I realize that the 2019 version isn't over yet but AS Blainville have now won the 2019 PLSQ championship and thereby qualified for their third straight Canadian Championship. They remain the only PLSQ team to have featured in the tournament.
I was amused... “We have a tonne of respect for Ottawa, but … I know that when Ottawa were playing Halifax, there were a few of us who were hoping to see Halifax go through” - Michael Bradley Full Story: https://t.co/ys1T4qjTZm pic.twitter.com/k5bR8EzyBf— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) September 18, 2019
Masters FA were crowned @League1Ontario Champions last night and secured their berth in the 2020 Canadian Championshiphttps://t.co/b9scWQDES0— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) September 28, 2019
Masters does have young players (L1O rules) but will be interesting to see if their older players give it 'one more year'. Shawn Brown and Antoine Paul (1987), hattrick scorer Akeem Priestly (league finally spells his name write) (1985) and Marc Jankovic (1980).
News: The format of the 2020 Canadian Championship has been announced. Six CPL teams will begin tournament play in the qualifying round while Cavalry FC will begin to play in the quarter-final roundInfo: https://t.co/NR3PXj2ZjM pic.twitter.com/6siFLLi1Qt— Canadian Premier League (@CPLsoccer) December 18, 2019
Granted things were a bit easier with twelve teams instead of thirteen, but I like this format better than last year's. Some things I really like are the obvious geographic logic, the likelihood of some big rivalry matches, and the number of inter-league match ups. I could quibble with the top two CPL teams being in the same quadrant and the top two MLS teams being on the same side of the bracket but that's minor. I suppose Hamilton could also make a case that they should have been the seeded CPL team but, again, that's minor. It's going to be another fun year.
TFC vs York9 Pacific vs Vancouver Forge vs Cavalry even Halifax Montreal Those are QF no foot fan in Canada will want to miss
I suppose Blainville vs Montreal would be the more compelling match up for local fans but, yes, those are some pretty loaded quarter finals and obviously what the CSA is making possible. With, of course, the strong possibility of a Toronto-Montreal semi on one side and a rematch of Vancouver-Calgary on the other.
I think Forge is setup to be the team to beat this time around. Cavalry is losing Malonga and Escalante.
Based on several conversations I’ve had with #CanPL folks over last few weeks my current power rankings for 2020 would be: 1. Calgary 2. Forge3. York4. Halifax5. Pacific 6. Edmonton7. Valour Forge and Calgary are pretty much 1a/1b with a gap between rest still there.— Duane Rollins (@24thminute) January 8, 2020 I could see Forge (with Borges) or Cavalry repeating the upset of eliminating the Whitecaps this year
I wonder if there will be time for the new Ottawa CPL team to push their way into the 2020 Canadian Championships especially with the draw already having taken place.
I had the same thought but I'm guessing no. The draw is done and the dates have already been announced. I suspect they'll have to wait until next year and join whatever other additional teams are around then.
Probably depends when they start playing I'd think it would be more of a challenge to be fielding a team in the CPL in April, than a minor tweak to the Voyageurs Cup schedule. I'm not aware that any exact dates have yet been announced - just the bracket and time frames. The only necessary change, would be to remove Calgary's bye to the quarter-finals, and have them play Ottawa in the preliminary round. Though a more sensible regional approach would be to have Hamilton play Ottawa in the preliminary, and Calgary play Winnipeg. Pretty minor really. But can they really line up an entire squad, meet the Canadian content requirements, and be fielding a team in a few weeks? I'd be surprised.
So Toronto FC are suddenly in the 'Leagues Cup'...a competition between MLS and Mexican teams. Round of 16 one leg games this summer. 8 MLS and 8 Mexican league teams. MLS host all the games when possible. OK so only conflict is the final of that tourney is September 16th which is the midweek of the Canadian Championship/Voyageurs Cup Final 1st leg. Could happen as MLS teams will play nothing but home games in this tourney and TFC also has been a finalist in the Canadian Championship every year since 2015.
Not sudden, as they laid out the qualification criteria last July and there was chatter among fans before MLS Cup. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Leagues_Cup has shown Toronto participating since early October!
I'd be happy either way. It would be completely valid to say, "Great to have you and we look forward to seeing you next year but it's too late for 2020." It would also be fine to acknowledge that this is one team for one year and figure out a way to make it work (which would have to involve some sort of oddball, single round like described above). A bit hard on Masters maybe but the Canadian Championship has shown flexibility over the years to do what needs to be done to accommodate the changing face of Canadian soccer. Just look at last year's contrived format. It was awkward but it worked and we all suspected it was just for one year.
So what if Forge FC ends up in the best 6 of the CONCACAF League, AND wins the V-Cup Does that mean that the 7th best team of the CL goes to CCL Granted, if they win the CC, then it'd be pure reserves at the CL, I reckon, but still, anything is possible What's the backup plan
^ I haven't seen that the CSA has officially set out what its plan is if we need to sort our spots in the CCL/CL. Assuming Forge would want to take the higher (CCL) spot, the logical thing to do would be to give the CL spot to the runner up from that qualifying process. The other alternative would be to give it to the V-Cup runner up but that's less logical given how the qualifying is done.
There's no plans that I'm aware of. The fact that both CONCACAF league and Canadian Championship overlaps, we would know sooner if Forge wins their CCL spot via the domestic Cup. This means that Forge would go to CCL and if they did well yet again in CONCACAF League, they could perhaps get a qualification for next year CONCACAF League even if they don't win the CPL cup this year and give the 7th club the CCL access. I think that would be fair Why would they ever turn down CCL?
I missed this last point in It's called FOOTBALL's post above, too: If the Forge were to qualify for the CCL directly via the V-Cup, the 7th place CL team should not get access to the CCL. That would mean Canada going from two places in the overall tournament (CCL + CL) to one. The CSA would have to figure out which additional Canadian team goes but it shouldn't be a lucky day for a team from some other country because the Forge won twice. By analogy, the USSF has a bunch of rules in place to decide who goes to the CCL in which slot if one of their teams qualifies in multiple ways (like winning both the MLS Cup and the USOC). They don't say, "Oh well, let's give our fourth slot to a deserving team from some other country."
Great point. I think Cavalry should go then...they made it the farthest last year for both V Cup and CPL season