Since June of 2009, when the Manic Attackers dethroned Hell’s Belles and took the Ivy King Cup as champions of Chicago’s Windy City Rollers, questions have swirled in anticipation of wholesale roster changes across the four home-league teams. How would the Belles fare, returning just two skaters with a full year’s experience? Did all-world Fury jammer Kola Loka lose a step while out last year on maternity leave? Who among last year’s up-and-comers would break out as new stars?  How would Grand Raggedy transfer Jackie Daniels look? And, most intriguing of all, would Chicago fans turn out in big numbers to welcome the new season?

Questions answered.

On Saturday, January 30^th , a tighter, more focused Double Crossers team steamrolled Hell’s Bells 171-48 and the Manics tamped down The Fury 101-83. A crowd reported by Derby News Network at 3,977—the largest to watch modern roller derby in Chicago—began rising into the UIC Pavilion’s upper deck before the 6:00 p.m. start.

Double Crossers vs. Hell’s Belles

Perhaps not since the summer of 1998, when the six-time champion Chicago Bulls splintered in the off-season, has Chicago sports seen a red and black transition like Hell’s Belles are going through now. Just this past June 20^th, the Belles were tied with the Manic Attackers in the Ivy King Cup championship game with eleven minutes to play, scrapping for their second consecutive league crown. But gone now are a who’s who of  past stars—Megan Formor, Varla Vendetta, Belle Diablo and Athena DeCrime. On Saturday night, the Belles managed just 17 offensive blocks and 1.41 points per jam in the 123-point loss.

The Crossers broke out to an 18-0 lead, showing dominant blocking at the front of the pack that would hamper the Belles all night. In the bout’s fifth jam, Loco Chanel  held up Crosser jammer Reina Chaos, positioning Deb Autry to cruise when Georgia on Yer Behind was sent off with a major. Autry circled for 14 points, but the red and black would not be in it again. Two jams later, the Belles set up camp in the sin bin, where they would spend a remarkable 46 team minutes. Indycent rang up 15 point while Chanel circled the track waiting for a seat to open up in the box. Led by Chanel’s 20 total penalties and eight minutes in the box, HB repeatedly put itself at disadvantage with elbow and forearm play.

The first half ended with the Crossers up 86-28, both teams giving way to half-time favorite the Power of Cheer, who appear to have spent the off-season muscling up. Mattrick Swayze and crew ripped through its most dynamic and athletic set to date; more power, less cheer, but great fun as usual.

The second half picked up where the first left off. In the fourth jam, with the Crossers up by 61, jammer Nina Millimeter went on defense, picking at Belle rookie Zombea Arthur like a tiger barb right off the jam whistle. Two jams later, just seven minutes into the second half, the Crossers slipped over the century mark as Georgia on Yer Behind, Donna Party and crew repeatedly slammed the door on Belle jammers. The crowd stayed with the Belles, however, erupting into a roar when Autry and Shocka Conduit took lead in the seventh and twelfth jams. Down but not out, the Belles sent Gotham Girls Roller Derby (New York) transfer Dinah Party to the line in the final jam and its least experienced rookies into the pack. Party juked her way to lead jammer. She put zero points on the board but scored big with her struggling teammates by sucking pro-Belles cheers out of the crowd.

It was likely a career night for several Crossers. Five different silent assassins, led by Julia Rosenwinkel, Nina Millimeter and Indycent, racked up double-digit jams. Rosenwinkel, the Crosser captain, looks considerably faster and stronger than she did in 2009 and led all scorers with 50, a remarkable 8.33 points per jam.

One had to feel for Shocka Conduit, the league’s 2009 point champion and now the Belles' sole travel-team member. Conduit drew heavy attention all night from Crosser blocking; she had just 9 points and too few assists from a roster including seven skaters playing their first bout—Arthur, Brawla Poundstone, Payne D. Spencer, Pominatrix, Sue Perduper and Nancy Pagan, who made the most of her opportunity by blind-siding Crosser veteran Donna Party to the Skate Court late in the second half. Deb Autry, one of last year’s early draftees, appears to have made great strides during the off-season. Zombea Arthur, although she did not score in six attempts, skated opportunistically and will find holes as the Belles' blocking improves. The Belles' other heavy-rotation jammer, Hermione Danger, who has both burst and heart, must cut penalty minutes to help on offense. With the vastly improved Fury on the schedule in just three weeks, the young Belles will need to grow up fast.

Final score: Double Crossers 171, Hell's Belles 48

Manic Attackers vs. The Fury

In the off-season, roller girls take up a second sport—drafting players for the new season. How it works is all guess-work for the outsider, but there are clearly winners and losers. Just ask Hell’s Belles. And in a year like this one, when so many four-year players chose home-league retirement, the stakes were sky-high. The Fury came away from the draft season with two huge scores, increasing team speed exponentially with the return of Kola Loka and the acquisition of Grand Rapids transplant Jackie Daniels. On paper, their match-up with the Manic Attackers looked like it could be a preview of the 2010 Ivy King Cup. But the Manics, last year’s champs, equaled Fury speed, decisively won the penalty battle, and looked long on endurance in their 101-83 win.

The Fury’s Loka and game MVP Beth Amphetamine of the Manics put on a speed clinic, lining up against each other with some regularity throughout the night. Amphetamine scored just 19 points in the game, but played a crucial role in neutralizing Loka’s velocity. The two skated to a 0-0 draw on the first jam, but the Manics opened a 19-6 lead after the first ten minutes. Loka finally got loose in the game’s eighth jam and scored her first four points. With the score 19-11 and 17:50 left in the first half, the next jam ended with Jackie Daniels putting her shoulder just under Wreck N Shrew’s chin. The game stopped while Wreck thought about getting up, and though she went on to score the Manics’ final points, she could be seen after the game with an ice bag fashionably draped over her right collarbone.

The Manics opened up a 17-point lead, but The Fury began to chip away during a furious thirteenth set. Loka picked up lead jammer and then traded short penalty stints with Amphetamine, who shot out of the box and appeared to be headed for a scoring pass when Daniels and Go-Go Hatchet snagged her in a perfectly executed sandwich. Loka took advantage of a dispersed pack and cut the lead by four.  Daniels registered six on a pretty run with three minutes left, and in the half’s final jam, Loka burst past Fury blockers like they were moving backwards, taking lead jammer in turn two. The half ended with the Manics leading 39-33.

The Fury kept up the pressure as the second half began, and in the fourth jam, Daniels executed a deft cut to take advantage of a block on Amy Nonamey and momentarily take the lead away.  Mo Vengeance was able to hit her scoring pass, however, and end the jam with the Manics still in control, 46-43. Nonamey—who in just her second full season is emerging as one of the league’s most fearsome hitters—found redemption two jams later by crushing Ska Face, ending her ten-point jam. Loka would tie the score at 55, and then Hatchet later at 64, but The Fury would not lead again.

In the twelfth jam, Ruth Enasia, who led all scorers with 48, ducked under Sonya Mouthshut while Di Richmond and Wreck N Shrew tied up The Fury’s Shannanigan to open up a ten-point lead.

Discipline served the Manics well over the next ten minutes of play as Fury skaters were waved into the penalty box. Daniels and Loka were each sent off while jamming inside the eight-minute mark, and the Manics stretched their lead to 29. Loka, however, never looked spent, and if her year-long leave has had a negative impact, it will take interleague play to prove it. With 2:49 left in the game, she ran down the lead jammer, Enasia, forcing her to call it off. And then, albeit against the light end of the Manic bench, she put up 15 of her 31 points on the final jam, her 18^th of the night.

Final score: Manic Attackers 101, The Fury 83

The Manic Attackers will square off against the Double Crossers on February 21^st, while The Fury will face a scrappy Hell’s Belles squad with nothing to lose. Will that be a great time? Four thousand people can’t be wrong.