Still a few regular season matches to get out of the way, but Canada will be well represented in the PDL playoffs this year with four of the eight Canuck teams locking up their divisions. London held off Michigan in the Great Lakes Division (with strong performances from Toronto and Kitchener as well) as they look to defend their PDL championship. Thunder Bay are looking strong in the Heartland Division. Division-mates Winnipeg are the only Canadian team to have a truly bad season this year. Ottawa simply commanded the Northeast Division where they are the only Canadian team. Vancouver looks to finish third and just out of the playoffs in the Northwest Division but Victoria has managed to let its points total keep up with its amazing crowds and win the group.
Vancouver falls to Portland on penalties in the first round. The other teams all play their first matches in the next day or two.
Ottawa now through to the Eastern Conference championship round after a 6-0 thrashing of the visiting Portland Phoenix. All the conference championship games for Canadian teams (Ottawa in the Eastern, Thunder Bay and London in the Central, and Victoria in the Western) kick off on July 27. Thunder Bay is hosting the Central championships and could feasibly end up facing London in the Central final. In fact, it is possible that three of the four conference winners will be Canadian.
Ottawa defeats Reading in the semi but then falls to Ocean City in the Eastern Conference Final. London and Thunder Bay both win their semi matches. In the all-Canadian Central Conference championship final, Thunder Bay wins 3-0 at home. In the Western Conference championship, Victoria beats Venture County in extra time and then eeks out a 1-0 win over Portland in the final. Attendance data is missing for most games, but there were 1522 on hand to watch Thunder Bay's semi match against Michigan. I expect the Thunder Bay - London final would have drawn at least the same. We're now down to four teams for the entire PDL. Victoria and Thunder Bay face each other in the semi to see which team advances to the final. This guarantees a Canadian team in the final but also guarantees the final won't be an all-Canadian affair.
Thunder Bay beat Victoria 2-0 in the semi. Thunder Bay went up 1-0 against the home town Austin Aztex in just the second minute of play. In the seventh minute, however, goal keeper Stephen Paterson received a straight red. The 10-man Chill gave up three first half goals in front of 4253 home town fans for a 3-1 loss to the Aztex. Disappointing for Canadian PDL fans but a great finish for the Aztex and, overall, a great year for the Canadian PDL teams.
bump... Thunder Bay Chill @ThunderBayChill In the first hour of sales we have already sold 300 tickets! Thank you for your support, get your tickets today! #Path2Pro
Thunder Bay Chill @ThunderBayChill Jul 26 After day 1 of ticket sales we have sold over 500 tickets. Back tomorrow at 9am. Thank you to all those who came out in advance.
Thunder Bay Chill @ThunderBayChill 15h15 hours ago 2017 PDL Championship to Stream Live on ESPN3 http://www.uslpdl.com/news_article/show/819720?referrer_id=2242498 …pic.twitter.com/nKOy8cty8c
Thunder Bay Chill @ThunderBayChill 15m15 minutes ago Great article in the @CJ_ThunderBay by the editor. @tbnewswatch @TBaySports @CBCTBay @CBCTBay @CityThunderBay
Not now, but eventually, yeah. The OHL has teams in North Bay and Sudbury. Once L1O matures and work out logistics, it could definitely happens. The CSA has shifted since Montagliani and are trying to move away from the USSF entirely. It will take some time but we're heading there. NASL will collapse at some point which will cause FC Edmonton to exit the league. Chances are slim to none that the CSA will sanction Edmonton to join USL, leaving them little choice between CPL, play in an un-sanction league or fold. Ottawa Fury in USL are most likely joining CPL at some point.
That logistics would have to include building more large cities between Thunder Bay and the rest of Ontario's population base. It's an eight hour drive from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie, let alone anywhere bigger. Most L1O teams would be more like 14 hours.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if TB went the CPL route. That of course now means travelling across the whole country, but a plane ride to the west coast isn't much more cost than a plane ride to Toronto. Playing in a higher level league would provide a bit of boost in attendance plus the revenue sharing may make it more practical. It may even be more practical than staying USL because having some costs in USD has financial implications of its own.
The PDL stopped publishing attendance numbers a couple of years ago. Before that I tracked attendance numbers for Canadian PDL teams. From 2009 to 2015 the Chill had a regular season average of 653. Their biggest crowd ever was 1522 for a playoff game in 2013 while their smallest was 352 for a game in 2009. The Chill would have to increase attendance by literally an order of magnitude to make a go of it in the CPL. Unfortunately, they're excluded from L1O by geography and from the CPL by reality.
Perhaps Division II or L1O getting big enough to overcome traveling distance like the Ontario Hockey League is already doing. Regarding L1O, there's already a team in Windsor and in Ottawa. That's already an 8 to 9:30+ hour drive. VIa Rail isn't that much faster, just more expensive and comfortable. So the league is already traveling huge distances across Ontario and they have the advantage of doing so in the summer instead of the winter for the OHL. Thunder Bay is already flying/bus all over the continent when I look at their division alone. No one will make me believe that they can't afford traveling within Ontario alone. Just like OHL, if Thunder Bay wants in, the league would make it work. And there will be a time where the CSA won't see the logic in reniewing it's sanctioning of Canadian teams in the USSF pyramid. Kitchener-Waterloo United? Upgrading to CPL Thunder Bay Chill? L10 WSA Winnipeg? PDL until Manitoba starts it's D3 league alone or with Saskatchewan Calgary Foothills? Expected to be associated with a CPL Calgary team and could encourage a D3 Alberta league or BC/Albert. So PDL until that happens. http://www.totalsoccerproject.com/2017/08/foothills-fc-field-house-canadian-premier-league/ “If a Canadian Premier League team does come to Calgary, we’re ready with an infrastructure to support it,” said Wheeldon, who also serves as Calgary Foothills Soccer Club‘s technical director. “I think the guiding principal (of the Canadian Premier League) is to provide more opportunities for Canadian players.” TSS FC Rovers? Same as above down the road once BC launch their D3 alone or with Alberta Victoria Highlanders? Same as above Canadian clubs in USSF will be phased out. Only the 3 MLS clubs will be left alone as long as the CSA allows it.
Congrats to Calgary Foothills FC who just beat Chicago United 1-0 in Calgary before 1.250 supporters. They will play Reading (PA) next weekend in the PDL Championship match!