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Paintball News and Rumors: X-Factor, Avalanche Pro teams

Justin — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:42:07 +0000

San Antonio X-Factor and New England Avalanche are rumored to be making moves. Read on for the latest Pro Paintball news and rumors.

X-Factor puts the beat down on Impact

San Antonio X-Factor is playing both the NPPL and PSP paintball leagues this year. According to ProPaintball insiders, the team has signed with Valken for new paintball gear and will be wearing SLY Equipment (including sly profits, pads and other soft goods). X-Factor will be hosting tryouts this weekend and Billy Bernacchia of New England Avalanche is said to be mixing it up. Is he trying out, playing with friends for the weekend, or both?

Pro player Billy Bernacchia

For those of you scratching your heads about this New England Avalanche bit, here goes. Jeff Stein retired the New England Hurricanes and shortly after it was announced that St. Louis Avalanche and the Hurricanes were merged together. The combined team will be called New England Avalanche, and has relocated to the North East. If rumors hold true, Bernacchia, a long time Hurricane and Avalanche player, will be a big loss for the pro squad.

New paintball team by Vanguard?

New England Avalanche is in the midst of building a pro and divisional franchise program. According to ProPaintball insiders, Avalanche’s gun sponsor Vanguard is stepping it up for 2012 and merging in their teams. The Vanguard Division 2 team is said to be joining NPPL division 1, while the Vanguard D3 team will be joining NPPL Division 2. According to sources, no home field has been established for Avalanche as of yet. ProPaintball insiders note the team is setting up to maintain both a West and East Coast programs in order to create better brand recognition and increase the talent pool.

What are your thoughts on a cross country professional paintball program? Will it succeed, or encounter difficulty? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Jeff Stein retires from NE Hurricanes Paintball team

Justin — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:50:21 +0000

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.

The Hurricanes have been both a successful and long running pro paintball program. While we are sad to see the name retired, it is refreshing to see that the players have found a new home.

From the article it appears as if Stein has a few new paintball related opportunities up his sleeve. Any ideas as to what those are?

Pro Paintball News and Rumor Report

Justin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:44:38 +0000

The official start to the 2011/2012 off season is upon us. Read on for the latest pro paintball news and gossip from the Russian Legion, Seattle Thunder and the New England Hurricanes.

Pro Paintball insiders report a shake up is taking place within the Russian Legion. Sources suggest that the team will be returning to an all Russian roster for 2012. In addition, sources indicate that the Russian Legion and Konstantin Federov will be parting ways.

Justin Rabackoff (Russian Legion) is said to be in talks with a number of high profile pro paintball teams. With the Russians releasing non-Russian players, sources suggest Tampa Bay Damage, Chicago Aftershock, Edmonton Impact and ~~San Diego Dynasty~~ are possibilities. Update: Dynasty has confirmed they have a full roster.

Billy Bernacchia and the New England Hurricanes have parted ways. ProPaintball insiders suggest Hurricane player Keith Devitt and Alfred De Los Santos may also be on the move. After playing pro 7-man on St. Louis Avalanche, it is said that the three became good friends and may attempt to stick together for 2012.

Seattle Thunder is rumored to have picked up several former Naughty Dog players for the 2012 season. ProPaintball insiders report that Mapp Chim, Raymond Knuth and Mikey Lew are all suiting up and getting back on the grind. According to sources, Mapp filled in for an injured Thunder player at the 2011 NPPL Las Vegas event and the team was very impressed with his performance.

Chris “LC” Wilson and Seattle Thunder are said to be going their separate ways. Prior to Thunder, LC played with Oakland BLAST and Portland Naughty Dogs.

These rumors are just the tip of the iceburg. There are tons of moves being made and its hard to keep up.

What rumors have you heard? Share your tips in the comments below!

Russian Legion wins PSP Chicago – Paintball Event Results

Justin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 23:55:04 +0000

The Russian Legion battled against world paintball series leaders San Diego Dynasty for the PSP Chicago Open title. The Russians emerged the victors in an over time match that some say was the best paintball they have witnessed in the history of the sport. If you missed the free paintball webcast hosted by Matty Marshall you should be kicking yourself. The PSP webcast was an amazing production with excellent game footage and commentary that kept paintball fans on the edges of their couches all weekend long. The PSP has promised to release some of the episodes online via Youtube and other online video sharing sites in the coming weeks.

Below are a few words from the PSP’s Camille Lemanski regarding the event as well as final results for all the divisions.

After severe weather did its best to take out this event, Burt Wright, Matt Fraundorf, Nick Casner, Rich Hernandez, Aaron Arroyo, Matty Morse and Brian Berg of the PSP Crew along with volunteers from team LSD and the CPX Sports Park staff led by Darrell Parrish, worked around the clock to revive the venue and save the event. This came as complete relief to the thousands of PSP players and fans including those who traveled in from as far as Sweden, Russia, Ecuador and Brazil!

Beautifully calm weather swept in after the reconstruction just in time for games to begin, allowing raw talent and strategic game plans to take center stage. With 9 different divisions to choose from, 155 teams from several nations competed against each other to better themselves and prove who really is the best in the world.

Something that was extra special for this event was the return of the live webcast! Thousands of fans from all over the world – literally – were watching pro games at www.pspevents.com all day Saturday along with Pro and some divisional final action live and for free all day Sunday!

Global enthusiasm seemed to build up Sunday as it became clear that the Professional final match would once again come down to San Diego Dynasty and Boston Red Legion of Russia. These two teams faced off against each other in the March PSP Galveston event with Dynasty winning… and the rivalry has been building up tension ever since. Boston Red Legion started out strong taking the first two points, but several close points later and San Diego Dynasty came out time and again with the lead. In what seemed like would be the final point before Dynasty were re-crowned champs, Justin Rabacoff made the move of the event by taking the flag and racing it into Dynasty’s flag station with just 2 seconds left in the game… while Dynasty still had live bodies on the field!! This took the game into Sudden Death Overtime which came down to a one-on-one where Boston Red Legion’s final player, who was seemingly out of paint, eliminated the final Dynasty player to win the event!

Final Score: San Diego Dynasty 5, Boston Red Legion 6

Let the Dynasty/Legion rivalry continue as we take the PSP to our next stop: PSP New Jersey, August 12 – 14, 2011 at TopGun Paintball! But first, please join us in congratulating all of the 2011 PSP Chicago Open Champions!

Final Results for the PSP Chicago Open:

Professional

Boston Red Legion

San Diego Dynasty

Edmonton Impact

Los Angeles Ironmen

Division 1

Hurricanes

New Jersey Jesters

ASSAULT

upTon 187 cRew

Division 2

Grad Moscow

Wolfpack

DOW Warberg

Distortion

Division 3 RaceTo-4

Detroit Action

Boom II

Annihilators EDGE

Rapinas

Division 4 RaceTo-4

Imperial

Central Florida Paintball

North Texas Shockwave

Momentum

Division 3 RaceTo-2

CRU LT

Seek and Destroy

Team Betrayal

L A S T C A L L

Division 4 RaceTo-2

Revo II

Syndicate

Atlanta Breakout Gold

Mac Daddy All-Stars

Pump Open RaceTo-2

Total Grief

Dallas Notorious

New paintball Gear: NE Hurricanes Jersey

Justin — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 16:09:50 +0000

Billy Bernacchia (website) of the New England Hurricanes has unveiled the new paintball jersey for the New England Hurricanes paintball team. Throughout the 2011 paintball season, the team will be competing on the PSP paintball circuit in division 1 and will represent sponsors DYE Precision, Rhode Island Paintball, OXCC, ProPaintball.com and PBNation.

DYE Precisions latest piece of new paintball gear:

What are your thoughts on the Hurricanes Dye Jersey? Do you like the colors?

New Paintball Gun: Hurricanes NT 11

Justin — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 21:48:58 +0000

ProPaintball is proud to present a first look at the new paintball gun for the New England Hurricanes. ProPaintball caught up with Hurricane player Billy Bernacchia at NPPL Huntington Beach and snapped a few exclusive photos. As many of you will recall, Bernacchia has been a long time Planet Eclipse player and at one point worked for the US division of Planet Eclipse. At the end of 2010, Billy announced that he would be leaving San Diego Dynasty to return to his home team the New England Hurricanes. According to a statement issued by the Hurricanes, Billy returned to rebuild and lead the Hurricanes back to the pro level. Billy Bernacchia of NEH and Billy Wing of DYE Precision were nice enough to provide us with a few words on the new guns.

Billy Bernacchia (website) of the New England Hurricanes told ProPaintball

This was my first time shooting the DYE NT11 and I must say it was completely on point all event. I wasn’t too familiar with the gun and Billy Wing was kind enough to help go over the basics with me. I am looking forward to a good relationship with DYE for 2011!

Billy Wing of DYE Precision told ProPaintball

“DYE is fully committed to giving our teams and players the very best product support possible. DYE is excited to have a high profile team like the NE Hurricanes and a manqué player like Billy Bernacchia competing with 100% DYE products this year. Organizations like the Hurricanes exemplify the professionalism and brand representation we expect from our premiere sponsored teams. DYE wishes the Hurricanes the very best of luck for 2011.”

Billy Bernacchia to NE Hurricanes

Robert — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 02:12:49 +0000

In our last rumor report, we discussed San Diego Dynasty’s decision to not fly players in for practices. This decision affected Billy Bernacchia, a Connecticut resident and Planet Eclipse poster boy, representing the company in South America. Where would Billy go now?

Billy has played for other teams such as Hogans Alley Factory D1, Doc’s Raider’s, NE Hurricanes, SD Aftermath, Avalanche, and Vicious. He will be taking his skills, particularly his knack for playing the snake, and heading back to play with his former team and friends on New England Hurricanes. The ‘Canes are a Dye sponsored team so we are not sure what this means with Billy’s relationship with Eclipse. Maybe Billy will represent Dye in South America? Read below to see what Billy and others are saying about the move…

Billy Bernacchia says,

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to play with a number of different pro teams, players and coaches and each time I’ve learned something new and added to my skills. I think now is the right time for me to return to New England and to the Hurricanes and dedicate my time to doing more than just playing. I have an opportunity to help the team that first took me pro rebuild and return to the pros. Even when I haven’t been on the Hurricanes, I’ve always been around, I know the guys on the team and I believe in them and in the organization. This is a great opportunity for me to do more than just be a player, and I am looking forward to the challenge.

Jeff Stein, Owner of New England Hurricanes says,

Billy’s been a big part of NEH for so many years, even when he was playing with Dynasty or Vicious, I always considered him a Hurricane at heart. He brings so much to the table as a player, as an experienced pro, as someone who can lead by example and show our other guys how to take their craft seriously and how to give back to younger players at the field. This is such an awesome opportunity for us, it is going to make an immediate impact on and off the field.

John Battistini, Understood adds,

Understood is very excited to see Billy return to the Hurricanes organization in 2011. As an experienced professional player he brings with him a wealth of knowledge and skill that will add to the ‘Canes already strong 2011 roster. We wish him and the whole team the best of luck in the upcoming PSP season.

Birth of a Storm – World Cup Webisode

Justin — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 23:27:14 +0000

The New England Hurricanes have released the series finale from the Birth of a Storm paintball documentary. This episode features moving cameras and up and close footage of a very controversial match up against the Ton Ton Flingueurs from France.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Russian Legion wins PSP Mid Atlantic Open!

Justin — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:33:39 +0000

Earlier during the week, Russian Legion was featured on the Pro Paintball MAO Watch List as a strong contender for the MAO event. Going into the event, the Russians were 5th overall in the PSP and 5th in the Pro Paintball power rankings. In the final match against Edmonton Impact, Russian Legion dominated the pro field and secured their place at the top with a final score against Impact of 7 to 2. New comers to the pro division, San Diego Aftermath, made their pro debut at the recent Chicago Open, blasted out the Ironmen for a 3rd place finish. Here are a few words from the PSP and final scores from each division.

Congratulations to Russian Legion for winning the Professional Division of the 2010 PSP Mid-Atlantic Open! The mostly-Russian team faced off against Edmonton Impact out of Canada (2010 PSP Phoenix Pro Champions) to fight for the title.

Teams from all over the United States and abroad competed in three days of non-stop paintball action across five fields at the Paintball Central Sports Park of Rock Hill, SC for this weekend’s PSP Mid-Atlantic Open. This is the highest level of competition in the world, so the following teams who came out on top deserve much respect and recognition:

Pro Paintball, RaceTo-7
1st Russian Legion powered by Sly Equipment and MacDev
2nd Edmonton Impact powered by KEE Action Sports
3rd San Diego Aftermath powered by DYE Precision
4th Los Angeles Ironmen powered by DYE Precision

Division 1 Paintball, RaceTo-5
1st Chattanooga CEP
2nd Total Karnage Orlando
3rd New England Hurricanes powered by KEE Action Sports
4th New Jersey Jesters

Division 2 Paintball, RaceTo-5
1st upTon 187 cRew powered by KEE Action Sports and Planet Eclipse
2nd Arsenal Predators
3rd Mirabel Impact, first time this CXBL team has competed in the PSP
4th Senate

Division 3 Paintball, RaceTo-4
1st D.C. Monstars
2nd Boom II
3rd NCPA All-Stars powered by College Paintball
4th Underdogs

Division 4 Paintball, RaceTo-4
1st Annihilators EDGE
2nd Avarice
3rd NJ Jesters Kids
4th Goon Squad

Division 3 Paintball RaceTo-2
1st Golden State Pirates powered by Golden State Paintball
2nd Detroit Action
3rd MLP
4th L A S T C A L L

Division 4 Paintball RaceTo-2
1st Atlanta Breakout
2nd Wreckage Krew
3rd Richmond Rage
4th XCAVATORS

Congratulations and thank you to all of the teams, sponsors, fans, referees, crew and staff who all made this year’s PSP Mid-Atlantic Open such a successful event. We look forward to seeing everyone at the world’s largest paintball tournament, the PSP World Cup, being held at Fantasy of Flight in Lakeland, Florida October 21 – 24, 2010.

Interview with Billy Bernacchia

Justin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:10:23 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

New England Hurricanes Sign With Dye Precision

Brad Johnson — Tue, 18 May 2010 20:05:46 +0000

Dye Announced today the New England Hurricanes signed a multi-year contract to use Dye gear for the 2010 season and at least 2011. This will put the Hurricanes in C10 pants and jerseys as well as using the new Dye NT paintball gun. This year has been a major rebuilding year for the Hurricanes, they have picked up many news players this year, and are looking to gain experience and chemistry this year. Dye is sponsoring a lot of teams this year from all over the world. With teams like the Ironmen, and Damage picking up the Hurricanes only adds to Dye impressive line up of teams.

Team Owners, Jeff Stein:
“The Hurricanes are rolling the dice this year, taking a lot of big risks by picking up young and untested players while watching the bulk of our professional roster move on. We are starting fresh and there is no guarantee of success. What makes all of this even more gratifying is that DYE, who is at the pinnacle of both the sport and the industry, believes in us and is willing to bet on our future success and us. We are very excited to represent DYE, their products and their principles and hope we live up to their reputation for excellence.”