Beast Unleashed; Rob Collins and Josh McQuade

As we get closer and closer to the start of the hockey season the Beast are announcing signing after signing. Today I'm bringing 2 profiles at you as today is another Free Agent Friday and the Beast will be announcing 2 more signing later today.
Another quick side note, the Brampton Beast and Oscar's Road House (a restaurant in Brampton) revealed the "Beast Burger" this past week. It's a 40oz patty on a bun that is roughly as much bread as a loaf of bread. The toppings include onion rings, peameal bacon and of course, a side of fries (not that you need them!). That's a massive burger!

Josh McQuade:

Josh is a 24 year old right winger from Grimsby, Ontario. He stands at 5'10, weighs 185 pounds and, shoots right.

Josh's road to becoming a Beast started in with the junior Hamilton Bulldogs in AAA hockey where he scored 43 points in 47 games. Enough to get him drafted by the Peterborough Petes. It was 2007/08. He only played one game with the Petes (scoring 1 goal) but he went down to the Newmarket Hurricanes for the season and in 47 games he scored 60 points with 49 penalty minutes.

For 2008/09 Josh moved to the Hamilton Red Wings (Who eventually became what is now the Erie Otters). He played 39 games scoring 80 points and 132 PIM before jumping from the OHL to the QMJHL. In the "Q" he played with the Gatineau Olympiques for 24 games, totalling 11 points and 12 PIM. He also was a part of the playoff run for Gatineau. In 10 games he scored 4 points and 4 PIM.

2009/10 involved a move to Junior B. He played for the Brantford Golden Eagles (Now the Caledonia Corvairs) and in 51 games he scored an incredible 150 points and 80 PIM. The Golden Eagles went to the playoffs and in 16 games Josh scored 26 points and 60 PIM.

In 2010/11 Josh took his skills to the University of Western Ontario. Josh only played 14 games for the Mustangs but scored 12 points and 10 PIM. The playoffs that year only lasted 8 games but in those 8 games Josh scored 9 points and 6 PIM.

Finally, some stability in his hockey career came from the Fayetteville FireAntz. He spent 2011/12 and 2012/13 with the Southern Professional Hockey League club. (A theme that seems to be growing with the Beast as head coach Mark DeSantis was head coach of the FireAntz). In 2 seasons with the FireAntz Josh scored 127 points and 94 PIM. The "Antz" did not make the playoffs in 2011/12 but they did in 2012/13. They only played 2 games but in those games Josh obtained 2 assists. 2012/13 was also the year that the FireAntz made Josh an assistant captain. 2012/13 was a great year as Josh was also named to the SPHL 1st team all-stars, he scored the most goals in the league and he scored the most points in the league.

Looking at Josh's resume, it's easy to see that coach DeSantis will be looking to Josh to be putting points up for the Beast this year.

Rob Collins:

Rob is a 35 year old who plays both right wing and center from Edmonton, Alberta. He stands at 5'10 and weight 172 pounds.

Rob's career started at university. He played for Ferris State University of the NCAA in Big Rapids, Michigan. From the 1998/99 season to the 2000/01 season Rob scored 75 points and 76 penalty minutes over 109 games. The 2001/02 season was a big one for Rob. He was named assistant captain for the university. He scored 48 points and 23 PIM over 36 games and, was named to the NCAA first team all-stars. He was also a finalist for the Hobey Baker award (for the top NCAA player).
All these accolades landed Rob a contract as an undrafted free-agent with the New York Islanders. He ended up getting 5 games in 2001/02 with the Grand Rapids Griffins where he scored 2 assists.

Rob played his first full season in the AHL in 2002/03. In 73 games he scored 31 points and 16 PIM. The Griffins went to the playoffs as well and in 15 games he scored 11 points and 40 PIM. The Griffins won their division that year.

In 2003/04 the Islanders changed their AHL affiliation to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Rob spent all of 2003/04 and 2004/05 with the Sound Tigers. Over that time he played 153 games and scored 94 points with 109 PIM. The Sound Tigers made the playoffs in 2003/04 and in 7 games Rob scored 8 points and 10 PIM. Unfortunately there was no playoff appearance in 2004/05.

2005/06 Was the big year for Rob. He played 8 games for the Islanders that year. His first goal was on December 9 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Over those 8 games he only scored that 1 goal and 1 assist. Both on that night against the Leafs. He spent the rest of the season with the Sound Tigers. In those 67 games he scored 69 points and 54 PIM. The Sound Tigers returned to the playoffs that season and in 7 games Rob scored 6 points and 10 assists.

Rob would move "across the pond" to Germany and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the 2006/07 season. He signed with the DEG Metro Stars who played in Dusseldorf (The team is now known as Dusseldorfer EG). He played 5 seasons with the club, the final season being the 2010/11 season. In those 5 seasons he played 255 games scoring 245 points and 319 PIM during the regular season. Although he never won a league championship the Metro Stars went to the playoffs every years Rob was a part of the team. In his 45 playoff games he scored 33 points and 44 PIM.

Rob moved to the Hamburg Freezers for the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons. For the 2012/13 season he was the team's assistant captain. In his 87 games with the Freezers he scored 60 points and 82 PIM. The Freezers, much like the Metro Stars, made the playoffs both seasons Rob was playing for them. In his 11 playoff games with the Freezers he scored 8 points and 20 PIM.

Clearly Rob has a wealth of experience and I expect that will be a big part of his contribution to the Beast this season.

The Argos to Move to BMO?

Could the Double Blue Come to BMO?

I need to say one thing first.
I love Canadian football. When people start talking about how "it's not as good as the NFL" I'm the first to explain that the CFL comes from the rugby roots and that it's actually much more "pure" than the NFL version is (at least in terms of to sport of football evolving from ruby). I still like the NFL but I feel the CFL is a more entertaining game.

The Toronto Argonauts are, and always have been, my team in the CFL. From my early teens when Pinball and Flutie were kicking butt to the surprise season of 2004 to the resurgence of the team the past couple of seasons.

That said the Argos DO NOT belong at BMO field.
In order to accommodate the Argos you would need to:

A) Essentially demolish a whole side of the stadium and rebuild it further out (I assume the east stands).You will also need to do the same with the north or south end to make the field longer.

B) The field will need to go back to turf. Tim Leiweke mentioned that currently BMO holds rugby matches and that Stubhub Stadium in LA also held football games. That's fine but not comparable. Those are once, maybe twice a year type of events. The CFL is a full 18 game season (9 home games) which run at the same time as MLS does. Not to mention any games that the Canadian national soccer teams may play. That's a lot of wear and tear on the grass.

C) Add more seating. It's too small. BMO holds 22 thousand. Outside of 8 seasons since 1959 the Argos average attendance has been higher than 22 thousand. It doesn't make sense to be moving to a smaller stadium!!!

Honestly, it drives me crazy. Yes the Roger's Centre is too big for the Argos (It's too big for the Jays too for that matter) and the likelihood of replacing the dome seems very small as Rogers has been putting money into upgrading it but I just don't think BMO is a fit for the Argos.
I realize that the Argos need something smaller than the Roger's Centre. I also would like to see an outdoor stadium for the Argos maybe something that seats 35 thousand and can expand for Grey Cup games or big CIS games but that's not the point. The point is that the Argos do not belong in BMO Field.