepare for their biggest game of the season on Day 1. With basically 0 changes to the roster aside from Kishon Thompson return to full-time status (hopefully), there’s simply no way they can drop this game. We all know how much Finest loves banging on newcomers in their first try at the Champs and this will be no different. As for the Braves, they’ve proven themselves more than once last season going practically undefeated and taking Division 2 by storm. Division A is where they belong and they’ll be forced to prove Finest that guys like David Dagenais, Georges Gariepy and QB Jonathan Maheu are better than what people give them credit for. Time will tell the outcome here, but it might be closer than people anticipate.
• Rare Bears vs Rainmakers: Rainmakers “drew” possibly their worse matchup for their very first game of the season. Considering they’ll need to build some momemtum after what happened this Winter, Rainmakers will be backed against the wall as soon as the first whistle is blown. Ryan Kastner is a great QB and is move than able to put up points against an absolutely loaded Rare Bears squad. Time will tell if Rainmakers have the offensive weapons required to compete at the highest level in FPF because the QB has never been the problem. As for Rare Bears, well, I doubt we really need to go into details here. They took a scary squad and made it scarier with recent acquisitions. If Rainmakers’ defence is anything like it was a few weeks ago, Marco Masciotra will feast in his first Spring game this season.
• Top Guns vs Monstars: In this week’s best matchup in Division A, we’ve got two teams that’ll need to prove themselves early in the season to determine if they deserve to be considered a top contender or not. Last Spring, Monstars got the best of Top Guns earlier in the season, but suffered a tough loss down the stretch before losing an absolute heart breaker in the playoffs. I expect a similar scenario this year as Monstars will look to upset Top Guns early and build themselves up as fast as possible. If Top Guns can have their full squad ready week 1, they’ll be a force to reckon with, but if the past is any indication, it has been their biggest rival. I’m curious to see how this one pans out. The idea of Frederic Viens and Anthony Brisebois as a WR tandem is scary even in Division A, but Top Guns are loaded with the kind of Dbs that know how to shut guys down.

 

Division B

• QUAN vs STL: STL might start off as favorites, but nothing is guaranteed in FPF and their week 1 matchup shows exactly that. On paper, STL’s roster should take this one by halftime, but QUAN showed great resilience last season and I doubt Alex Holowach would put a team together that couldn’t compete with the best of them. With many up and coming talent on QUAN, it’s a matter of time to see who’ll emerge from the pack and be a star for this team. If anyone can restrain Theo Ojeaha just a little, this could turn out into this week’s most interesting game.
• OTF vs Six Fast Guys Minus Ryan: OTF had a very solid squad last season, but simply couldn’t finish when the game was on the line. With a new QB in Justin Smolar now and the return of the extremely talented Meshesha brothers, this isn’t W17 OTF anymore. If they can mesh up well with each other, OTF could quickly be one of the fastest rising team in Division B, but it all starts with 6-R Week 1. With their revamped roster and the addition of Alex Pilon in the lineup, they’re faster and scarier than their previous selves. Can OTF force Frederic Viens into bad throws and force him to play from behind or will he start on pace for yet another historic season?
• Rich & Famous vs Incredibles: Rich Humes’ higher division debut will not be kind to him as he’ll face off against one of the top defences in the division in Incredibles. Last season, there was question about Greg Stern’s ability to compete in Division 2 and he shattered all of them away. With a similar team, expect similar results; Incredibles will bolster a strong defence with a high-octane offence. Luckily, Rich & Famous is absolutely stacked with star power and playmakers. A rusher like Ryan Aridi could really impact the outcome of this game if he can get in Greg Stern’s head early. I can’t help but wonder who’ll be Rich Humes’ favorite target with this roster.
• Lightweight vs Broccasion: Two thin and unproven rosters will face each other week 1 in a game that could leave the losing team in shambles. Neither team acquired excessive star power to prepare for this Spring season and their roster are actually what we’ve grown to know out of them. If Francois Hogue can contain Kristian Cerantola and force him into a pocket-passer, Lightweight’s defence might just be able to keep this one closer enough to make it an enjoyable game. We’ve got the players to contain theirs, but so do they. Monday can’t come soon enough.
• KGP vs Drop The Mic: For the first time in a very long time, KGP features a very different look, but so does Drop The Mic. Sure, both cores remind us of previous teams, but there’s too many different pieces to say they’re the same team as their previous selves. With many underrated players on KGP, it’ll be up to Phil Cutler to elevate his game and compete in Division B this Spring quite like how DTM is built. If Mario Porreca can find chemistry with his receivers early, he has the weapons to have a memorable season; it’s all on him to make these guys look good from Day 1.
• Kings vs Coyotes: In this week’s most interesting matchup, we’ve got the up and coming Coyotes against the returning Kings. Last season, the Kings weren’t the most feared team, but they’ve found their rhythm later in the season and quickly turned into a darkhorse team. Mathieu René can be a fantastic QB with the right pieces and this Kings defence is bound to leave a mark with many great Dbs on the roster, but Sammy Feder is not your ordinary QB. With the addition of Ryan Lelinowski to this squad, there’s no telling how hot this Coyotes’ offence can get.

 

That’s it for me this week. Hopefully this is what you’ve all grown to love and expect out of me for your weekly readings. If it isn’t, you can send any sort of formal complaint to Paolo Della Rocca via twitter (@PeezeFPF) so I can keep tab and act like I didn’t know about it. Otherwise, if you have any comments, feel free to hit me up either via emails ([email protected]) or twitter (@DagenaisFPF). Until next time. PS, Eagle, you don’t play in this division, so yeah.