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Articles, Hockey

It’s gonna be a long season

The 2021 Vancouver Canucks are objectively not a good hockey team. Oh sure, once in a while they put together a solid period, but for the most part they’re like the middle Harry Potter novels: a few likeable but wildly inconsistent characters meander through overly long situations. Meanwhile, gaping holes leave even the most devoted fans wondering if and when we’ll see light at the end of the tunnel.

Brock Boeser might lose hockey games, but he sure as shootin’ didn’t lose the genetic lottery, amirite? Here he is doing his impression of a young Brad Pitt from A River Runs Through It. Screen capture from a Sportsnet intermission interview.

Elias Pettersson scored his first goal against the Habs on Saturday, but he has literally stumbled out of the gate so far this season. But even when he’s stayed on his skates, EP40 has looked ever so terrestrial thus far. Here’s an egregious giveaway that turned into a shorty for the rouge, blanc, et bleu:

Petey hasn’t been the only one. The Canucks as a team have been awash in unforced errors, a fact not lost on social media of all stripes.

Here’s last year’s leading scorer, JT Miller, showing us why his return was what this Canucks team needed to get off to the races. Oh. Wait.

The only bright spot this season has been Bo Horvat, whose five goals in seven games positions has him tied in the early race for this year’s Rocket Richard trophy. Not only is he milking that bumper spot on the power play like a young Mike Bossy, Horvat is getting up in the grill of opponents who take liberty with Vancouver goalkeepers:

Okay, but back to that Bo Horvat, Goal Scorer thing for a minute. It is imperative that the Canucks build multiple looks into the power play. When teams take away the Pettersson one-timer, or when Pettersson is in a funk and misfires, or when the mother ship comes to take Pettersson back to Planet Hockey, this beautiful tic-tac-toe routine has to do the heavy lifting. And in the first seven games, both Canuck wins dumped freaking pianos on this play’s back.

No matter what happens between the pipes at the other end, however, Vancouver needs some serious work on the back end. Even if it’s the lowly Ottawa Senators, giving the opposition this much open ice is going to end badly for the good guys:

I’m not sure this one is Holtby’s fault.
That’s what we in the biz call a shitty line change.

Coverage like this, coupled with all of those giveaways mentioned earlier, is unacceptable in fricking beer league. This despite the fact that the Canucks have well over $20 million wrapped up in their top seven defenders. Good citizens, that’s more than a quarter of the salary cap!

Screen grab from https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/canucks.

I enjoy chaos as much as the next guy — well okay, maybe not as much as Jeff Marek — but frankly this team is lacking what we call in soccer, ‘shape’. At any given time, a team with good shape is in a position to react to their opponent. If there’s a loose puck, there’s a player nearby to go after it. If there’s an attack, a defender can mitigate the situation. If there’s a chance to advance, there’s a player ready to move forward.

Good teams support the puck; that means, when your defenceman pinches into a forward position, you cover their patch of ice. If you’re defending a two-on-one, you don’t slide feet first into the corner; you take away the pass and diminish the puck carrier’s options. And for crying out loud, you don’t give a talented goal scorer like Tyler Toffoli acres of open ice to play around in on multiple occasions over a three-game stretch. The Canucks are successfully executing pretty much none of these things for long stretches at the moment. Like a minivan full of toddlers, they seem to just pile onto the ice whenever their number is called and mindlessly chase the puck en masse until the referee stops play.

As a result, the Canucks have allowed 33 goals in just seven games. That’s not just worst in the NHL, it’s the worst by a full 10 goals. Edmonton is atrocious and sit at 30th overall, and they’ve only given up 23 goals in that same span.

There may only be 56 games on the schedule this year, but if this continues, it’s gonna be a helluva long year for Canucks fans.

Articles, Hockey

Alberta Bound (and Gagged)

We wondered which Vancouver team would show up for game four in Calgary: the grimy, grindy, gritty crew that forces chances and supports the puck, or the listless, lazy, l… whatever other l-words belong here team that takes penalties and gives up five goals a game. As it turned out, the answer was both.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, you red four-point bastards.

During the first period, the Canucks dogged every puck carrier, they dug the puck out of the corners, and they did all the little things that win hockey games. They hustled, they hit, and Adam Gaudette alone had a bushelful of chances, but that damned Markstrom fella turned away his two breakaways and a glorious one-timer like an Albertan offered a mask at a grocery store.

They did manage to score. Yes, they scored! (Well, not on the power play. Jacob Markstrom had to make some spectacular stops, though. That’s good, right?) After 40 shots over three and a half periods, Jake Virtanen was GOOD FROM DOWNTOWN. Sadly, this ain’t basketball, so his 70-footer only counted for one point.

At least the People Who Wear Orcas had one thing to celebrate this night.

The lack of a three-point line in the ice hockey came back to haunt the Canucks, because after dominating the period — their best in this short 2021 season thus far — they held a huge edge in shots but were only one puck up on the stinkin’ beefeatin’ saddledomin’ Calgary Flames.

In the second period, Calgary killed an early penalty, then just… I’m sorry, this is very emotional. Vancouver had 16 shots in the first period, but only 11 the rest of the way. The Flames, they just… well, they took over. They put four past Thatcher Demko, who’s now allowed nine goals in two starts, and added a fifth into an empty net.

Vancouver has given up seven goals on 21 power plays so far this season, tied for 28th overall. They’ve scored exactly zero times on 15 chances of their own, which ties them for *checks notes* dead last in the NHL. Them numbers’re what we in the business call a bad combination.

Lost in all of this is the fact that Elias Pettersson looks like his mind isn’t on the game. Not even the return of JT Miller was able to break him out of the funk. At one point in the first period, Pettersson and Brock Boeser had a two-man breakaway on Markstrom, and he looked positively flabbergasted when a pass came his way. It wasn’t the best pass, I’ll admit, but come on buddy, that kind of thing is your bread and butter. You’re not supposed to stutter step and nearly fall down as the puck screams into the corner… You’re the ALIEN, dammit. Dive. Make magic. DO YOUR DEKES ALREADY, PETEY.

Long story short, the Canucks have now played three good periods of hockey in 2021. Alas, those three periods have occurred over a four-game stretch. That 1-3 record is precisely where this squad deserves to be right now.

Naming the divisions after corporate entities is perhaps the most egregious evidence of Gary Bettman’s status as a Shill with No Soul. (Translation: let’s talk about anything but the fact that even Ottawa is above Vancouver in the standings just now. OTTAWA.)

Articles, Hockey

Good news and bad news…

The good: Jacob Markstrom was solid in the shutout win, and Chris Tanev blocked like a bazillion shots and helped shut down the opposition’s top line.

The bad: those guys play for the Calgary Flames now.

Goaltender Jacob Markstrom, 30, and defenseman Chris Tanev, 31, are accused of stealing Vancouver Canuck fans’ hearts. The two men are believed to be hiding out, along with two-way winger Josh Leivo, in Calgary, Alberta. They are considered talented and dangerous. Mugshots from NHL.com.

Over the first three games, we’ve seen three very different looks from the Vancouver Canucks. In game one, the squad arrived in Edmonton with their lunchbuckets firmly in hand. From the top of the roster to the bottom, they skated hard, they bumped & ground, and they flummoxed an Oilers team that is by most measures more talented. Every player on the scorecard was dangerous, so the Oil didn’t know where to focus. Result: 5-3 win.

In game two, the good guys let Edmonton dictate play. Yes, the Canucks have some talent — elite talent, even, in Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson — but they just ain’t going to keep up with a roster full of Connor McDavids, Leon Draisaitls, Kailer Yamamotos, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkinses. Without the bottom six doling out hits and otherwise worrying the Oiler D, the Canuck top six found themselves working without the puck, and without much movement when they did get it. What I said above, re: ‘more talented’. Result: 5-2 loss.

Game three against the Calgary Flames saw a lot of shots both ways, but not much movement. Last season, mostly in the first half of the schedule, the Canucks feasted on the man advantage. Petey, Hughes, Brock Boeser, JT Miller, Bo Horvat… They buzzed the zone, putting the heads of penalty killers on pikes and turning opposition goaltenders dizzy. So far this year? Not so much. Here’s a video of the Canucks power play against Calgary:

Okay this is not a video, but it might as well be: the Canucks power play has gone 0-fer on the season so far, largely due to NO MOVEMENT WHATSOEVER. Newell Brown, whither your power play?

The Flames, by contrast, scored thrice when up a skater. Frankly the Canucks made it easy for Jacob Markstrom in his first game against his old club. Hopefully before game four, Travis Green reminds them that Marky isn’t their goalie any more; this isn’t warmup, and their job ain’t to shoot at 70% into his pads. Result: 3-0 loss.

Game four goes tonight, and JT Miller is back. Will he prove to be the stick that stirs the drink, as Vancouver sports radio has desperately posited the past couple of days? Or will the Canucks quickly fall to 1-3 and be an early front-runner for a lottery spot in the draft? Only four teams make the playoffs in the North (Canadian) Division. If Vancouver plays like it did in game one, they’ve got a shot at the post-season. If they put in efforts like we saw in games two and three, this year will feel a lot longer than 56 games.

On another note, what is it with the massive, yet subtle orca logos on Braden Holtby? Are these painted onto his equipment?

Braden Holtby sports a gorgeous new mask, but his nipples are about to be eaten by orcas. Screen capture alt-shift-4ed from SportsnetNOW.

Out of town, the best-looking team so far has been the Habs. Like, les mains vers le bas. What the Canucks did in game one, the Habs have done in three straight. Sure, they lost the opener to the dirty rotten stinkin’ Maple Leafs, but they were unlucky to do so, the tying goal literally bouncing into the slot off the referee to let Toronto back in it. Marc Bergevin has put together an entertaining, uptempo roster, and don’t be surprised if Montreal wins this division going away.

Did a double take when Joe Thornton scored his first as a Maple Leaf the other night. Everyone talks about “Old Man Joe”, and that beard speaks to a thousand years of growth, experience and wisdom, so it was no surprise when announcers said he was the second-oldest player to ever score a goal in a Leafs uniform. The part that hurt? At 41 years, 198 days of age, Old Man Joe is 8.5 years younger than I am.

Joseph Eric Thornton of the St Thomas, Ontario Thorntons was born in 41 BCE.
Articles, Hockey

Clutch my pearls that’s pretty

Dave Tippett tore the Oilers a new one after Wednesday’s opening night loss. He lit into them for playing a complacent game, giving up on plays, and donating scads of open ice to Canuck forwards. He may or may not have used a few o’ them fancy cuss words that Nicholas Cage is talking about over on the Netflix. When he was done, he stomped out of the dressing room. The rest is ridiculous.

How Connor McDavid doesn’t score 100 goals a year boggles the mind. This guy’s skillset is ridiculous. Photo cribbed from the Oilers website.

Long story short, Connor McDavid and the rest of the Oilers big guns were having none of the Canucks bullshit in game two. McDavid lit the lamp once, twice, thrice, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored a brace, and Leon Draisaitl put up four assists. It was a track meet, okay? But who are we kidding, it’s the Chosen One we need to discuss here.

The Canucks had a decent start, at least. Thatcher Demko made a couple of spectacular saves, the top line had a couple of power play looks, and the good guys were down just 1-0 with 2.5 seconds left in the first. Then, well, this happened.

Okay, we knew the Canucks wouldn’t keep McDavid goalless all season. After the intermission, they came out buzzing, Nate Schmidt lasered his first as a Canuck, whooping into the empty stands like Ric Flair gone wild… and then somebody queued up Sweet Georgia Brown.

Ain’t nobody stopping that.

After that, it was a track meet. And when you run against the fastest guy on the planet, you lose.

You can’t blame Demko tonight. He made 41 saves against one of the most potent offenses in the league. The guy at the other end of the ice, though, Mikko Koskinen, made 38 saves on 40 tries. Count ’em up, and McDavid scored one more than the entire Canucks team.

Full game highlights here:

Articles, Hockey

Undefeated in 2021

The Canadian Division has pundits and advertisers in this country licking their chops. it’s socially distanced, masked, and sanitized, of course, but make no mistake: thar be choplickin’ in them thar office towers. Thanks to COVID-19, the Great White North is guaranteed a team in the Stanley Cup semi-finals. Not many people have the Canucks making hay this year — of course, Sportsnet is positively salivating at the possibility of their beloved Leafs in the final four — but on opening night, at least, they made a pretty good case for themselves.

Vancouver and Edmonton have some of the most dynamic young players in the league. They both had lethal power plays last year, but with JT Miller on the sidelines with a possible Covid exposure, you had to give the edge to the dirty rotten stinkin’ Oilers coming into the game. In many ways, this felt like a pre-season game. There were jelly legs, there were gaffes, and there were lapses at both ends.

Bo Horvat scored the first Canucks goal of the season. Photo ruthlessly swiped from the interweb.

But there was also Tanner Pearson finding Bo Horvat to open the scoring. Adam Larsson missed his assignment and gave the captain so much room he was able to open a Covid screening clinic between the face off dots before going blocker on Mikko Koskinen. Hey Dave Tippett, do you even defense, bro?

There was Adam Gaudette causing a stink and chipping in with some secondary scoring when the top line was still finding their stride. It is always satisfying to see the Oilers go from swagger to slump in a couple of minutes’ time.

There was also Brayden Holtby, keeping Connor McDavid and his ridiculous hands off the score sheet. This is a guy who has averaged two points a game in season openers since he came into the NHL, and he went bagel against the Canucks this night. I don’t need Holtby in the Vezina conversation to enjoy this season — and frankly with the way the Oilers burned him high glove twice tonight that likely isn’t in the cards anyway — but damnation was it fun to see 97 dipsy doodle through three or four players but not rack up a half dozen points in the process.

Brayden Holtby looked good in his orca blue debut. Photo cribbed from Canucks Twitter feed.

And there was Quinn Hughes, too, looking positively mortal for 40 minutes, then laying two spectacular plays upon us — both resulting in wicked Brock Boeser wristers in the back of the net. After a little shake and bake along the blue line, Hughes got dumped on his ass and pinned by Kailer Yamamoto. After a few players overskated the puck, Hughes, seated and facing in the opposite direction, backhanded a blind pass to Boeser, who was quarantining in the Oiler slot. Like, seriously, Edmonton, twice in this game you left white shirts embarrassingly alone with your goaltender.

Quinn Hughes used Jedi mind tricks to force four different players to miss the puck before backhanding a pass to Brock Boeser all alone in the slot. From a seated position while facing his own net. Pixelated screen shot grabbed from an overly expensive game stream.

Oh, there was Nils Höglander busting his butt all night long and getting rewarded with his first NHL goal. If this kid plays half this well half the time, methinks Horvat has finally got a decent winger. The Sportsnet panel was so excited about him after the game I’m pretty sure they think he’s a Leaf.

Thankfully, there was not a defensive scramble every five minutes. Nate Schmidt, Tyler Myers, Alex Edler, and Travis Hamonic all provided solid defending. Olli Juolevi took a few shots for the giveaway that got the Oil on the board, but in all the kid put in some good minutes and didn’t look out of place in the rotation. #23 screened Holtby on at least one of the Edmonton goals, but Edler gonna Edler, you know?

Last but not least, there was Harnarayan Singh making his English-language debut on the national broadcast after serving as the Punjabi announcer since 2008. Growing up in Alberta, this guy knows his hockey, even if he was much more excited for the three Oiler goals than the five put up by Vancouver. Even still, there were no Boninoboninobonino calls this night. Give him time. I’m sure he’ll give us some gold before he’s done.

After 13 years and hundreds of games as the voice of Hockey Night in Punjabi, Harnarayan Singh made his English-language debut in the national play-by-play chair on Wednesday night. The Alberta native did just fine, thank you very much, and gives the country some much-needed visible diversity in its hockey coverage. Photo larceny occurred on the HNIC Punjabi website.

In all, a mildly entertaining opener that resembled a pre-season game as much as anything else. But in a 56-game season, two points is bigger than ever. And unlike the evil plottin’ schemin’ Maple Leafs, the Canucks didn’t give a division rival a Bettman loser point to get them.

Articles, Soccer

Whitecaps Head South Needing Only a Draw

The first leg is in the books, and it’s onward and southward to Seattle for the climax of this thus far rather anticlimactic playoff series between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Seattle Sounders. The first leg in Vancouver this past Sunday was a cagey affair. Tension-filled, a chess match, one for the purists. In a word, it was boring. But the Whitecaps accomplished what they set out to. They denied Seattle an away goal, and enter Century Link Field needing only not to lose to advance.

Can they find any offence? That is the question hovering over the club and its supporters. Sure, the team can play defensively sound when it wants to, but the Seattle tandem of Lodeiro and Dempsey is likely to test them. Stefan Marinovic has been solid since assuming the starter’s job, but the best of keepers will be beaten if the line in front of them breaks or is broken down. Pulling the trick Seattle pulled in last year’s MLS Cup Final and winning without an attempt on goal is not likely to fly here. Offence will be needed, and it’s offence this club has struggled to find at times this year. They are the lowest-scoring remaining club in the playoffs. If the best eleven is available, there is hope, but Carl Robinson said just a few days ago that Yordy Reyna and Cristian Techera may not be available. If that’s the case, it’s anybody’s guess where the Whitecaps will find goals. Christian Bolaños looked capable of generating offence early in the season, but the same has not been true recently. Since returning from a knee injury he’s looked less sharp, and hasn’t been the threat Vancouver needs. Nicolas Mezquida had a brace against San Jose a week ago, but that was when the Earthquakes were chasing the game and Vancouver was pummelling them on the counter. Nosa Igiebor, who looked calm and excellent against Portland in the final regular season match, did not look like the attacking midfielder role suited him in the first leg. Fredy Montero is great at popping up out of nowhere to poach a goal, but he did not look like his former self until Reyna arrived on the scene and started unlocking other defences. So perhaps, as so often this year, it will be the hope of an early set piece goal and then a counter as their opponents press.

Carl Robinson says he likes the underdog role. He better. The oddsmakers certainly see them as such. Sports Betting Dime in particular has the Whitecaps at +380, with the Sounders -143, on expectations that Reyna and Techera can’t go. If either of those two look like slotting in, those odds will skew back to the visitors.

And if Vancouver can get past the Sounders, it’s a beatable Houston side or a ridiculously banged up Portland that will be all that stands between the Caps and their first MLS Cup appearance.

Vancouver Whitecaps at Seattle Sounders
November 2nd, 7:30pm
TSN 5 / TSN 1040

Articles, Soccer

Caps Ride Rapids to keep top spot in the west — Vancouver 2-1 Colorado

It feels odd to label any game for a team in the Vancouver Whitecaps’ position a “must win,” but this is as close as the Whitecaps are likely to come before the playoffs. Things are good in Rain City, with the club sitting pretty atop the Western Conference, but the Caps face an absolutely brutal run-in, with away matches against the three clubs immediately below them and only one home date after tonight.

Capo with a beard. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.
Pride for the home side, and a stellar beard to boot. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Continue reading Caps Ride Rapids to keep top spot in the west — Vancouver 2-1 Colorado →

Articles, Soccer

Whitecaps Leap Into Third – Vancouver 3-2 Real Salt Lake

For at least the half-dozenth time this season, the Vancouver Whitecaps debuted a new lineup, and spent a good half hour making one think, “Hey, maybe they’ve got something here,” only to spend the next 15 minutes making one make the “hrmmmm” emoji face. As they returned to MLS action following the international break, it was the if-not-white-hot-at-least-uncomfortably-warm Real Salt Lake providing the opposition. The 3-2 win was perhaps more laboured than it needed to be, but they’ll all look the same at the end, and for now it’s vaulted the club into third place in the Western Conference.

The first thirty minutes of this game was some of the finest football Vancouver has played all season. The punt was an option, but not an overused one. Mostly they kept the ball on the ground and generated a number of high-quality half chances. Cristian Techera was two hairs away from a hat trick, and Fredy Montero nearly had a goal of the year candidate when he barely missed connecting on a scissor kick. When the breakthrough came on 29 minutes it felt like the game was Vancouver’s.

Fredy Montero goes for the bicycle kick.
Fredy Montero and the Goal of the Year That Wasn’t. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Then, as has been their wont this season, Vancouver regressed to their mean, route one mean. (That makes sense. Read it again.) Long balls. Missed connections. RSL still didn’t look particularly dangerous, but they were at least getting forward. Still, it can’t be said they really deserved the goal they got. A cross, a missed header and an unlucky roll. Some thought it was a poor showing by David Ousted, but I won’t fault him on this occasion. He did well to even get a hand on it.

When the second half came around, things having become a tad stale, it was a set piece that once again got things on track for the Whitecaps. Yordy Reyna delivered a free kick to the reddish noggin of Tim Parker who nearly scored for the umpteenth time this season. The ball ricocheted off the post to a waiting Kendall Waston who made no mistake and brought the 20,783 in attendance back to life.

The eventual game winner came in the 64th minute when Bernie Ibini – largely invisible to that point – arrived with a baffling, fantastic, brilliant pass from inside the six-yard box right to the diving head of Yordy Reyna. How he knew to make that pass I expect never to know. It was shocking. NO forward passes up a shot like that. But it was absolutely the right play, and his unselfishness secured the win.

Down 3-1, throwing everything forward, RSL finally looked like they might score a goal, and they did. It made the final 10 minutes more interesting, but it would be as close as they would get.

Kendall Waston chases down Yura Movsisyan.
Kendall Waston shut down RSL’s danger man, Yura Movsisyan, and scored once at the other end during a Whitecaps 3-2 win. Photo by Jason Kurylo for Pucked in the Head.

Now let’s talk about the big story from this game. Aly Ghazal, Vancouver’s now second-newest midfielder, finally made his debut in the starting lineup. (Side note: is this the first mid-season acquisition to jump straight into the starting lineup in the Robinson era?) Ghazal is the kind of player that the anti-stats crowd will point to when they make their “you can’t count what he does” arguments. Because… well, you don’t appear to be able to count what he does. The man doesn’t tackle; he was 0-2 on the night. He doesn’t pass very well; 21-32 on the night, albeit with six recoveries. He only had a couple of interceptions, a couple of clearances. He’s just kind of… there… but in a good way.

He forced more bad decisions than I can count, letting Waston and Parker rack up the stats. He gets in there and stops the ball without lunging in for the tackle as Matias Laba often does. I’m not entirely convinced yet, but RSL had VERY few chances through the middle of the park, relying instead on balls to the wing, which is exactly what Vancouver wanted them to do. Exciting times, if they continue.

Grades

Goaltender: FIVE Pucks in the Head
David Ousted was solid if generally unspectacular. A couple of good reaction saves that looked nice but we probably would have been disappointed by if they’d gone in. One unlucky break on the first goal.

Defence: FIVE Pucks in the Head
Jake Nerwinski has rendered Sheanon Williams obsolete. There, I said it. Get rid of him and sign a cheap backup. Waston and Parker were on their games. Harvey was okay, but could have done better on the second RSL goal.

Midfield: SIX Pucks in the Head
Ghazal was fantastic. Tchani was fine except for that one time he just stopped and got dispossessed. Reyna, Ibini, and Techera all either scored or had primary assists. Tough to ask for much more.

Forward: FIVE Pucks in the Head
Honestly, Montero was almost playing as a midfielder. His best moments were passes. He had two key passes, which is decent for any distributor. Had he connected on that scissor kick, hooo boy.

Articles, Soccer

Dallas Dives Into BC Place To Meet Whitecaps on Saturday

After a much needed 2-week layoff, the Vancouver Whitecaps return to the pitch on Saturday to take on the infamous miscreants and divers of FC Dallas. The Caps have been on a bit of a roll in the league, winners of four of their last six matches, and unlucky (in one case hideously unlucky) not to have at least a point in all six. Can they keep the wave of success going against the Texans?

Dallas still sit third in the western conference, but have been in a bit of a slump since the end of April. In their last eight matches they have only two wins, both against lowly Real Salt Lake. (Though, in fairness, they beat the holy hell out of lowly Real Salt Lake on both occasions.) Outside of those wins, they’re managing less than a goal a game.

If we’re fortunate, we may get to see a battle of 16-year-old phenoms, as Alphonso Davies, fresh off his national team debut, may line up against Dallas’ Jesus  Ferreira. Ferreira, who recently bagged a goal in his debut, will be familiar to Caps fans via his father, David, who nearly single-handedly gave Dallas their reputation as cheating scumbags. Hopefully the lad picked up his dad’s talent without acquiring his love of playing against Vancouver or his tendency to be blown over by a calm easterly breeze.

Carl Robinson has settled on a starting eleven over the last month or two, but national team duty has taken its toll. Kendall Waston and Christian Bolanos both left Costa Rica’s matches with injuries and there is no word yet how long they’ll be out. With Bernie Ibini and Yordi Reyna still not quite ready, look for Brek Shea to get back into the starting lineup on the wing. Replacing Waston will be the more interesting decision. Russell Teibert impressed for Les Rouges on Tuesday, and could slot in beside Tony Tchani, freeing Andrew Jacobson up to move back to CB. Alternatively, Robinson could opt for a straight swap and hope Cole Seiler will be steady enough beside Tim Parker.

The key matchup will be on Vancouver’s left flank where Dallas’ Michael Barrios, who had three assists against RSL two weeks ago, will be looking for more. Much will depend on the ability of Jordan Harvey and Cristian Techera to shut him down. If he’s allowed too much space to operate, Vancouver is in for a bad time.

I tend to think that the two-week layoff, along with the teams’ respective form, will see Vancouver through, and I’m not alone. Sascha Paruk, editor and oddsmaker at Sports Betting Dime agrees, saying: “The home team has not lost in the last 11 matches between the two. Barring any major injuries, Vancouver should be about a 4/3 favorite with Dallas around 3/1 and the draw at 11/5.”

Articles, Soccer

Waston Strong: Vancouver 3-1 Atlanta United

The Vancouver Whitecaps returned to MLS action on Saturday afternoon, having been eliminated from Voyageurs Cup action on Tuesday in Montreal. Visiting for the first time were MLS leading scorers Atlanta United. It’s not often that the bulletin board material comes from your own club, but so it was on this day when Vancouver’s defenders put in an excellent day’s work the day after the club’s own twitter account encouraged people to come out and buy tickets to watch the visitors’ offence. Vancouver would ride captain Kendall Waston’s head to a 3-1 victory at BC Place. Continue reading Waston Strong: Vancouver 3-1 Atlanta United →