We didn’t see this coming! Longtime Paintball Legend Chris Lasoya Joins San Francisco EXPLICIT!

You might remember as we reported earlier this year the recent additions to the EXPLICIT roster. With players like Neil Eberle, Tyler Harmon and now Chris Lasoya- EXPLICIT is putting together what appears to be a powerhouse team. Core cohesion will be critical for the team in 2012: team managaement and results will matter when it comes to game time. EXPLICIT will be competing in the 2012 NPPL Super 7 Tournament Series.

Chris Lasoya, the Ageless Wonder, has signed with San Francisco Explicit to participate with them in the NPPL Series. Rob Montiero, Owner and President of The Explicit Group, states “We are extremely excited about having this great addition to our team. We know that his experience coupled with the current roster will be an added value and benefit for Explicit.”

“I am looking forward to this year and this new venture with Team Explicit. Rob and company have taken the steps to create a team that will be very competitive. I would like to be a part of that. I have always liked the guys currently on the roster and the new pick ups I have played against for years and I have always had the utmost love and respect for. ‘Talent wins games … but Teamwork and intelligence wins championships.’ MJ said that.” – Chris Lasoya

With less than two months to go until the first event (NPPL Surf City Open March 29- April 1st) fans are eager to see the results.

Pro player Billy Bernacchia

A long time staple of the Northeast Paintball Scene is relocating to Texas for the 2012 season. Last week we reported that Billy Bernacchia was in Texas and hanging out with the X-Factor pro team while they were hosting tryouts. New information has surfaced indicating a permanent move is being made.

ProPaintball insiders report that Billy has joined the team and an “official” announcement on his move to San Antonio X-FACTOR is forthcoming. Prior to joining X-Factor, Billy was a core player of the recently dissolved New England Hurricanes and St. Louis Avalanche pro teams. During the 2011/12 off season, the Hurricanes and Avalanche teams merged to form a new pro team know officially as New England Avalanche. ProPaintball insiders suggest that initially the Hurri-lanche team was considering play in both the PSP and NPPL pro series. However, as time went on it became clear that the new team would be competing exclusively in the NPPL. Bernacchia has been competing in both pro leagues for as long as we can remember and ProPaintball insiders suggest this could have been a reason for him seeking a new home.

Pro paintball team X-Factor at PSP World Cup 2012

San Antonio X-Factor is wearing Sly Profit Goggles and paintball gear. In addition, the team will be shooting Planet Eclipse paintball guns.

ProPaintball.com insiders are awaiting an official announcement to be made concerning the future of Bernacchia with X-FACTOR. Billy Bernacchia is well known on the national circuits – his ability and experience on the field will no doubt help to boost the defensive power of the X-FACTOR pro team.

Houston Heat announced their entry in the 2012 professional paintball division. The team will be run by Distortion team owner Randy “Sarge” Smith. The team will be sponsored by G.I. Sportz, DLX and Style Supply. The team will be competing in the 2012 PSP Professional division.

According to a news release we received, the official roster is as follows;

• Konstantin Fedorov
• Chad “Yaya” Bouchez
• Ronnie Dizon
• Mishka Kniazev
• Sam Monville
• Nick Slowiak
• Ryan Smith
• Sergei Solnishkov
• Jon “LJ” Woodley

The roster is rock solid and confirms many of our earlier rumors and news articles. Three of the players on this team are being pulled up from Distortion, a division 1 psp team. Congrats to Ryan Smith, Jon “LJ” Woodley, and Ronnie Dizon. The one big question this team raises is the home town; Houston. How does a half Russian, half Chicago team call Texas home? Odd, but stranger things have happened.

What are your thoughts on this new paintball team? Are they in the running for the 2012 series championship? Or, will it take several events for them to learn to play together? Share your thoughts!

Chicago Aftershock Player Nick Slowiak Leaves Team

Nick Slowiak announced on Monday that he would be leaving the ranks of Chicago Aftershock. The move comes after a successful finish to the 2011 season in the NPPL winning the Vegas World Championships. Many of the key Aftershock roster had left the team which you can read about here.

We are unable to confirm where Slowiak will be going next but ProPaintball insiders suggest his focus will be in competing in the CXBL in Canada and the Millennium Series in Europe throughout 2012.

ProPaintball.com has the latest on the move to New England! NPPL Pro Team St. Louis Avalanche franchise moves to New England.

St. Louis Avalanche will be relocating their franchise efforts to New England– in order to produce a farm team with Identity/other groups and to put teams in the NEPL. The NEPL (New England Paintball League) hosts seasonal paintball events with many formats (“7 Man / 5 Man / Pump / 3 man &  XBall”).

We can say that this is no doubt a move to maximize Avalanche under 7-Man Divisions. Information had been floating from person to person on the Northeast’s potential ”new biggest draw”. Speculation had triggered behind the scenes indicators from the team. An “XBall connection” was first disproven, but the attention brought Avalanche under the microscope with our staff when New England Hurricances players were dissolving the franchise. The question was between which players who played on both teams would affect the situation. Would Avalanche fill the void in the Northeast? Clearly- this is a stunning and positive move by Avalanche.

From the Press Release:

Frank Connell, Owner & Team President, expressed excitement about the move and merger. “It’s time to make Avalanche a household name and what better way to do that than by positioning the organization to have teams in all divisions!”

Dave Archibald, Vice President of Operations & Player Development echoed Connell’s sentiments. “After eight months of hard work, I feel so blessed to finally see my vision become a reality and even more honored to be doing it alongside one of the most passionate personalities of our sport. I feel we have something very positive to bring to New England and Northeast regions of the United States.”

Stay tuned to the New England Avalanche Facebook page and the team’s new official website for information regarding team sponsors, roster, accomplishments and upcoming major tryouts for all Avalanche teams in February!

COMING SOON: NewEnglandAvalanche.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/AvalanchePaintball 

We will see what progress is made and report back to you on the results.

 Stay with ProPaintball.com for all your latest news.

Division Player Pick Up For Pro Team VICIOUS

Matt Sossoman has been added to the Pro team Roster of VICIOUS. Sossoman is a popular name among the Northeast where his time with New Jersey Jesters have seen successful rides. Sossoman was a pivotal divisional player for the Jesters- but has now been added to the Pro VICIOUS team.

Professional paintball team VICIOUS has just announced a new addition to their 2012 roster.VICIOUS is pleased to announce the newest addition to their 2012 roster, Matt Sossoman.“I am very excited about making my pro debut with the VICIOUS family and playing along some of the best players in the world. I feel like this season we are going to be making a lot of Sundays,” Sossoman said.VICIOUS feels that Matt is a great fit into the VICIOUS organization and look forward to him being part of their successes in the 2012 season.”

Pro Paintball is proud to welcome Tippmann Sports as a partner for 2012. In addition to developing and manufacturing great paintball gear, Tippmann supports the growth and development of our game via outreach efforts (TryPaintballNow.com) and partnerships (ProPaintball!). Did you know that Tippmann has been involved in the paintball industry for over 25 years? Impressive right?

Support from Tippmann and our other loyal partners helps keep ProPaintball.com running free of charge and funds our continued development. We urge you to visit Tippmann.com, check out their advertisements and keep their products and brands in mind when making your next purchase.

Tippmann Paintball, 25 years of excellence.

About Tippmann Sports:

As a paintball leader for more than 25 years, Tippmann Sports is dedicated to quality manufacturing as well as advancing paintball technology and design. The company serves the global paintball industry from its headquarters and manufacturing facility in Fort Wayne, Indiana as well as its warehouse in Brussels, Belgium. Tippmann Sports’ complete line of paintball markers and related accessories can be found at paintball stores and fields as well as mass retail and sporting goods outlets throughout the world.

ProPaintball insiders have been hearing rumors that a transition was in progress for the Hurricanes. Not clear on the details, we called Jeff Stein, Owner/Coach of the Hurricanes for the inside scoop. Stein confirmed the rumors, adding that he was retiring from the Hurricanes, and the Hurricanes name would not be used going forward.

Early this morning Jeff Stein told Pro Paintball,

Effective immediately I have stepped down from owning and operating the Hurricanes paintball team. We have enjoyed a great run and tons of good memories. This change has opened me up to several new opportunities, both in and outside of paintball. I am excited about the future and plan to take my time before committing to anything new.

Paintball continues to be a source great enjoyment for me. I have the field and will enjoy continuing to run it, and have begun playing woodsball at the field – i had forgotten how much fun that was and i’m looking forward to gearing up and getting back into the fun side of this game. Paintball is in my blood and I have no intention of going cold turkey. But after 13 years of running NEH, it was time for a change and time to put more focus on myself, my life and what I need.

Jeff posted a closing statement in his New England Hurricanes forum on PbNation.

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I’ll never look into your eyes…again

OK, so it’s a bit melodramatic. Especially that last line. But they were the only song lyrics that seemed to fit.

As I expect everyone (who cares) knows, I have stepped down as the head of the Hurricanes. And as it turns out, the Hurricane name will retire with me.

The Hurricane forum will be closing and moving into the Former Pro Team area.

Remnants of the Hurricanes plan to merge with Avalanche and go forward under that name.

And with that, the end.

To all the people who came to this forum to read and contribute to our conversations – thank you. I have enjoyed having my own little soapbox, and I hope people enjoyed reading it. I always took pride in the level of intelligence displayed in our forum – I often bragged it was the smartest place on PbNation. I don’t know if it had any positive impact on the sport in NE or anywhere else. I used to think so, I’m not so sure anymore. But at least it was fun while it lasted.

To all our fans over the years, all our sponsors, the fields who hosted us, the teams who practiced us and especially the players who represented the team – thank you.

As we reported last week- EXPLICIT would be adding new faces to their roster. Tyler Harmon, Neil Eberle, and Ryan Podesta are reported to be joining the team for 2012!

The news first came in this afternoon care of San Francisco EXPLICIT team owner Rob Montiero about their addition of Tyler Dean Harmon. Rob had also posted on ProPaintball.com Discussion Board, PbNation and Facebook about the new pick up. This news was then followed by the confirmation of Pro player Ryan Podesta joining the team.

Last week, ProPaintball spoke with Rob about the Explicit pro team’s outlook for the 2012 season and while he wouldn’t specifically name any Pro roster players, we had a feeling Rob wasn’t just pulling our leg. Tyler Harmon and Ryan Podesta will make an invaluable addition to the team.

Want to watch the webcast? Scroll down – Non-US viewers, click here to view. Looking for scores? Click here.

The NPPL and Youtube / Google have partnered up to broadcast the 2011 NPPL Las Vegas Paintball event. The webcast will be part of Youtube’s new Live! streaming service and available for free viewing.

The NPPL is pleased to announce a new partnership with Youtube and Google. This new partnership will be promoted by Youtube right alongside the NBA and NHL. The NPPL Las Vegas World Paintball Championship will feature the Pros playing live, beginning Friday November 11th at 10:30 am.

Catch all the action Friday, Saturday and Sunday and find out who will take the Pro Championship Cup! The NPPL will be providing top-tier on-field coverage for all the Pro games throughout the weekend. Go to our Youtube Channel or to nppl.com to watch. You don’t want to miss this!

Click here to view the embedded video.

The 2011 NPPL World Paintball Championships! – November 11th 12th and 13th.

Viva Las Vegas, what better place to host the last event of the NPPL Super 7 World Series. The NPPL welcomes you back to the strip for the third year in a row. The City of Vegas and the Riviera Hotel are excited and ready to have Paintball invade the most famous Strip in the world. Last year Pro Team Tampa Bay Damage dominated the circuit and won the series and the event. This year we have new teams in the hunt such as the DC Champions Chicago Legend and new Pro Team Portland Uprising. It’s anyone’s Series Championship at this point.

The NPPL will be moving the venue closer to the Rivera entrance so players will not have to take the long walk anymore. We will have early registration Wednesday evening inside the Rivera for those who want to get the jump on getting ID cards and wristbands. Make sure to book your rooms at the Host hotel Riviera.

With an anticipated 145 teams there will be three play fields and with each field an experienced NPPL Referee crew headed up by Commissioner Tom Cole. Center court will be filmed for a live YOUTUBE web cast and footage will be used for future TV Programs. There will also be lots of festivities including the third annual NPPL Poker Charity Tournament where the first 32 places will win an official signed East / West All Star Jersey. Remember the players party at the Top of the Riv. The trade show will be packed with sponsors giving year-end deals and showing off 2012 designs. If you are a Paintball Player or fan you do not want to miss out on this years NPPL Las Vegas Super 7 World Series.