Is a 2nd Division Sustainable?

[Redcoatsforever]

Go on a hockey board and ask that sort of question to fans of the Maple Leafs, Canucks etc and see what sort of answer you get.

You know that the NHL is technically still a Canadian league, right?

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

You know that the NHL is technically still a Canadian league, right?

That's a tangent that might be worth pursuing in the absence of the word "technically". Fact is the sport we are always told ad nauseam in beer commercials epitomizes what it means to be Canadian has operated on a North American basis for decades and under Gary Bettman has very much been an American league pursuing a primarily American agenda. I have never heard anybody call into the FAN590 or some other mainstream demographic sports show to bemoan the fact that there isn't an "All-Canadian" major pro level hockey league so the best Canadian players would be playing for teams based in cities like Hamilton, Kitchener and London instead of Phoenix, Atlanta and Nashville. I, therefore, find it seriously bizarre that people who appear to be recent converts to soccer (know that doesn't apply to you given your father played for City) apparently choose to make an issue about that sort of thing only in a soccer context where unlike with hockey there is a very real possibility given the failure of investors, broadcasters and sponsors to buy into the CUSL concept in the not too distant past that we would have been left with no genuinely full-time pro level soccer at all in the absence of access to USSF sanctioned leagues.

[paul-collins]

When Canada reliably produces world class players and teams, you can complain about people who know something about hockey crabbing about Canadian soccer development and structure.

You seem to think that someone should be up in arms about the NHL for whatever reason. Given that you haven't a clue, perhaps you should ask about whether Winnipeg fans are happy with the NHL governance, or the fans in Quebec City.

Hockey isn't perfect. I don't really care, though. The current system provides pathways for Canadians to play right up to the top. That includes top ranked national teams. Regardless of the reduced pool of competition, being number 1 counts.

This board is about the CANADIAN NATIONAL TEAMS. Our current soccer system develops an 80th ranked team in Men's Soccer and we should be happy?

That said, I'm done responding to your irrational rants about hockey. Stick to the topic or STFU.

[ThiKu]

well....that was appropriate, Paul.

[ted]

Hmmm, I thought the NHL was only being brought up to comment on the All-Canadian vs North American question as an example of a sustainable a North American-wide league.

Thanks, let's move on.

[-Hammer-]

I think a 2nd division is sustainable, so long as the USSF and the CSA simply accept the fact that the idea of a exclusively US soccer league and exclusively Canadian soccer league, simply isn't going to fly, and both organizations should regulate to that effect.

[BringBackTheBlizzard]

Pretty much sums it up and if it's OK for Canada and the US to share leagues in hockey there's absolutely no reason why soccer shouldn't do the same. Hopefully both national associations will get their internal politics sorted out soon in that regard at the D2 level. Interesting snippet on the latest ICF podcast was the speculation from Noel Butler that the Impact might have an NASL team in Quebec City by 2013. Might explain why PDL and the CSL have both been blocked from expanding there by a provincial association that is believed to be very much under the sway of the Saputos.

[paul-collins]

Pretty much sums it up and if it's OK for Canada and the US to share leagues in hockey there's absolutely no reason why soccer shouldn't do the same. Hopefully both national associations will get their internal politics sorted out soon in that regard at the D2 level.

Bolded for the important bit. This whole argument starts and ends there.