Busy Toronto Sports Day

Yesterday was an interesting day for Toronto sports.

The first news of Phil Kessel re-signing with the Leafs broke, and now it seems like it will be an 8 year deal at 8 million per year. That's big money but he's also the big name player for this team so I don't feel strongly either way about the deal. It makes sense, offer him some more cash so he doesn't test the market.

The news of a roof at BMO field broke this past weekend (funny enough, I first saw the news on TV while eating a post TFC-game burrito in liberty village) and I've been looking for a good reaction from both supporters and non-supporters with very little luck. The main concern is that the cost will be passed on via increases to ticket prices.
Personally, I like BMO a lot. It's not the fanciest stadium, nor is it state of the art. I get it, Tim Leiweke wants to make TFC one of the premier clubs in MLS. TFC already has a great academy set up and now they want to make BMO one of the best grounds. I just don't think MLSE needs to spend 100 million on a roof at BMO. For that money they could build a new stadium and leave BMO to the city and the Argos.
If BMO gets a glass roof, I won't really care (assuming that the glass won't obstruct the scenery surrounding BMO) but I think that BMO is unique in the sense that the stadium is an addition to the exhibition grounds as opposed to being a stadium built on a plot of land that was designated for a stadium. At certain times over the summer you get to see the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) in the background and other times you can hear the music coming from the Molson Amphitheater across the street or even seeing the Honda Indy being set up. It's really cool how the different events of the year take place around this stadium and putting a roof on the stadium could block all that out. Not to mention the view of the CN Tower rising up over the east side stands. BMO field; for all it's plumbing issues in cold weather and it's "lack of amenities" (which, I would argue are just fine) is a unique little stadium in a prime spot and I really don't want to see the experience compromised.
Don't get me wrong, I understand that the concern is when it is raining no one is coming to the games, but frankly I don't care. I'm a half season ticket holder since season 2. I know that come rain or shine the real supporters of TFC will be in attendance regardless.
I love BMO. Don't change it just for the sake of saying "we have a roof".

Then we got the news about Drake and the Raptors yesterday. 
Frankly, I'm not a huge basketball fan. I enjoy going to games as I feel basketball is a much better in-stadium game than it is on TV but I really dislike how the NBA has become a league of guys grouping together via free agency and trying to win championships all together in the city that is the flavor of the week. First it was Boston, then Miami and now, Brooklyn.
Part of the reason it is Brooklyn, at least it is apparent that the Raptors believe, is due to Jay-Z's involvement with getting the Nets out of New Jersey. I'm not so naive to think that it didn't play a part but then again Jay-Z was also a part owner.
Drake is not.
Drake is a famous rapper that happens to be from Toronto and goes to a fair amount of games. That's it. Are the Lakers giving Jack Nicolas an undefined role as "Global Ambassador" because he has season tickets? Come on. This is so stupid. Drake isn't going to be negotiating contracts or trying to make trades. Masai Ujiri is.
Look, I get it. The MLSE wants to turn the Raptors around because, outside of a few years when Vince Carter was around, this team has been nothing but a joke. So how do you do that? You win. You don't bring on a famous rapper, your don't change the team's name (thank goodness that isn't happening) and, you don't try to make the future all about hosting an all-star game (which Toronto will do in 2016). Congrats on getting the all-star game, but you don't make that the biggest deal for basketball in Toronto since the team came to town.
I'm glad Drake wants to see the Raptors win. So do I and, I bet so do many other people out there. Do I deserve a job with the Raptors because of that? No, because I don't know enough about basketball.
Frankly, I'm embarrassed (as a big sports fan who is a resident of the GTA and supports Toronto's teams) about the publicity stunt pulled yesterday. If it wasn't enough only last week Drake was on ESPN's First Take and said (and I quote) "That's my team. I'm always there, I'm always supporting" in reference to Miami. LAST WEEK!!!!
Stupid.

Those are my rants for today. Surprisingly it was not the Leafs that got me going today. Drop me a comment if you agree or disagree, I'd love to hear the opinions out there.

Beast Unleashed; Rob Collins and Josh McQuade

As we get closer and closer to the start of the hockey season the Beast are announcing signing after signing. Today I'm bringing 2 profiles at you as today is another Free Agent Friday and the Beast will be announcing 2 more signing later today.
Another quick side note, the Brampton Beast and Oscar's Road House (a restaurant in Brampton) revealed the "Beast Burger" this past week. It's a 40oz patty on a bun that is roughly as much bread as a loaf of bread. The toppings include onion rings, peameal bacon and of course, a side of fries (not that you need them!). That's a massive burger!

Josh McQuade:

Josh is a 24 year old right winger from Grimsby, Ontario. He stands at 5'10, weighs 185 pounds and, shoots right.

Josh's road to becoming a Beast started in with the junior Hamilton Bulldogs in AAA hockey where he scored 43 points in 47 games. Enough to get him drafted by the Peterborough Petes. It was 2007/08. He only played one game with the Petes (scoring 1 goal) but he went down to the Newmarket Hurricanes for the season and in 47 games he scored 60 points with 49 penalty minutes.

For 2008/09 Josh moved to the Hamilton Red Wings (Who eventually became what is now the Erie Otters). He played 39 games scoring 80 points and 132 PIM before jumping from the OHL to the QMJHL. In the "Q" he played with the Gatineau Olympiques for 24 games, totalling 11 points and 12 PIM. He also was a part of the playoff run for Gatineau. In 10 games he scored 4 points and 4 PIM.

2009/10 involved a move to Junior B. He played for the Brantford Golden Eagles (Now the Caledonia Corvairs) and in 51 games he scored an incredible 150 points and 80 PIM. The Golden Eagles went to the playoffs and in 16 games Josh scored 26 points and 60 PIM.

In 2010/11 Josh took his skills to the University of Western Ontario. Josh only played 14 games for the Mustangs but scored 12 points and 10 PIM. The playoffs that year only lasted 8 games but in those 8 games Josh scored 9 points and 6 PIM.

Finally, some stability in his hockey career came from the Fayetteville FireAntz. He spent 2011/12 and 2012/13 with the Southern Professional Hockey League club. (A theme that seems to be growing with the Beast as head coach Mark DeSantis was head coach of the FireAntz). In 2 seasons with the FireAntz Josh scored 127 points and 94 PIM. The "Antz" did not make the playoffs in 2011/12 but they did in 2012/13. They only played 2 games but in those games Josh obtained 2 assists. 2012/13 was also the year that the FireAntz made Josh an assistant captain. 2012/13 was a great year as Josh was also named to the SPHL 1st team all-stars, he scored the most goals in the league and he scored the most points in the league.

Looking at Josh's resume, it's easy to see that coach DeSantis will be looking to Josh to be putting points up for the Beast this year.

Rob Collins:

Rob is a 35 year old who plays both right wing and center from Edmonton, Alberta. He stands at 5'10 and weight 172 pounds.

Rob's career started at university. He played for Ferris State University of the NCAA in Big Rapids, Michigan. From the 1998/99 season to the 2000/01 season Rob scored 75 points and 76 penalty minutes over 109 games. The 2001/02 season was a big one for Rob. He was named assistant captain for the university. He scored 48 points and 23 PIM over 36 games and, was named to the NCAA first team all-stars. He was also a finalist for the Hobey Baker award (for the top NCAA player).
All these accolades landed Rob a contract as an undrafted free-agent with the New York Islanders. He ended up getting 5 games in 2001/02 with the Grand Rapids Griffins where he scored 2 assists.

Rob played his first full season in the AHL in 2002/03. In 73 games he scored 31 points and 16 PIM. The Griffins went to the playoffs as well and in 15 games he scored 11 points and 40 PIM. The Griffins won their division that year.

In 2003/04 the Islanders changed their AHL affiliation to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Rob spent all of 2003/04 and 2004/05 with the Sound Tigers. Over that time he played 153 games and scored 94 points with 109 PIM. The Sound Tigers made the playoffs in 2003/04 and in 7 games Rob scored 8 points and 10 PIM. Unfortunately there was no playoff appearance in 2004/05.

2005/06 Was the big year for Rob. He played 8 games for the Islanders that year. His first goal was on December 9 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Over those 8 games he only scored that 1 goal and 1 assist. Both on that night against the Leafs. He spent the rest of the season with the Sound Tigers. In those 67 games he scored 69 points and 54 PIM. The Sound Tigers returned to the playoffs that season and in 7 games Rob scored 6 points and 10 assists.

Rob would move "across the pond" to Germany and the Deutsche Eishockey Liga for the 2006/07 season. He signed with the DEG Metro Stars who played in Dusseldorf (The team is now known as Dusseldorfer EG). He played 5 seasons with the club, the final season being the 2010/11 season. In those 5 seasons he played 255 games scoring 245 points and 319 PIM during the regular season. Although he never won a league championship the Metro Stars went to the playoffs every years Rob was a part of the team. In his 45 playoff games he scored 33 points and 44 PIM.

Rob moved to the Hamburg Freezers for the 2011/12 and 2012/13 seasons. For the 2012/13 season he was the team's assistant captain. In his 87 games with the Freezers he scored 60 points and 82 PIM. The Freezers, much like the Metro Stars, made the playoffs both seasons Rob was playing for them. In his 11 playoff games with the Freezers he scored 8 points and 20 PIM.

Clearly Rob has a wealth of experience and I expect that will be a big part of his contribution to the Beast this season.

The Argos to Move to BMO?

Could the Double Blue Come to BMO?

I need to say one thing first.
I love Canadian football. When people start talking about how "it's not as good as the NFL" I'm the first to explain that the CFL comes from the rugby roots and that it's actually much more "pure" than the NFL version is (at least in terms of to sport of football evolving from ruby). I still like the NFL but I feel the CFL is a more entertaining game.

The Toronto Argonauts are, and always have been, my team in the CFL. From my early teens when Pinball and Flutie were kicking butt to the surprise season of 2004 to the resurgence of the team the past couple of seasons.

That said the Argos DO NOT belong at BMO field.
In order to accommodate the Argos you would need to:

A) Essentially demolish a whole side of the stadium and rebuild it further out (I assume the east stands).You will also need to do the same with the north or south end to make the field longer.

B) The field will need to go back to turf. Tim Leiweke mentioned that currently BMO holds rugby matches and that Stubhub Stadium in LA also held football games. That's fine but not comparable. Those are once, maybe twice a year type of events. The CFL is a full 18 game season (9 home games) which run at the same time as MLS does. Not to mention any games that the Canadian national soccer teams may play. That's a lot of wear and tear on the grass.

C) Add more seating. It's too small. BMO holds 22 thousand. Outside of 8 seasons since 1959 the Argos average attendance has been higher than 22 thousand. It doesn't make sense to be moving to a smaller stadium!!!

Honestly, it drives me crazy. Yes the Roger's Centre is too big for the Argos (It's too big for the Jays too for that matter) and the likelihood of replacing the dome seems very small as Rogers has been putting money into upgrading it but I just don't think BMO is a fit for the Argos.
I realize that the Argos need something smaller than the Roger's Centre. I also would like to see an outdoor stadium for the Argos maybe something that seats 35 thousand and can expand for Grey Cup games or big CIS games but that's not the point. The point is that the Argos do not belong in BMO Field.

Beast Unleashed: Tylor Michel

Tylor (right) in Sweden

Before the Beast announce more player signings tomorrow I wanted to get up a bio on Tylor Michel.

Tylor is a 29 year old centre who is from Sudbury, Ontario.

Tylor started his career in the Mid-Western Junior Hockey League which was a Junior B level league. It is now a division in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (as of 2007). Tylor played for the Owen Sound Greys for both the 2002/03 and 2003/04 seasons.
In his time with Owen Sound he scored 54 goals, 77 assists and, 221 penalty minutes.

After his time in Owen Sound was over it was off to school for Tylor. He attended Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. During his first 3 season at the university (2004/05 to 2006/07) he scored 17 goals, 21 assists and, 39 PIM over 86 games.

2007/08 was a little different for Tylor. He played 37 games for Wayne State (22 points and 94 PIM) and ended up signing with the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL. He played 4 games in the regular season (2 assists, 6 PIM) and went on to the playoffs where he played 6 more games and got 4 PIM.

In 2008/09 the Condors gave Tylor a full season to show them what he is made of. In 64 regular season games he scored 8 goals, 16 assists and, 60 PIM. The Condors would again make the playoffs and in 4 games Tylor played 4 games and got 4 PIM.

For 2009/10 Tylor headed off to the United Kingdom to play in the Elite Ice Hockey League for the Cardiff Devils. He spent both 2009/10 and 2010/11 with the Devils and scored 47 goals, 65 assists and, 283 PIM in 121 regular season games. Both seasons the Devils went to the playoffs. in 8 playoff games Tylor score 4 goals, 3 assists and, 6 PIM.

In 2011 Tylor moved to Sweden to play for IF Bjorkloven.
This was an interesting situation as the team he was moving to was ready to be promoted to division 1  in Sweden for the 2010/11 season but, due to financial issues the team had to declare bankruptcy. As a result of this the Swedish Ice Hockey Association relegated IF Bjorkloven to the 3rd division. Going into 2011/12 the team was finally allowed to move to division 1. So Tylor was joining a team that jumped up 2 divisions for 2011/12. As for Tylor, he scored 29 points and 110 PIM over his 36 games in Sweden. He was also the most penalized player in the league. In the Kval, a round robin tournament in Sweden to determine what division the clubs play in the next season,  Tylor scored 2 goals, 3 assists and , 6 PIM over 5 games.

2012/13 brought Tylor back to the U.K. and the Eilte Ice Hockey League to play for the Sheffield Steelers. In 59 games he scored 24 goals, 27 assists and, 139 PIM. The playoffs only brought 2 games for Tylor but he scored 2 goals, 1 assist and, 4 PIM. This year the Steelers also competed in the Challenge Cup. It is a side tournament that the EIHL hosts. In 6 games there Tylor scored 3 goals, 3 assists and, 38 PIM.

Tylor is coming back home for 2013/14 to play for the Beast and hopefully can mesh well with a player like Jason Pitton who also spent time in the EIHL.

Michael Couch

As the days and weeks continue to pass, the roster continues to fill out for the Brampton Beast.
The Beast added Michael Couch recently. Couch is a 30 year old defenseman from Hanna, Alberta who stands at 6'4".

Mike started his career in the QMJHL with the Halifax Mooseheads. Couch spent the 2000/01 and 2001/02 seasons with Halifax and played 102 games with the team, scoring 4 goals and 13 assists and added 181 penalty minutes. During the playoffs Mike got in 15 games with 2 points and 6 penalty minutes.

In 2002/03 he was traded to the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and he also spent 2003/04 with the Huskies. Over those 2 seasons he played 133 games and scored 47 points. He also amassed 250 PIM. He also had a chance to play in the playoffs both years, a total of 15 games with 7 points and 35 PIM.

After his time in major junior was over Mike headed to St. Thomas University and played 2 seasons in the CIS while majoring in economics. His 2 years in Fredericton, New Brunswick (where the university is located) saw him playing 55 games and scoring 12 points and 24 PIM.

With his time in university completed Mike headed over to Italy to start his professional career. He played for the no longer existent club HC All Stars Piemonte which was a tier 2 club that was created to develop younger players in the Turin area. He spent 1 season with the club in which he played 21 games, scoring 2 goals, 8 assists and, 42 PIM.

Mike came back to North America after that season in Italy and signed with the Mississippi Sea Wolves in the ECHL for the 2007/08 and 2008/09 seasons. In 81 games with the Sea Wolves Mike scored 21 points and received 168 PIM. Unfortunately the Sea Wolves only made the playoffs in 2007/08 but in those 4 games Mike scored a goal and ended up with 10 penalty minutes.

At the end of 2009 the Sea Wolves folded and Mike signed on with the Gwinnett Gladiators. He only spent 11 games with the Gladiators (no points, 18 PIM) before being moved to the Johnstown Chiefs. He had much better luck with the Chiefs playing 60 games during the 2009/10 season. He scored 1 goal, 10 assists and, 84 PIM.

The Chiefs packed up after the 2010 season and moved to Greenville, South Carolina but Mike did not make the move with the team. It was at this point which he signed on with his first Central Hockey League team. The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs. During the 2010/11 season he played 54 games and totaled 1 goal, 6 assists and, 55 PIM. The Mudbugs went on to the CeHL playoffs and in 21 games he ended up with 8 assists and 22 PIM. The Mudbugs won the league championship that year (the Ray Miron President's Cup)! Strangely enough, 2 weeks later the Mudbugs would cease operations.

Mike signed on, along with 2 former Mudbug team mates, with the Rapid City Rush for 2011/12. A 58 game season consisted of 5 goals and 16 assists. Add to that 53 penalty minutes. The team played 6 playoff games which saw Mike obtain 1 assist. This was his highest scoring year as a professional and as a result the Rush offered him a contract extension for the 2012/13 season. During the '12/13 season Mike scored 2 goals and 12 assists with 34 PIM. The Rush went back to the playoffs and again lost in 6 games. Mike also ended up with 1 assist.

Hopefully the reunion with coach Mark DeSantis (who coached Mike in 2011/12 in Rapid City)  will mean big things for the Beast this year.

Get Use to It.

"Get used to it".

That's the words uttered by TFC President Kevin Payne on Wednesday night. To be fair, the exact quote was "They should get used to it. We're gonna play these games. I don't think it's a detriment". This was the response to TSN's Jason DeVos and his questions at half time regarding the fact that the TFC supporter's groups were strongly against this friendly game being played against AS Roma of the Italian Serie A.

Look, I get it. Bring in the big club to sell tickets to people who might like the big name teams from around the world but don't necessarily like MLS. I also get that you want TFC to play these games (as opposed to getting 2 big name teams to come in and just selling tickets to that game). You want the people who wouldn't normally buy TFC tickets to see the team and think "yeah, maybe I will check out a TFC game after all".

The problem is this: you can't just tell a whole group of people (who make up most of your season seat holders by the way) "too bad, it's happening, deal with it" and expect them not to be upset. The team has never made the playoffs and outside of 1 season, hasn't even been close. There has been many rumors about behind the scenes issues and plenty of mismanagement. Not to mention there have been plenty of players that have been mediocre at TFC but once they moved on, they seemed to preform much better. TFC is a club that is a complete mess. No other way to describe it. So to tell your dwindling season ticket base to "get used to it" is just detrimental. Here's, in my humble opinion, the worst part. This game was jammed in the middle of a short week for TFC. TFC played this past Sunday and will play again on Saturday. To boot, TFC is on a little 2 game win streak in MLS (though as a fan, it feels like much more than a "little" win streak) and I'm worried that the messed up training schedule and the loss to Roma might take the wind out of their sails.

End of the day, these are going to happen. It's an attempt to get more people to come out to the park and watch MLS games. I think that's not going to change anytime soon. I have "gotten used to it". I just don't go because I like to watch MLS, Canadian Championship or, Concacaf Champion's league games. Kevin Payne, I've gotten used to it. All you needed to admit that this could have been scheduled at a better time. I hope you "get use" to less and less people coming to games because a stupid comment like that will not help your case.

The Next 4

Last night MLS commissioner Don Garber announced that MLS will expand to 24 teams by 2020.
So that begs the question: which 4 cities will it be? Let me first say, I'd love to see Canada (the likelihood is that it would be Ottawa) get another team but I highly doubt that will happen. I also think San Diego is a great market for MLS, but I'm confidant that Chivas USA will end up there. Hopefully with new ownership and a complete re-brand. So those 2 market are off the list.
With that said: Here is the 4 markets I think MLS should expand to.

Orlando: Orlando City FC have been a success in the USL since their entry in 2010. The club has loyal supporters, they've been good on the field and, the ownership has been trying to get a 20,000 seat soccer specific stadium build in an attempt to get to MLS. MLS also folded their Florida state teams in 2001 and have been wanting back in the state and this market is the closest to being ready for MLS in Florida.

Atlanta: Since 1995 the Silverbacks have been in Atlanta. So right off the bat, like Portland and Seattle, there is a proven history of being able to sustain a franchise in the market. In 2006 the Silverbacks built their own stadium (currently 7,500 seating)  that has been designed to expand seating up to 15,000. The complex includes a several international sized practise fields, a club house, pool and, fitness center. So they are all ready to go for MLS they just need to expand the stadium. Another side point is that Atlanta is the biggest media market without an MLS team.

Minneapolis-St. Paul: It's been a little bit of a weird history in Minneapolis for soccer. In 1990 the Minnesota Thunder were founded and played in the USL-1 (which was teir 2 at the time) when the USL was shutting down and making way for the new NASL the Minnesota Thunder folded. Luckily, NSC Minnesota (a completely different franchise) came to be. in 2011, the team was going to be operated by the NASL (as opposed to the National Sports Center). 2012 saw the team name change to the Minnesota Stars and they became NASL champions. Most recently the team has been sold to private ownership and has been renamed Minnesota United FC. There is no soccer specific stadium large enough in the area at this time, which might be a problem for MLS but it's clear that since 1990 tier 2 soccer has been in the area and I'm sure that MLS would do well in the twin cities.

Carolina: Another city that has proved they like soccer. The Railhawks have been playing since 2007 and have developed rivalries with the Rochester Rhinos, Atlanta Silverbacks,Charleston Battery and, Puerto Rico Islanders. Their home field, WakeMed Soccer Park, is a 10,000 seat stadium that could easily be redeveloped into a larger stadium for MLS. All the ingredients are there.

That said, David Beckham has been rumored to  be taking meetings in Miami about the possibility of getting an expansion club in Miami (Beckham was promised that he could have an MLS club when he retired as part of his MLS contract) so I wouldn't be surprised to see a club in that market either.

Possible MLS Locations