Stryker911 Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Interested to see how everyone thinks the teams will be based solely on the rosters so far. Realize there is still a long way to go, so this can change almost daily as more signings are announced. Here's my take so far. 1) Forge - smallest squad, but every signing looks solid. Also one of the early favorites for MVP. 2) Cavalry - good goalie, solid veteran leadership, and a couple players from the top team in the PDL. 3) Pacific - have the best striker so far. Also alot of youth with decent potential. 4) Valour - decent goalie and above average USL level defence. 5) York - honestly thought they would be more impressive. A few lower level Canadian journeymen and presumably a couple of the top players from L1O. 6) HFX - a bit of a mystery. An international, veteran goalie is always a good thing. 7) Edmonton - marquee signing last played in Germany's fifth tier. Hopefully some of the academy players suprise. marauder01 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ams1984 Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 It’s so tough to say at this point. I think just based on my gut that Hamilton will be good, Edmonton too because they’ve got institutional structure and the know-how of experience being that they predate this league. I’m hoping that York 9 will be good because it’s now my club! I also like Aparicio and Kyle Porter a lot. If they get O’Dea as rumored... could be very interesting. So, yeah, I have no idea at this point! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradMack Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 I might be biased but I really like 3 of Halifax's signings on paper having not seen much of them. Im hoping Garcia is a pleasent surprise. Obinna 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 i'd put york and valour over pacific. remove haber, and you have 8 usl games and 8 german d4 games played in the last 12 months. meanwhile york have players with top tier experience in the us, russia, and finland and were way more active in the past 12 months, as were valours signings from usl. Ams1984, Kent and Keegan 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 I have liked what HFX has done with the Trinis. Yes, Canadian development is the primary goal, but I am equally intrigued at what internationals come and how club identities develop. Halifax has been quite interesting in that regard. As an aside, I bet Halifax is an interesting destination for those T&T players as well. Aside from the Hart factor, Halifax is a seaside city and Trinidad is a small Island. I can see them adjusting well. Keegan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lazlo_80 Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Forge have the benefit of familiarity. All these guys have played in Bobby’s system which could be a crazy advantage. Keegan and marauder01 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obinna Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 (edited) 6 minutes ago, matty said: i'd put york and valour over pacific. remove haber, and you have 8 usl games and 8 german d4 games played in the last 12 months. meanwhile york have players with top tier experience in the us, russia, and finland and were way more active in the past 12 months, as were valours signings from usl. I like what York has done so far as well. Di Chiara, Porter and Aparicio just based on resume seem like very strong signings. I remember when Di Chiara was getting calls into our senior national team camps as a teenager while playing in Russia. All that experience just doesn't go away. I am hoping he has a chip on his shoulder and breaks out as a star player. Crazy he is still only 26. Edited January 17, 2019 by Obinna Keegan, Ams1984 and Bbeto 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shortdutchcanuck Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Will be interesting to revisit this tomorrow from Edmonton's standpoint. 3 new signings might do a lot to change my mind, but so far to my mind Edmonton's personnel lacks some top end quality, unless Edwini-Bonsu miraculously resurrects his career. On the other hand they seem to have a good program in place, Allan Zebie is a talented guy and based on interest across the league Yongchan is very solid, so maybe they'll surprise. Love the idea of debating this repeatedly until kickoff with each new round of signings. After that we can throw all expectations out the window. Who can tell with a brand new league? There will be so many surprises both good and bad for teams and players. CanPL will grow and evolve but we only get to unwrap this shiny new toy once, gotta savour every moment! Stryker911, BradMack, Ams1984 and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shortdutchcanuck Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 Got so caught up I forgot my own rankings. 1. Valour 2. Forge 3. Cavalry 4. York9 5. Pacific 6. Halifax Wanderers 7. FC Edmonton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_M Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 1) Cavalry - chemistry is very important and 6 of the 7 signings played on the successful Foothills team last year..all except Adekugbe played at least usl and brought a solid import in Minatel 2) Halifax - looking great wirh TT players + Sukunda and a highly experienced coach..TT players will be playing for their lives and Hart can make the difference with his coaching 3) Valour - strong players at the back and up front 4) York - on individual players they should be near the top but the big question mark is the coaching of Brennan 5) Forge - looking strong in the midfield and forward but no one announced at the back so too early to put them higher 6) Pacific - young squad..will be hungry..could put them higher with upcoming signings 7) Edmonton - import seems fine..edwini is a big question mark, allan zebie apparently hasnt played competitively since 2017 and the three others were cis..if theres one team that seems like they got it wrong up to now its them Red and White 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youllneverwalkalone Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 If chemistry is very important, Pacific FC should move up the power rankings. All these boys have played together for years, all with the same clubs. Power rankings are so MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenFisk'sBiggestFan Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 I love how people are discounting FC Edmonton because of a ton of local signings. It will just make it all the better when we win the league. Allen Zebie will be the best D-mid in the league. And these local signings that no one knows will torch the league. Can’t wait to watch the academy kids break some ankles... CDNFootballer 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big_M Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 3 of the 5 played together in usl..hojabrpour and haber didnt..as stated could move up, will depend on upcoming signings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolando Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 I feel like Hamilton looks like they will be absolutely stacked and the team to beat in this league. marauder01 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ktf Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 As the teams continue to add players this will just get more and more intriguing. Honestly though, could there be any more of a crapshoot then trying to project this league in year one? We have players coming from such wide ranges of backgrounds and ages. There are also many players, particularly the younger ones, who could just explode with the opportunity. It is intriguing to try and project. A team like York 9 FC at this point seems easier to project, as their roster has more players of an age and background where we can say what they probably are. Whereas, PFC, aside from Marcus Haber, has all youth and potential. However, that potential could also be a tirefire. Consequently, it would not shock me to see a few really lopsided games in the first few weeks, as the teams that gel quickly or simply the talent ends up being better knock around those who don't. My current rankings: 1. Forge FC 2. Pacific FC (Homer pick) 3. Cavalry FC 4. York 9 FC 5. Valour FC 6. FC Edmonton 7. HFX Wanderers. With that being said, this is not meant to knock any teams, I have been really happy with most of the signings, and this is the only time in my life I have, and likely ever will, look forward to all teams in one league making signings and hoping they are good! marauder01 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keegan Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 https://twitter.com/Ryan_Brandt/status/1086302236660113410 Power rankings from a journalist.. not sure where he’s getting his rankings from. heres mine, mainly based on players signed so far that any team would covet: 1. Forge - 5 signings that any team would want. Easy call imo. 2. York - a few unknowns but guys like Porter, Aparicio, Di Chiara and Thompson are safe bets to be decent to good in this league. 3. Pacific - Chung and Haber are studs any team would want - the other 3 look like solid prospects at least. I thought about putting them lower but their average signing has been better than anyone but Forge thus far. 4. Valour - Farago, Murrell and Thomas should be the core of a solid D. 5. Cavalry - most capped Canadian in Ledgerwood though he’s 34 now. Minatel will be a good pick up as well. 6. Edmonton - A ton of unknowns but like their NASL team that sometimes worked out - they can climb. 7. Halifax - T&T keeper and 2 former Impact prospects - not much to write home about but as with FCE the unknowns may step up.. they have great support and a decent manager. marauder01 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Initial B Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 Maybe we could add Ottawa Fury to this list for comparison after the Voyageur Cup results? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 I think more than any other, this thread is making me wish the season was under way already! I can't get myself to make up my mind on rankings yet. By the time I finish making a list, the list in my head has changed. Maybe once each team has at least 10 signings I'll try again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MtlMario Posted January 18, 2019 Share Posted January 18, 2019 1 hour ago, Kent said: I think more than any other, this thread is making me wish the season was under way already! I can't get myself to make up my mind on rankings yet. By the time I finish making a list, the list in my head has changed. Maybe once each team has at least 10 signings I'll try again. I was thinking of doing a topic like this but I was waiting for each teams full roster to come out first. So I'll wait to predict till then. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stryker911 Posted February 1, 2019 Author Share Posted February 1, 2019 Updated with all the new signings. 1) Forge 2) Valour 3) York 4) Pacific 5) Cavalry 6) Halifax 7) Edmonton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matty Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 2 hours ago, Stryker911 said: Updated with all the new signings. 1) Forge 2) Valour 3) York 4) Pacific 5) Cavalry 6) Halifax 7) Edmonton i would put hfx over cavalry personally but it's kind of a coin flip between them and Pacific. the line between 4 and 6 seems very small to me at least. also I'd go york over valour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deschamp86 Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 My personal power rankings following this weeks signings (Note that I added Ottawa in as well for comparison's sake) 1. Forge FC (Because of all the high level Sigma signings, they should hit the ground running. Kyle Bekker looks to be one, if not the top midfielder in the league, while Achinioti-Jonsson sounds like an interesting signing that could pay off as well. Biggest question mark is Owundi) 2. Ottawa Fury (They have added a few known quantities from USL over the offseason and will probably be the easiest team to gauge as almost all of their players have played at the USL level already) 3. Pacific FC (Should have good chemistry since the majority of them will have played for Whitecaps 2. Last time around in USL Whitecaps 2 were not great, but since they were so young I expect that two years will have made a big difference. Either way they will have no trouble at all filling the 1,000 minutes for U21 players rule, probably within the first few games. I expect Marcus Haber to win, if not be in the running, for the Golden Boot) 4. FC Edmonton (Adding a mixture of academy players plus previous NASL players will help them understand what Paulus wants to implement, however at this point their academy players, however the reliance on academy players that have never played at the next level prevents them from going over the top at this point) 5. Cavalry FC (Cavalry has built a nice base by building a team around the former PDL champions. That said, PDL teams usually struggle against USL opposition in the US Open Cup, so that could indicate that more quality will need to be added. Jordan Brown and a healthy Nik Ledgerwood should help) 6. York 9 FC (I originally thought that York 9 would be one of the top teams, but at this point I think that Brennan is underestimating the quality of the league and putting an over reliance on L1O players. There are definitely gems to be found there, but beyond Porter, Thompson and Aparicio, no one else really has experience at a higher level. Murofushi could be a wild card though) 7. Valour FC (Look to have built a solid base thus far in the back with Murrell, Thomas, and Farago. Think that Sacramento and Carreiro will be interesting attacking pieces. At this point they do have a lot of young players though, so I could see them jumping up a few spots by adding a few more experienced veterans) 8. HFX Wanderers (Very young team, very few players that have been tested at a level comparable to USL. I am not especially overwhelmed by their international signings to date (Though in fairness it isn't easy to find a ton of information on them, stats wise). Looking likely to win the wooden spoon at this point unless a few more known quantities are added) marauder01 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dyslexic nam Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 What will actually be interesting is to compare the projections with the table about 8 to 10 weeks into the season. To me, ranking them right now is basically throwing darts given how little we know about many players and how hard it is to compare some of their current/past levels - so it will be interesting to see how accurate (or not) people are. garmc 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ansem Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 (edited) Ottawa's in CPL? Way too early to make rankings and I don't think Ottawa is that strong after all the guys they let go. I still remember how AS Blainville took it to them in game 1 with their former "full" roster. Edited February 1, 2019 by Ansem ted 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deschamp86 Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 47 minutes ago, dyslexic nam said: What will actually be interesting is to compare the projections with the table about 8 to 10 weeks into the season. To me, ranking them right now is basically throwing darts given how little we know about many players and how hard it is to compare some of their current/past levels - so it will be interesting to see how accurate (or not) people are. Futile, but fun nonetheless 2 minutes ago, Ansem said: Ottawa's in CPL? ? First line, in brackets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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