Introduction This is the Northern 90 Podcast with Pat Sweet, Episode 22. Welcome to the Northern 90 Canadian Premier League Podcast, covering the beautiful game in the great white north. For more Canadian Premier League content, head over to Northern90.ca. That’s Northern Nine Zero dot ca. Welcome Hello, Canada, and welcome to the Northern 90 Canadian Premier League Podcast! I'm your host, Pat Sweet. In this week's episode: Recent signingsA recap of three wonder strikes this weekOneSoccer's Crew calling it an early nightMain content: the problem with the CanPL schedule Announcements AMA with Kurt Larson - https://Northern90.ca/AMALarson What it's about100 seatsJuly 25, 8PM ESTThis way, we can watch the Canadian Championship Matches Results League Play Jul 17 - Wednesday Forge 2 - 0 HFX WanderersTim Hortons Field Jul 17 - Wednesday York9 2 - 1 PacificYork Lions Stadium Jul 17 - Wednesday Edmonton 0 - 0 ValourClarke Field Jul 20 - Saturday Forge 3 - 1 ValourTim Hortons Field Jul 20 - Saturday Pacific 3 - 1 HFX WanderersWesthills Stadium Jul 21 - Sunday Cavalry 1 - 0 York9Spruce Meadows Canadian Championship Starts again this week Jul 24 - Wednesday 8:30 pm ADT CanChamp Ottawa Fury vs. HFX WanderersTD Place StadiumTICKETS Jul 24 - Wednesday 8:30 pm ADT CanChamp Montreal Impact vs. York9Stade SaputoTICKETS Jul 24 - Wednesday 11:30 pm ADT CanChamp Vancouver Whitecaps vs. CavalryBC Place StadiumTICKETS News Transfers Valour FC make another signing in Italian Striker Michele Paolucci Played most of his early career in Italy's Serie AMost recently in the Maltese Premier League with TarxienTime will tell if Paolucci is the answer to Valour's scoring woes Northern Tribune reporting that FC Edmonton is about to make a big signing https://northerntribune.ca/fc-edmonton-signing-july-2019/ OneSoccer FC Edmonton/ Valour FC game on Wednesday delayed due to severe thunderstromsOne hour delay, then eight minutes of play, then another 2 hour delayNo explanation right awayEventually came out that the call was made to keep OneSoccer staff safeHard to reconcile that with the fact that players and fans were allowed to be there.Really hope that this is part of growing pains. If you like the headlines, check out the Northern 90 Supporters Group! Next up - tackling the issue of game congestion. Game Congestion in Canadian Premier League After Forge FC's dismantling of HFX Wanderers last Wednesday, coach Hart had some pretty blunt observations to share (courtesy of The Merchant Sailor): We know things we need to work on from an individual and collective perspective, but we have no time to work on it because you have to give players time to rest, and then you have maybe a half of a training session the day before you play a team like Cavalry–or any team. So we need to sit down and talk about it. The schedule is way too compact. There are three teams that play nine games this month and one that plays ten.” We've seen plenty of players go down to injury over the last several weeks, and the fall is just getting started.Hart isn't the first to raise a flag about fixture congestion.The concern also has some sound science behind it.A 2010 study in the American Journal of Sports Medicineinvestigated the effects of playing 2 matches per week compared to oneThe study showed no real impact on gameday performance, but didshow an injury rate over six times higher when playing two games a week.So if we can agree that injuring players is bad, what do we do?Three ideas Make the season longerEliminate mid-week gamesEliminate back-to-back midweek games Longer season Pros Keep the same number of games - no lost entertainment or revenueImproves rest Cons Risky to push earlier than end of April or past early November.Wet/ cold weather would be hard on players and on grass How to make it work Focus games on artificial surfacesMLS starts in March, ends in December, though with limited games in Canada Eliminate mid-week CanPL games Pros Only 4.4 midweek games per team - not much lost gameplay24 week season with 28 season gamesCreates room for CanChampEffect of reduced attendance is minimized - poor showing during the week anywayMakes for a more balanced schedule Cons Fewer games = less revenue, less entertainmentMitigation: maybe the weekend games would be even better attended Eliminate back-to-back midweek games If we eliminated two mid-week games for each team, you could eliminate, for the most part, teams playing on short rest twice in a row.Pros Minimal impact on the seasonBetter rest Cons Fewer games [caption id="attachment_577" align="aligncenter" width="934"]An analysis of rest between games for the CanPL 2019 season.[/caption] I'd like to know what you think: is the schedule a problem? How would you fix it? Write me to let me know! Next up, the mailbag: Mailbag You know how this works - you send me mail and messages and I read every single one of them. If ...
