Red Bull Playoffs: Montreal Vs. Quebec Rail Comp
April 7, 2009 – 10:43 pm PT by MeTags: Laurent-Nicolas Paquin, Marie-Hélène Tremblay, Max Baillargeon, Playoffs, Red Bull —
Snowboarding and Hockey have a lot in common. They both take place on ice. Well actually hockey takes place on ice while it’s rare that snowboarding takes place on ice. It’s usually just the jumps that are made of ice. But they both require helmets. Actually while snowboarding doesn’t necessarily require helmets, I know that hockey does. So wait a second. What DO they have in common? Canada maybe? That should do.
On April 10, 2009, twelve of Quebec’s best snowboarders will meet in Trois-Rivières and Shawinigan in an urban rail comp that will borrow the all-revered format of three-period hockey, with each period taking place at different challenging but neutral locations featuring some of the province’s best rails.
Harkening back to the best battles of the Habs and Nordiques, Red Bull Playoffs will be divided into three periods. After a twenty-minute training session, each coach will announce their line-up for the period including five players, including one competing female. Riders will have to drop their best performance in front of the three judges (Mathieu Laroche, Martin Jarand and Audrey Guillemette) for a maximum of five points. Each rider will get three chances to hit the rail with only their best performance counting.
Provincial pride and the Playoffs Cup will go to the team with the most accumulated points. A $1,000 prize purse will be distributed among the three stars of the match; $500 for the first star, $300 for second and $200 for third.
Last year’s comp also tested the rails on the neutral territory of Chicoutimi, with Montreal earning the overall title and Jérémy Cloutier, Yan Dofin and Jason Dubois taking first, second, and third star, respectively.
FULL ATHLETE ROOSTER
Quebec
Marie-Hélène Tremblay
Max Baillargeon
Frank April
Laurent-Nicolas Paquin
Will Lavigne
Jason Dubois
Coach: Guillaume Brochu
Montreal
Laurie Gauvin
Charles Reid
Max Verville
Ghislain Montpetit
Antonin Chamberland
Jérémy Cloutier
Coach: Philippe Joyal