Do I hear 4 peat?

[Bonhomme2010]

The rich gets richer!

Les Capitales have just found the righthanded power hitter they've been looking for by signing the most coveted free agent in the league, Mark Minicozzi, for the upcoming season. The cleanup hitter for the Tornadoes the past 2 seasons...no wonder Cris Collabello saw all those juicy fastballs hitting in front of him! Decent glove at third base! He will bat behind Sebastien Boucher and be followed in the line up by Pete LaForest and Rene Leveret!

They signed 2nd baseman Jonathan Malo (veteran). He was the MVP of the canadian team that won the gold medal in the Pan-Am games last year. T.J.Stanton (veteran), last year's closer, will act only as pitching coach.

They also added outfielder Steve Brown out of Edmonton NABL and reliever Guillaume Leduc.The utility infielder / backup catcher will be Josue Peley, no less than a LS-4

Departing
Geofrey Tomlinson has officially retired after 8 seasons with the team and should still be around as coach.
Ivan Naccarata has been released. Could be back in august if needed
Seth Henry got hurt and is not expected to make it this year. Realeased on april 24
Jeff Duda, great set-up man last year, has just been released by Yucatan in the Mexican league after 3 starts and was resigned but as a starter...at his request.

Players acquired from the Pittsfield/Brockton dispersal draft
Scott Wearne has been released
Shawn Williams has been traded
Billy Mottram was expected to retire but, come april, a lot of guys have changed their mind. He's still on the team's roster as inactive

Sounds like bad news??????

The rotation seems to be set with Rembiz, Gelinas, Mariotti, Duda, and Adam Kudryk, a canadian lefty.

It's early days yet but the offensive line-up could look like this:

Steve Brown, rf
Jonathan Malo, 3B
Sebastien Boucher, cf
Rene Leveret, 1B
Bobby Wagner, lf
Paul Karmas, DH
Pat Daoust, c, best defensive player in the league in 2011
Jeff Helps, ss
Josh Colafemina, 2B

A good right / left balance for the first time in ages. In some games last year, they had 7 lefties at the plate

And still the best defence in the league!

Eat your heart out!

[Bonhomme2010]

Pending a physical, Mark Minicozzi's contract will be purchased by the San Francisco Giants to play at the AA level in Richmond. The manager says he has a solution to replace his bat. Paul Karmas, a rookie 1st/3rd baseman

Pete LaForest might not be available to begin the season. His surgically repaired knee is not flexible enough yet. His catching days are over. So T.J.Stanton will be the closer until Laforest can play. That's an upgrade for the bullpen.

The team has signed veteran catcher Max St-Pierre as a pitcher so he'll have the rookie status.

John Mariotti is in town to sign his contrat but his agent is still in touch with a team in the mexican league so he could leave anytime soon...or not at all.

[Bonhomme2010]

Billy Mottram signed his contract at the end of january. However, he got involved in a baseball academy and will not be with the team for the time being though he could join later on, in august, for the final weeks of the season and the championship best of seven games between the 2 teams with the best overall record.

He was transfered to the inactive list.

[QuebecCapitalesFan]

Looks like the Caps will 4-peat in a week. I hope they do, they're the best team in ALL of baseball!!! ALLEZ LES CAPS!!!

[QuebecCapitalesFan]

Ladies and gentlemen, the 4-peat is officially complete, as Les Caps took Jersey in 5 games.

Félicitations, les Caps!!!!!!!

[DJ Omnimaga]

Congrats! I hope next season they continue on that track. Hopefully New Jersey continues too, because they're really good. As for Rockland, hopefully they stick with the same league as Caps and hopefully they have more luck. They were doing quite well until that 13 (?) games losing streak.

Go Caps!

[NJ JACKALS FAN]

I was at all three games in nj. The jackals looked terrible. It seemed as though they hadlost interest. The other interesting thing was that the jackals president gave the trophy to quebec. Sigh.....

[Bonhomme2010]

I was also at the three games in NJ. Expect for Angel Berroa, the Jackals did not seem terrible to this punter but their confidence looked to be paper thin. It didn't take a very strong wind to blow them over.

The players have to do all the little things in order to get to the the last game... and win it. Les Capitales have been doing it for 4 years.... most games.

In this playoff, the Jackals didn't win the first game in Quebec as much as les Capitales didn't show up for the game. When they got down to business, the Jackals didn't have a chance!

I expect a new manager in Little Falls next year! The team needs leadership... the real thing! When the manager leaves the stadium 15 minutes after a championship game loss leaving the players to themselves (actually after both games 3 & 4), it's time for a change!

[DJ Omnimaga]

To be honest I was really surprised to see this series end so fast, though. Last year, after seeing the caps lose to jackals so often during the season, I was sure that New Jersey would win the championship and this year I was sure the series would end in 7 games.

[Bonhomme2010]

Most years, the Jackals have had the best players but les Capitales have had the best team! The huge difference (and I mean HUGE) between the 2 teams is leadership... in abundance on the north side and in dire need on the south side!

I've seen all the playoff (home & road) games involving les Capitales the past 4 years... and all the home games the past 10 years! The leadership was installed by Michel Laplante in 2005 and Pat Scalabrini is a true leader of men... which translates into 3 championships in his first 3 seasons as manager!

I was flabergasted when I came across Joe Calfapietra in street clothes leaving the stadium in a hurry 15 minutes after game 4! He must have ran from the field to the shower! He looked like the captain abandoning his ship without telling anyone that the boat was about to sink! Where were the players supposed to turn for comfort and reassurance? Whose job is it to refocus the team?