2018 Voyageurs Cup

[Red Renaissance]

So as many know Oakville Blue Devils will take on Woodbridge Strikers in League 1 Finals tomorrow. The winner will take on AS Blainville of Premier Soccer League Quebec for a berth as the sixth team in the Voyageurs Cup next year. Assuming that these two will contest in the first round next year, how would the second and third round work? I would assume that two teams would still get a bye to the semis (TFC/Montreal since they were the two finalists). Who then would the winner of Quebec/Ontario play? would they play Ottawa with the other quarter being Edmonton vs Vancouver?

The other possibility is that TFC still gets a lone berth to the semis as defending champs, with all 6 other teams playing eachother- Maybe Ottawa vs League 1 team, Montreal vs PLSQ team and Vancouver vs Edmonton. The three winners would join TFC in the semis.

What format would you like to see?

 

[deschamp86]

I feel like the L1O and PLSQ teams will be matched up with NASL/USL teams, though I would enjoy to see what you presented, putting the regional teams against each other and bringing previous finalist in for the semis.

They sort of do that in the US Open Cup, and think it would allow the smaller teams to get some extra revenue at the gate if they are playing a bigger team that is nearby

[Kent]

I can't find where it was, but someone posted a tweet or something in another thread that seemed to indicate the L1O and PLSQ champs will play against Edmonton and Ottawa in the first round.

Personally I'd like to see a random draw to see who plays who. Since there will be 7 teams involved, they'd have to give a bye (to TFC since they are defending champs) and then they'd have 4 teams for the second round.

Seriously, where did the L1O and PLSQ topics go? Where is the Canadian Leagues section now with the new website format? Arg!

[DannyFromToronto23]

Any idea where the L1O  and PLSQ champs will play their home legs 

[Kent]

3 hours ago, DannyFromToronto23 said:

Any idea where the L1O  and PLSQ champs will play their home legs 

I would hope their home stadiums. I don't know their stadium situations though.

[Zem]

1 hour ago, Kent said:

I would hope their home stadiums. I don't know their stadium situations though.

I hope so as well. Here's the rundown of the clubs' stadiums:

 

Oakville play at Sheridan College's Trafalgar Campus stadium. Looks pretty recent with a synthetic multipurpose pitch and a nice covered stand. Doesn't look like it seats a huge number of people, but it would probably suffice for a game against Ottawa or Edmonton.

 

Woodbridge play at the Vaughan Grove facility which has a synthetic, soccer-specific pitch with a set of un-covered bleachers which seat a similar number of people to Oakville's stadium. They have easily the most room to bring in temporary bleachers though.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@43.7707586,-79.6023289,163m/data=!3m1!1e3

 

Blainville play at Parc Blainville, which has a multipurpose synthetic pitch and a decent amount of seating, although it's not quite as nice of a facility as the other two.

https://www.google.ca/maps/@45.658328,-73.8497832,173m/data=!3m1!1e3?dcr=0

[DannyFromToronto23]

I wonder how much ppl will go see them play 

 

I can imagine a lot of TFC fans  going to see TFC if they play Oakville or Woodbridge 

[Blackdude]

I wouldn't be shocked if Blainville plays somewhere else. I think the Parc Équestre if they can put grass on there is a nice location with bleachers and if CSA requires team to play without football lines, Maurice-Tessier has had Blainville games in the past. 

[Zem]

Oakville Blue Devils beat Woodbridge 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out to qualify.

[Kent]

That was after a 1-1 game in regulation. Woodbridge scored in the first half (Nunes I think) and Oakville scored in the second half, don't remember his name.

I'm no Rocket Robin. I'm sure he'll give a better recap in the near future.

[Zem]

11 minutes ago, Kent said:

That was after a 1-1 game in regulation. Woodbridge scored in the first half (Nunes I think) and Oakville scored in the second half, don't remember his name.

I'm no Rocket Robin. I'm sure he'll give a better recap in the near future.

Brandon Duarte scored for Oakville

[ChrisinOrleans]

On 10/20/2017 at 10:39 AM, Blackdude said:

I wouldn't be shocked if Blainville plays somewhere else. I think the Parc Équestre if they can put grass on there is a nice location with bleachers and if CSA requires team to play without football lines, Maurice-Tessier has had Blainville games in the past. 

Both of those locations are right across the street from one other. There is also no other usable soccer field in Blainville, save for a few schools. That is, assuming they play the game in Blainville. The Cégeps in St-Jérôme or St-Thérèse may have a usable field, and they're reasonably close in terms of driving distance. 

[Gopherbashi]

Just now, ChrisinOrleans said:

Both of those locations are right across the street from one other. There is also no other usable soccer field in Blainville, save for a few schools. That is, assuming they play the game in Blainville. The Cégeps in St-Jérôme or St-Thérèse may have a usable field, and they're reasonably close in terms of driving distance. 

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the D3 v D2 games are a single leg hosted by the D2 teams.  D3 doesn't necessarily have the hometown facilities, and I don't think everyone will want to do more travel than necessary considering that OFFC/FCE vs D3 shouldn't exactly be a nailbiter.

Don't get me wrong - I'll be presently surprised if they're close matches.  I just don't think they will be, and don't think CSA will spend more time on this leg of the tournament than they feel they need to.

[Gopherbashi]

14 hours ago, Zem said:

Oakville Blue Devils beat Woodbridge 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out to qualify.

I keep seeing the league post 4-3, but everyone else says 4-2.  Any idea as to why there's a discrepancy?

[shermanator]

Just now, Gopherbashi said:

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the D3 v D2 games are a single leg hosted by the D2 teams.  D3 doesn't necessarily have the hometown facilities, and I don't think everyone will want to do more travel than necessary considering that OFFC/FCE vs D3 shouldn't exactly be a nailbiter.

Don't get me wrong - I'll be presently surprised if they're close matches.  I just don't think they will be, and don't think CSA will spend more time on this leg of the tournament than they feel they need to.

A single leg hosted by the D2 clubs would be a massive missed opportunity to grow the game at the L1O / PLSQ levels. Hosting a D2 team would have a big financial benefit to the L1O / PLSQ clubs as well. 

[ChrisinOrleans]

4 minutes ago, Gopherbashi said:

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the D3 v D2 games are a single leg hosted by the D2 teams.  D3 doesn't necessarily have the hometown facilities, and I don't think everyone will want to do more travel than necessary considering that OFFC/FCE vs D3 shouldn't exactly be a nailbiter.

AS Blainville has a few Ex-Fury players on the roster. I wouldn't mind seeing them beat the current (awful) iteration of the Fury at home. With Rudolph-Mayard up top as well, it could happen. Put Jon Vallée and Phillipe Davies on the roster and you basically have the 2014 Fury anyway. 

1 minute ago, shermanator said:

A single leg hosted by the D2 clubs would be a massive missed opportunity to grow the game at the L1O / PLSQ levels. Hosting a D2 team would have a big financial benefit to the L1O / PLSQ clubs as well. 

Agreed. But I am in the Rive-Nord a lot, and aside from the Cégeps, I don't think there is a place in the whole region that could host a soccer match with 1000 - 2000 spectators. 

[Blackdude]

1 hour ago, Gopherbashi said:

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the D3 v D2 games are a single leg hosted by the D2 teams.  D3 doesn't necessarily have the hometown facilities, and I don't think everyone will want to do more travel than necessary considering that OFFC/FCE vs D3 shouldn't exactly be a nailbiter.

Don't get me wrong - I'll be presently surprised if they're close matches.  I just don't think they will be, and don't think CSA will spend more time on this leg of the tournament than they feel they need to.

I think it should be the opposite if it's like that. Main reason why is that the D2 club wouldn't get fans because let's face it, playing a lower club isn't going to attract people, but the small club which might have to move from his home ground could get the same number facing the big club plus it helps them a lot in bringing fans and I think a big amount of money coming their way. And I'd argue that they could get more people in it. I think if you give them something big like that, the average Joes there will show up. And if you don't believe that, look in Germany and how the first round of the Cup works. The top 32 clubs in the country have to travel to club of lower levels. It helps a lot the club that gets to host it and those clubs have earned it by either being good in the 3. Liga or winning their local land Cup. I remember talking to other people the way it would work, but I do think it would be better that the small club hosts.

1 hour ago, ChrisinOrleans said:

AS Blainville has a few Ex-Fury players on the roster. I wouldn't mind seeing them beat the current (awful) iteration of the Fury at home. With Rudolph-Mayard up top as well, it could happen. Put Jon Vallée and Phillipe Davies on the roster and you basically have the 2014 Fury anyway. 

 

They have 1 player who wasn't really that good IIRC. He got cut after the first year. And you're naming Vallée who plays for Gatineau who has nothing with the region and Davies who is a South Shore guy on a North Shore team. What is that?

[Kent]

9 hours ago, Gopherbashi said:

I keep seeing the league post 4-3, but everyone else says 4-2.  Any idea as to why there's a discrepancy?

Maybe they just weren't counting. Might have just remembered that Oakville missed 1 and Woodbridge missed 2, without realizing that Oakville took 5 shots and Woodbridge took 4.

[Rocket Robin]

From my post in the 'Canadian teams and leagues' sub-forum

USL Ottawa Fury coach Julian de Guzman was the celebrity brought in for the coin toss. 
I hadn't thought of it at game time but there is a good chance that tonight's winner
will play Ottawa in the opening round of the Canadian Championship next year.  
Oakville and their PLSQ champion counterpart AS Blainville will NOT face each other
in the first round but one will face Ottawa and the other will face FC Edmonton
of NASL.  The winners will then play each other and the next round the winner
of that will join the MLS teams in the semi-finals. 

The start of the Canadian Championship will be held in May from what I've heard which
shouldn't cause a problem as the L1O season will be into its first month by then. 
Since these games are usually played in midweek it will mean Oakville won't play
at their usual home Sheridan College because there are no stadium lights.  Rumour
has it they will be trying to arrange to play at Tim Horton's Field in Hamilton.  
Will there be a sponsor or will they have to raise funds to fly to Edmonton if that's
the team they draw?  A joke going around after the game was 'how about a car wash?'.   

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

also the PK result was 4-2.  Woodbridge didn't get a fifth round shot as they could have only closed to 4-3. 
 

[Kent]

22 hours ago, Rocket Robin said:

USL Ottawa Fury coach Julian de Guzman was the celebrity brought in for the coin toss. 
I hadn't thought of it at game time but there is a good chance that tonight's winner
will play Ottawa in the opening round of the Canadian Championship next year.

I went to the game and was lucky enough to have JDG sit right behind me in the first half. I thought of making a joke about him coming here to scout his competition, but instead just got a picture with him.

Thanks for the update on what the format will be for the tournament Robin. It's not how I would have done it, but it is what it is I guess.

That sucks about Sheridan/Tim Horton's Field. I was hoping for a Woodbridge win mostly so it would be a short drive for me assuming they host a game. Sheridan would have been decently further for me to drive, and Tim Horton's Field will be quite a bit longer than that. From a less selfish point of view it would have been nice for the Oakville fans to get a game in their home stadium against pro opposition.

Maybe we should be petitioning the CSA/OSA to work with Sheridan to get some lights put in. Seriously, the fields I played on in a small town in the 90's that were essentially exclusively for youth soccer had lights. How does a college stadium not have them?

[Pierce Lang]

Sheridan erected temporary lights for the 2015 OCAA Mens Soccer Championships. 

[Rheo]

The League 1 website has an article on the expansion next year

http://www.league1ontario.com/news_article/show/849422?referrer_id=2309049

[Kent]

So Rocket Robin reported last month that Oakville and Blainville will each play one of Ottawa/Edmonton in the first round of the Voyageurs Cup. With the rumors/speculation that Edmonton might take a year off, I wonder what that would mean for the tournament.

Maybe the finalists from 2017 could get a bye to the semi-finals. Which would leave Vancouver and Ottawa to play Oakville and Blainville in the first round. Any other possibilities? Two groups of 3, each team getting 1 home game and 1 away game, top team in each group goes to the final? Or would it be possible to do a more proper group stage, meaning play each team home and away (still with 3 teams per group) giving 4 games per team (plus the final).

Any other ideas? I would guess the most likely (and probably best) would be to give a bye to Toronto and Montreal as last year's finalists.

[Gopherbashi]

11 minutes ago, Kent said:

So Rocket Robin reported last month that Oakville and Blainville will each play one of Ottawa/Edmonton in the first round of the Voyageurs Cup. With the rumors/speculation that Edmonton might take a year off, I wonder what that would mean for the tournament.

Maybe the finalists from 2017 could get a bye to the semi-finals. Which would leave Vancouver and Ottawa to play Oakville and Blainville in the first round. Any other possibilities? Two groups of 3, each team getting 1 home game and 1 away game, top team in each group goes to the final? Or would it be possible to do a more proper group stage, meaning play each team home and away (still with 3 teams per group) giving 4 games per team (plus the final).

Any other ideas? I would guess the most likely (and probably best) would be to give a bye to Toronto and Montreal as last year's finalists.

I assume we'll just get L1O v PLSQ as the first round, with the winner facing the Fury.

[Kent]

36 minutes ago, Gopherbashi said:

I assume we'll just get L1O v PLSQ as the first round, with the winner facing the Fury.

I knew there was something obvious I was missing. I really hope it doesn't come to this but it definitely is a possibility. That would effectively be the inter-provincial cup, and only the winner of the inter-provincial cup gets into the Voyageurs Cup proper. I hope both of these teams get to play against fully professional opposition.