The biggest roller derby happening in whole Northern Europe just happened, last weekend, 3.-4.9.2011. This included the best 5 teams from Scandinavia, Malmö’s own Crime City Rollers, Stockholm Roller Derby, Copenhagen Rolling Hearbreakers, Kallio Rolling Rainbow, and yours truly, Helsinki Roller Derby. Whole Battle of the Nordic Light event was put together by the SwedeVix Skate Shop, owned and operated by Swede Hurt, former member of Gotham Girls and Rat City, and Vix Viking, the first ever roller derby girl from Sweden.

The event took place in Baltiska Hallen. The holy combination including the local supermarket (actually it’s a HYPER market, now that we’re in Sweden) and the Ibis hotel where all the league’s stayed at, pretty much equalled what many of us learned about the crime city of Malmö.

Estrogeena Davis lifting people up

The whole weekend included 6 bouts, and Helsinki Roller Derby was included in 3 of them. The second game of the whole tournament brought together HRD and Stockholm Roller Derby. This was one of the most wanted re-matches the audience was expecting for this tournament. HRD and STRD had encountered in October 2010 and HRD had won the bout with only 6 points (92-86), and STRD’s team had inadequate crew – HRD’s Tigre Force and Lizz Troublegum actually played againts their own team, to patch up our opponents line-ups. This time both teams were fully manned (well, wo-manned) and carefully trained, and after a feisty fight, Helsinki triumphed with 141 points against Stockholms 77 points. And we can’t wait for another re-match!

There's a chance that certain someone got a low block major right after this photo was shot...

The weekend had just begun… On Sunday, Helsinki was in for two other bouts, and the morning was kicked off with the long waited bout between two Helsinki leagues, your very own HRD and Kallio Rolling Rainbow. Kallio got the lead jammer in the first jam, so when the first score was declared, Kallio had lead in points. Our Green Team soon catched up, and turtles controlled the bout to the very end. The battle for our beloved home town was full of temper and drama, and the bout schedule had to be delayed for one full hour due to the time it took for these two teams to finally get closure. The final score was 217-57 for Helsinki!

KRR's MVP Udre commiting succesful sideways blocking to Bambi Crushbone

The final bout was between Helsinki and Malmö, and it’s fair to say, it was the most waited bout, at least when it comes to the turtles. HRD All-Stars were anxious to find out how the bout against Malmö would turn out, after all, the founders of SwedeVix Skate Shop both played for this team. Soon after the first whistle Helsinki realised that they had to change all the strategies they had been focusing on the previous games, Malmö soon grabbed the lead and didn’t let slip for one second. Mad Maloonys beautiful smile soon pervaded to the faces of all the Crime City Rollers, when they smashed the winning high scores of the whole tournament, leaving Helsinki Roller Derby to the second place with 211 against 76 points.

Mad Maloony sure had many reasons to smile

All in all, after winning two bouts and meeting their true match in the last bout, the whole weekend was triumphant. Every single player was pushed to their own limit. The best closure we could ever had, was when Suvi Hokkari was declared Most Valuable Player, receiving her title with a shiner. Good times.

Suvi Hokkari, HRD's MVP and Flippin' Lori Meyers are going for the sandwich with KRR's PolygAmy Winehouse

Helsinki Roller Derby’s final scores of that awesome weekend:
Stockholm-Helsinki 77-141
Helsinki-Kallio 217-57
Crime City-Helsinki 211-71

Photos: Helsinki Roller Derby in the Battle of the Nordic Light, Malmö

Photos:Marko Niemelä/Shutterpunk

This post is also available in: Finnish