With the ridiculous annual corporate wankfest that is the MLS All-Star Game once again looming on the horizon, Pucked in the Head has a very important message for all you Whitecaps fans: vote green and white! Portland is having a stellar season, currently sitting in 3rd place in the Western Conference with two games in hand on 2nd-place Real Salt Lake. Their players absolutely deserve the honour of competing in this ridiculous annual corporate wankfest. I assure you that this has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the fact the game takes place on July 31st, just three days before Vancouver has to play a Cascadia Cup match against the Portland Timbers. No siree, Bob. We are absolutely not suggesting that you should attempt to rig the fan voting to ensure that the Whitecaps have the best possible chance of winning their derby the following weekend. Nope. Continue reading Public Service Announcement: Vote Timbers For MLS All-Star Game
The BC Lions War Room is a Man Cave Wet Dream
Pucked in the Head had the pleasure of chatting with folks over at the BC Lions about an upcoming fundraiser today. No, I’m not letting the cat out of the bag about the event just yet, so hold your horses — but I thought I’d share with y’all just how freakin’ awesome the BC Lions War Room is. The offices moved from BC Place to the location of the Surrey Practice Facility a few years ago, and I’ve got to say I love what they’ve done with the place.
This is where Wally Buono & Co. hold their strategic meetings for football operations. The mural of the 2011 Grey Cup celebration could have been expected, I suppose, as could have the myriad photos of Lions legends. Note the head shots of guys like Lou Passaglia and Jim Young — he’s the one with the shaggy hair and bushy mustache, and just happened to be the first player I admired as a wee lad.
More after the break.
Continue reading The BC Lions War Room is a Man Cave Wet Dream
Alain Rochat Traded to DC United for Peanuts
Well that was fun. I woke up to a text saying that Whitecaps FC defender Alain Rochat had been traded. (Shut up, I was on a night shift last night.) My good friend Jason was kind: he didn’t tell me who the Whitecaps had got back. Had I received those twin shocks at once, I believe I would now be trying to get brain matter out of the curtains. No easy task when your head has just exploded.
Let me get this straight: Martin Rennie has traded another fan favourite for draft picks, and he’s done it just one week after a heartbreaking Voyageurs Cup loss had many people were howling for his scalp? Wow. Nobody’s ever questioned the gaffer’s testicular fortitude, anyway.
My questions about the deal after the jump.
Continue reading Alain Rochat Traded to DC United for Peanuts
The Elusive Road Win
The Vancouver Whitecaps pulled a rare animal out of their hat this weekend — a road victory. After outplaying and outchancing opponents in several draws (and even a few losses) over the past few weeks, the boys in blue and white stole a 2-1 win in a contest they had no business winning.
Karma dictated the Caps had to come out on top of a decision like this sooner or later. Despite riding a four-game unbeaten streak into the match, they hadn’t received all the points they had deserved. Wednesday’s heartbreaking draw against Montreal lost the Whitecaps their first Voyageurs Cup. They had run the show for 85 minutes, hitting the woodwork twice and putting several shots just wide. By all accounts they could have scored a half-dozen against the Impact but only gave Craig MacEwan two opportunities to say “it’s in the back of the net!”
The previous game was another 2-2 draw, this time against Portland. The Caps scored two marvellous goals, but the Timbers played with twelve men — unfortunately the twelfth one carried a whistle and wore a referee’s jersey. While that may seem unfair, both goals for the visitors were contestable. The tying goal in particular was quite stinky, as Jose Valencia clearly used both arms to corral a hail-mary pass in the Vancouver box before depositing it behind Brad Knighton.
So yeah, gutting out a win when the other guys probably deserved it? Karmic payback against all those other teams that have nicked points from the Caps earlier in the year.
More, including match highlights, after the jump.
Whitecaps Try To Conquer Canada
The Voyageurs Cup tournament has been a thorn in the side of Vancouver Whitecaps supporters for eleven years now. Eleven times the Cup has been contested, and eleven times the club has found a way to lose. In 2011, Vancouver was less than 20 minutes from victory when torrential rain and lightning in Toronto forced an abandonment, wiping out the Whitecaps’ away goal and necessitating a replay, which they would lose. In 2012, the Whitecaps managed to lose to “the worst team in the world,” as Toronto forward Danny Koevermans called his TFC squad after they’d set an MLS futility record to start a season. But the one that will be on the minds of long-time fans of the Whitecaps will be the 2009 tournament, when the Whitecaps all but won their first championship, only to have it snatched away on the final day of the tournament in a game they weren’t even involved in. The Montreal Impact, who were already eliminated from that 2009 tournament, played a reserve side in the final game and were routed 6-1, handing the championship to Toronto on goal differential. Though not one player remains from that 2009 tournament, thousands of fans remember. Beating then-division 2 Montreal in the first round wasn’t enough. The fans want revenge, and they want it tonight. Continue reading Whitecaps Try To Conquer Canada
Quickies: Dousing the Heat, and Red Bull gives Kristjan wings
Dousing the Heat
The 2013-14 Abbotsford Heat will have a new look at both ends of the ice, as their number one goaltender and top scorer have both signed with Swedish Elite League teams this week. Danny Taylor, he of the 2.05 goals against average and the 18-10-2 record — keep in mind those numbers were earned with a team that failed to make the playoffs — has now inked a two-year deal with Färjestad BK.
“It’s twice as much money as I’ve ever made in a hockey season,” Taylor told the Abbotsford News, adding that stability was important in his decision. “I’ve had three or four seasons where I’m waiting around (for a contract) and it’s August, and I’m pulling my nails out of my fingers wondering where I’m going to go.” Including his two-game stint with the Calgary Flames in 2013, the 27-year-old Taylor has played for a dozen pro teams since his junior career ended in 2005.
Also leaving on a jet plane is the Heat’s all-time leading scorer, 29-year-old centre Ben Walter — he signed with Örebro Hockey for the upcoming season.
More after the break.
Continue reading Quickies: Dousing the Heat, and Red Bull gives Kristjan wings
Whitecaps Robbed of Two Points
Major League Soccer refereeing is infuriating. The well-officiated game in this league is notable for its rarity, and today’s Cascadia Cup clash between the Whitecaps and the Portland Timbers was not one of those rarities.
More after the break.
Quickies: Heavyweights En Masse, Team Can’tada & the 40-Year-Old Version
Heavyweights En Masse
More after the break.
Continue reading Quickies: Heavyweights En Masse, Team Can’tada & the 40-Year-Old Version
My response to “soccer is boring.”
Earlier today, Leicester City and Watford were tied 2-2 on aggregate late in injury time. Leicester has the advantage by virtue of their one away goal. This is the second leg of the nPower Championship playoff semifinal. If the score holds, Leicester goes on to the playoff final at Wembley stadium to play for the final spot in next year’s Premier League. Leicester has been awarded a penalty kick which, at this point in the game, will remove any doubt about the outcome. Watch what happens.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 3, LA Galaxy 1
Russell Teibert scored his first two professional goals thirteen minutes apart to help the Vancouver Whitecaps to their first-ever win over the LA Galaxy this weekend.
Coming off the bench in the 14th minute in injury relief of Daigo Kobayashi, Teibert showed great speed and good chemistry with Nigel Reo-Coker. More important for the Caps, he showed solid finish, something Vancouver has been sorely lacking over the past eight weeks of Major League Soccer action.
