Season Recaps

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background="043f0f03.jpg"> <div> <I>Season Recaps</I></div> <div> 2008 will be a year of transition for the Hitmen.  Some familiar faces are gone for various reasons and the team has several new additions as well as old friends coming back.</div> <bR> <div> The adventure began with the Early Bird in Burlington.  FLush off a great 2007 season the boys found themselves ranked in Tier 1.  Unfortunately they were going down with only 9 players.  An opening game against the Toronto Trojans set the tone for the weekend as they lost 19-18 on a last minute drive.  New rusher Karl DeNie proved his mettle in the opening game but the offence failed to capitlize early and allowed the Trjoans to remain in the game.  Game # 2 was against the Home Team Piranhas and the less said about that debacle the better.  A late afternoon "A" division qualifier against the London Kuchocki Realty was played in a monsoon and the captain took things in his own hands with a 2 INT performance on defence.  The next morning saw the squad lined up against the Landell Lightning in the "A" quarter-finals.  An inspired effort by the defence (5 INTs and a TD to boot) allowed the team to win their first ever game against the Lightning with the winning point coming off the foot of Pollice from his side of half.  Great bounce and roll followed by awesome hustle by Paul Lapierre and Benny Goodfriend.  An exhausted side was simply no match for the Irish in the semi-finals.</div> <bR> <div> Chateauguay rolled around and the team was yet to regain it's full strength.  10 players began the event and the team would finish the weekend with only 8, 1 playing while injured.  Due to slight injuries to their starting QB suffered in Burlington, the team would start Benny Goodfriend in both Saturday games.  Benny held his own and the team won both games in the second half behind veteran QB, C.Pollice.  Pollice suffered yet another injury in Chateauguay and will finish the season with Mallet Finger on his throwing hand.  The team faced off against the Maroons on Sunday with 8 players...never a recipe for success.</div> <bR> <div> Rosemont rolled around and the bodies started to return.  Strong winds played havoc with the offence all weekend long and the team, as a whole simply did not look sharp.  A close win over the Magic and an "upset" loss against the Wolfpack relegated the team to the "A" division for Sunday.  A very tight game against the Kosaks was followed by a close loss to the Magic to send the team home to re-group.  The rythym demonstrated by last year's team is still missing but the positive signs are there.</div> <bR> <div> The boys rolled down the 401 into Kingston with, go figure, a short bench.  Several players missing in action seems to be the standard for 2008 and the bench got shorter as Pollice was hurt on the first play of the second game.  A season altering knee injury will force the team to alter it's strategy for the rest of the season on defence and special teams.  The boys tried to regroup, and back up QB Goodfriend showed some flashes, but an 0-3 weekend occurred for the first time in the team's history.</div> <bR> <div> A few new faces joined the team in Boucherville for the last Quebec event.  A hard fought loss to the Magic on a grey, drizzly day had the lads wondering.  The Hitmen regrouped...defeated Oakley by enough points...and won their pool.  For the first time this season the offence seemed to have a bit of rhthym.  A semi-final matchup against the Maroons went down to the wire with the Hitmen dropping a close fought 24-20 decision.  On to Ottawa...</div> <bR> <div> The team journeyed down the 417 missing a few bodies...story of the season so far, and would find themselves in tough in Tier 1.  The Argos and Gaels would be the opponents in Pool B.  The Hitmen dug deep and defeated the Argos in a tight game 25-24.  They then played a great first half against the Gaels before imploding with a minute to go in the first half on the Gaels goal line.  What should have been a game tying TD turned into an INT and then a TD the wrong way.  The Gaels opened the second half with the ball and quickly made it 4-1.  Still, the Hitmen played the first AA qualifier in the team's history and kept it interesting against the #1 team, the Hamilton Piranhas.  However "interesting" is not a victory so the boys dropped down into the A Q-Finals against the Tailgators.  Another close fought game that the squad managed to win.  The team would run out of gas and the mistakes would catch up to them as they faced the Ottawa Capitals in the semis.  The Hitmen played 5 games on the weekend, all against teams ranked in the top 10.  A great way to round out the prep tournaments.  Provincials and Nationals to go...</div> <bR> <div> The Provincial weekend started off in fine fashion as the Hitmen had an easy first game against the Phoenix.  A 46-14 victory set the tone for the morning and the team clinched the pool with a 24-14 victory over the Magic in the second game.  Once again the squad would find itself matched up with the Maroons in the semi-finals.  A great game to watch, the team came up just short with a 24-22 loss.  Due to other upsets the team finishes the year 3rd in Quebec heading into the Nationals.</div> <bR> <div> The Nationals came and went.  Saturday was spent in Tier 1 without the team's starting QB.  This was a valuable learning lesson for the other QBs and hopefully they are better for the experience.  Sunday was spent recovering from Saturday and the team dropped down into A.  A good game against the Toronto Gators that ended poorly turned into a 27-24 loss and a disappointing end to the 2008 tournament season.</div> <bR> <div> Overall the year saw some good things, some bad things, and some things that made you wonder...WTH?  2009 looks very promising because when this team is focused, good things happen.</div> <bR> <div> The Montreal Hitmen have now wrapped up the Montreal Touch Football League's regular season.  For the second year in a row they have finished as the regular season champions.  The playoffs begin on Saturday November 1st and the team is looking to make it to their 3rd straight championship game.  This season the team is looking to finally get the "monkey" off their back and take home the playoff title as well.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>