All posts by David CDN

Spring 2022 – Week 3…

Thanks to Scott and Walt of Bluffs Pinball for hosting us this week, and literally rolling out the red carpet for us!

The scores and standings are up on the PAPA Site.

Have a great week and we look forward to seeing everyone down at The Pint on Monday! Scott has arranged a special area for ToPL members having dinner at The Pint, and a 10% discount on food!

Spring 2022 – Week 1…

Thanks to everyone for making it out to Player One for our Season Opener on Monday!

Big thanks to Jerry Power and Player One for hosting us at their fantastic showroom with all the latest pinball machines! If you are looking for a new pinball machine, contact Jerry Power (and let him know you are a ToPL member!)

The scores and standings are up on the PAPA Site.  Congratulations to Dave Glen for scoring a perfect 28 points on Monday!  Welcome to Mark, Andrew, Gary, and Noel as newcomers!  We hope you had a great time!

Have a great week and hope to see you all at Maple Pinball next week!

Spring 2022 Season registration is now closed…

The league has decided to close registration for the Spring 2022 Season and run a single session for the benefit of all registered members, as opposed to potentially having the complexity of running 2 sessions every Monday. Registration has been open since March 22nd.

We apologize for any inconvenience to those just learning of our league. ToPL will continue to announce tournaments, news, and registration dates for the next season via the ToPL Mailing List.

ToPL Pre-Season Limited Flipper Frenzy 2 results!…

Big thanks to Scott and Walt at Bluffs Pinball for hosting ToPL’s Limited Flipper Frenzy on April 11th!

Congratulations to Laura Edward for AGAIN absolutely dominating the tournament with a 22-2 win/loss record through regular play, just like she did in November!

Congratulations to Dan Copeland for winning the playoffs and becoming the Tournament Champion!

Tournament Results

The playoffs finished up as follows:

Playoff Results

Thanks to everyone who was able to come out and make this another fun Frenzy! The ToPL Spring Season starts with our Season Opener at the Player One Showroom on April 25th!

ToPL Limited Flipper Frenzy Results!…

Big thanks to Shane and Doug at Maple Pinball for hosting ToPL’s Limited Flipper Frenzy on April 4th!

Congratulations to Paul Bakker who came out on top with 13-4 win-loss record at the end of regular play!

Congratulations to John Zaharatos for winning the playoffs and is the Tournament Champion!

The playoffs finished up as follows:

1st – John Zaharatos
2nd – Laura Edward
3rd – Paul Bakker
4th – Eric Machtinger
5th – Doug Baird
6th – Dave Glen

Thanks to everyone who was able to come out and made this a fun Frenzy! If you didn’t get a chance to get to Maple on Monday, come join us for our second pre-season Flipper Frenzy at Bluffs Pinball this Monday (April 11th)! See the ToPL Tournaments page for details and to register today!

A new ToPL Season!…

Hey ToPL!

We have some exciting, long awaited news!  A new ToPL Season will start on April 25th, and Jerry Power and Player One has generously offered to host our Season Opener at the Player One Showroom!  Come out and join us for some great pinball as we celebrate the Toronto Pinball League’s 25th Anniversary!

Additionally, we are running two Limited Flipper Frenzies:
• April 4th at Maple Pinball
• April 11th at Bluffs Pinball
These tournaments will be limited to 24 players.  Please see the ToPL Tournaments page for full details.  Register today!

As COVID case numbers have been declining, we are in a position to cautiously resume league activities with certain considerations in place to keep it safe for everyone participating.

Anyone (including hosts) participating in any ToPL activities must be double-vaccinated at a minimum, and must be masked at all times inside the venue.  Proof of vaccination status must be confirmed via the QR code and app.  Despite Ontario removing COVID precautions, ToPL will continue to require them for the time being, and our COVID policies will be re-evaluated in future as the situation evolves.

We will start by holding league nights at larger venues that are not residences.

For the Season Opener at Player One, all players need to register with Myles (scorekeeper@topl.ca) not later than Friday, April 22rd.  Players may pay for membership online via EFT (e-Transfer) to Mike (treasurer@topl.ca) or cash at the event. Paid members from the Winter 2020 Season that was suspended due to the pandemic will have a $10 credit to their next season membership fee.

In order to provide a safe environment and prevent over-crowding, a capacity limit of 24 people will be in place.
• If we have 25 or more members, ToPL will run 2 sessions at one location.
• The league will accept a maximum of 48 members this season to ensure we have no more than 24 players at a session.
• Drop-in players will not be accepted, and once the season has started, new members need to contact Myles by Sunday evening so that he can advise as to which session they are scheduled.
Please see ToPL’s COVID Policy for full details.

It’s been a long time that we’ve all had to endure this pandemic.  We eagerly look forward to re-connecting with you all for our 25th Anniversary and playing some great competitive pinball!

The ToPL Leadership Team

ToPL Limited Flipper Frenzy Results…

Big thanks to Jerry Power and Player One for generously hosting ToPL’s Limited Flipper Frenzy on November 29th!

Congratulations to Laura Edward for absolutely dominating the tournament with a 15-3 win/loss record through regular play!

Congratulations to John Zaharatos for winning the playoffs and becoming Tournament Champion!

The playoffs finished up as follows:

1st – John Zaharatos
2nd – Myles Cameron
3rd – David Newman
4th – Eric Machtinger
5th – Laura Edward
6th – Jeff Teolis
7th – Donna Wai
8th – Stephane Raymond

Thanks to Myles for running the tournament and to all players for coming out and making it a fun tournament!

Note: Several days after our tournament, ToPL leadership was alerted to a possible COVID exposure from another league’s event where some players at our tournament had also participated. We can confirm that all contact tracing has been done and the potentially exposed players relayed their negative PCR test results.

Stay safe and have a great holiday season!

ToPL Fall Update…

Hey ToPL!

We hope you are all doing well and had a great summer!

As we’re kind of overdue for an update about the league, we wanted to reach out about where things are at currently.

All throughout the COVID pandemic, the leadership team have been continuing to evaluate and plan options for our eventual resumption of ToPL league play.  Mike, Myles, and I connect regularly to discuss considerations of the continually evolving pandemic situation.

Currently, Ontario is experiencing the onset of a fourth wave brought about by the Delta variant of the Coronavirus.  The Delta variant is significantly more transmissible and significantly more virulent than the original strain of the virus – people catch it more easily and more people are hospitalized with more severe symptoms.

While Ontario (and Canada for the most part) is seeing good vaccination rates, the Delta variant is causing an increase in tested case numbers and an increase in hospitalization.  Add to this that everyone under the age of 12 has no protection from vaccination at all yet.  As colder weather arrives and people spend more time indoors, case counts typically rise.

Unfortunately, we’ve all seen in the news about how Alberta’s reopening too soon and abandonment of safety precautions has created an emergency situation for that province.  This is not a situation we would want to risk emulating.  ToPL plays at many collections in people’s homes where they and their families live.  Many members have kids under the age of 12.  Currently, bringing a large group into someone’s home is not a safe or responsible thing to do for the host’s family or the families that we all go home to afterward.

As such, we are currently exploring options for a cautious resumption of some league events when the prognosis of this fourth wave is more clear, hopefully before the end of the year.  What will this look like?  We will initially start with some tournaments with limited numbers at a public venue.  All participants will have to show proof that they have had their 2nd COVID vaccination dose at least 2 weeks before the event, and masks will be worn indoors at all times.  Full details will accompany any announcement for an event.

We miss ToPL league events just as much as everyone, and eagerly look forward to getting back to it when it is safe and responsible to do so.

David Newman
President – Toronto Pinball League
ToPL.ca

Update regarding IFPA…

Hi ToPL,

We’ve all been through a challenging year and a half without league pinball and tournaments, yet as more people get vaccinated, the return to pinball appears to be on the horizon.

As many of you know, the IFPA has set August 1st as when the IFPA will resume sanctioning tournaments and events, and some of our members have inquired about when our own league activities might resume.

The situation in Ontario is still such that we are not yet able to provide a timeline.  While Myles, Mike, and myself have been evaluating a variety of strategies and requirements for when we are able to resume league activities, Provincial re-opening phases don’t even yet cover the group size and social conditions that our activities operate in.  The nature of our activities, the large social groups, and the size of the locations we play at, require a more comprehensive consideration of risk regarding COVID than Provincial guidelines currently cover.

Compromising the safety of our members, our hosts, and the safety of the people you go home to isn’t worth jumping the gun.  We’re as eager as you are to get back to ToPL league nights as soon as it is safe and responsible to do so.

As things progress in Ontario, as vaccination numbers increase and we get a clearer picture of the risks of emerging COVID variants, we will update the ToPL community.

Stay tuned!

David Newman
President – Toronto Pinball League
ToPL.ca