Travel for January 30 Canada match

[CCrTFC]

I don't see why they shouldn't get down there as early as possible; getting acclimated to Central American weather is what is most important for this window.  Half the squad will be used to playing in winter and the other half will be in the off-season. The sun there is no joke. Consider it the TFC/MTL CCL approach if you will. 

[Califax]

Totally agree re: weather. 

I guess I've been apprehensive since half the squad got the "flu" in 2012 and now travel with their own personal chef. 

 

[narduch]

I don't think the weather is as oppressively hot in either El Salvador or Honduras in late January/early February 

[dyslexic nam]

4 hours ago, SkuseisLoose said:

What a joke if they play the game in Toronto/Hamilton. Yeah it's not about touring the country but than why not play in Montreal at least if it's going to be in the east so a different set of fans get a chance to support the team. Also they'll have to fly back and forth from Vancouver once so I don't see the problem with the extra 1.5hrs of flight time.

But isn’t that exactly the sort of “touring around” that Herdman is talking about?   All you did was pick a different city.  

[dyslexic nam]

4 hours ago, Footscray said:

Little bigger stadium and partially covered stands in Ottawa.  Also further from the border.  But yeah usually damned cold then

I don't think the Bills game will make much difference, we're not talking about casuals coming up in January, there are 8 MLS teams within a half day's drive of Hamilton and it would be the fan club/ultras people who would be willing to make the pilgrimage plus hardcores without a club from places like Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh etc

So if the air temp is below -20 or there is a big storm at a time of year when it is completely reasonable to expect it and ref declares unplayable conditions, will we forfeit or will game be rescheduled?  I know in past instances of rain like Poland-England the games usually get rescheduled but I think it's fair to say that was unforeseeable by the scheduling FA and I don't know if Canada can make same claim.

I think playing in terrible conditions at an outdoor facility in January makes sense to me in only one scenario.  Canada uses a split squad and the main team stays in CA.  You don't expose your players to +20, -20, +20 and you are playing a B side in Hamilton so you want to stifle the USA and reduce the ability to use skill.  But only able to name finite number of players so 5 or 6 guys would need to fly still

There is no way in hell we play a B team at home against the US.  We just beat Mexico.  We will be looking at the US game as an opportunity for points.  

[CCrTFC]

51 minutes ago, narduch said:

I don't think the weather is as oppressively hot in either El Salvador or Honduras in late January/early February 

November to April is their "summer" or dry season, with April being the hottest.

[Canucklehead69]

6 hours ago, Footscray said:

Little bigger stadium and partially covered stands in Ottawa.  Also further from the border.  But yeah usually damned cold then

I don't think the Bills game will make much difference, we're not talking about casuals coming up in January, there are 8 MLS teams within a half day's drive of Hamilton and it would be the fan club/ultras people who would be willing to make the pilgrimage plus hardcores without a club from places like Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh etc

So if the air temp is below -20 or there is a big storm at a time of year when it is completely reasonable to expect it and ref declares unplayable conditions, will we forfeit or will game be rescheduled?  I know in past instances of rain like Poland-England the games usually get rescheduled but I think it's fair to say that was unforeseeable by the scheduling FA and I don't know if Canada can make same claim.

I think playing in terrible conditions at an outdoor facility in January makes sense to me in only one scenario.  Canada uses a split squad and the main team stays in CA.  You don't expose your players to +20, -20, +20 and you are playing a B side in Hamilton so you want to stifle the USA and reduce the ability to use skill.  But only able to name finite number of players so 5 or 6 guys would need to fly still

Bills game would only matter by making the border opressively shitty to cross by land if they time it wrong.

Is the thought process of Hamilton that you can maybe add a bunch of endzone seats? Why not just go skydome at that point and have the Edmonton price point in an attempt to get the Jose Bautista batflip type of crowd that made the rangers shit themselves

 

 

[Canucklehead69]

6 hours ago, Markoaleks said:

All for restricting US away support too- regardless of venue- can’t we simply geoblock US addresses from buying tickets till a certain date after our Canada tickets are available for sale? Or give an allocation of X to their supporters group only ? 

Making it vaccine mandatory will probably eliminate half of them on its own.

 

Easiest thing would be to make them have to scan/ enter a Canadian vax passport to get the tickets.

 

Even better then a Geo fence

Edit: you think we're just playing mind games with their fans so they can't buy the tickets early and plan the trip?

Edited November 18, 2021 by Canucklehead69

[SpursFlu]

I think the covid test requirement by our government will throw cold water on some contemplating coming up for the game. If that continues I really dont expect big numbers coming up here

Edited November 18, 2021 by SpursFlu

[Cblake]

20 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

I think the covid test requirement by our government will throw cold water on some contemplating coming up for the game. If that continues I really dont expect big numbers coming up here

You can easily get a free covid test in the US these days. Walgreens and CVS does them. I was in New York this past weekend and was able to get a free PCR test in Manhattan and got the results back in 5 hours. The US supporter base will not let this get in their way of attending. 

[EJsens1]

12 minutes ago, Cblake said:

You can easily get a free covid test in the US these days. Walgreens and CVS does them. I was in New York this past weekend and was able to get a free PCR test in Manhattan and got the results back in 5 hours. The US supporter base will not let this get in their way of attending. 

Exactly.  Feels like Vancouver would be worse for visiting fans because of the popularity and proximity with Seattle and Portland, but flights in and out of Toronto would be easier 

[nfitz]

11 hours ago, king1010 said:

I've said this multiple times. the Big O cannot be relied on in the winter. If there is over a certain accumulation of ice or snow on the roof, the government will not allow the facility to be used.

We keep hearing this. But the roof does clear quickly naturally when there is snow on it. And they do schedule events in the stadium in the winter.

There's always risk of weather issues, emergencies, civil unrest, whatever for any event. Recall that during the G20 rioting, there was talk of postponing the TFC game (in the end there was an absolutely massive police presence - and fascinating to watch the towers of smoke from burning police cars in the distance, during the game (used to have a seat at the top of 222).

 

17 hours ago, chalms04 said:

No flights from YYC to YHM presently. 😢

Fly to Pearson, take the Airport Express to Union Station - and then there's a train every hour from there to Hamilton. Or an express bus every half-hour.

I'll be on the train!

[SkuseisLoose]

8 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

But isn’t that exactly the sort of “touring around” that Herdman is talking about?   All you did was pick a different city.  

I picked a city that has about the same flight time from Europe and Central America as Toronto/Hamilton because supposedly flight time is the reason they’re not touring.

[king1010]

5 hours ago, nfitz said:

We keep hearing this. But the roof does clear quickly naturally when there is snow on it. And they do schedule events in the stadium in the winter.

There's always risk of weather issues, emergencies, civil unrest, whatever for any event. Recall that during the G20 rioting, there was talk of postponing the TFC game (in the end there was an absolutely massive police presence - and fascinating to watch the towers of smoke from burning police cars in the distance, during the game (used to have a seat at the top of 222).

 

Fly to Pearson, take the Airport Express to Union Station - and then there's a train every hour from there to Hamilton. Or an express bus every half-hour.

I'll be on the train!

Not worth the risk IMO

https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/mobile/impact-home-opener-rescheduled-to-sunday-1.1740835

[baulderdash77]

18 hours ago, pod818 said:

Someone mentioned Ottawa, TD Place Stadium. Atletico Ottawa play there, is it any worse than THF?

 

THF is a newer and state of the art stadium.  It’s used by Forge every week and regularly by Forge for CONCACAF tournaments.  It’s only 24,000 seats but it will sell out as well with good strong ticket prices.  It really ticks all the boxes.

[gator]

6 hours ago, nfitz said:

 

 

Fly to Pearson, take the Airport Express to Union Station - and then there's a train every hour from there to Hamilton. Or an express bus every half-hour.

I'll be on the train!

There is a bus that leaves Pearson for Hamilton GO Center every hour!

https://www.gotransit.com/static_files/gotransit/assets/pdf/TripPlanning/FullSchedules/05012019/Table40.pdf

Edited November 18, 2021 by gator

[gator]

10 minutes ago, baulderdash77 said:

THF is a newer and state of the art stadium.  It’s used by Forge every week and regularly by Forge for CONCACAF tournaments.  It’s only 24,000 seats but it will sell out as well with good strong ticket prices.  It really ticks all the boxes.

Nick Bontis was on local radio last night and confirmed THF is in the running to host this match, he also stated that every other large stadium in the country including Commonwealth, BC Place and BMO are as well!

[baulderdash77]

18 hours ago, boris4c said:

Hamilton is a bit warmer than Ottawa in January.

Average High

Hamilton: -0.9 °C
Ottawa: -5.8 °C

Daily Mean

Hamilton: -4.7 °C
Ottawa: -10.3 °C

Average Low: 

Hamilton: −8.5 °C
Ottawa: -14.8 °C

By the way at -15 degrees they mentioned on the broadcast that CONCACAF would consider postponing the game.  That’s going to happen on most days in Ottawa in January.  It rarely happens in Hamilton though.

Indoor is probably the best option but if we are looking at outdoor stadiums then THF or BMO are probably the only option to be honest because of the weather.

Edited November 18, 2021 by baulderdash77

[mrstepp817]

14 hours ago, dyslexic nam said:

There is no way in hell we play a B team at home against the US.  We just beat Mexico.  We will be looking at the US game as an opportunity for points.  

Its more likely the US plays a "B" squad  in the Canada game...they really need to take full points and try and run up some goal differential from the two home games...if they are going to play a rotated side it'll be in the away game IMO where you try and muck it up and escape with a draw..

 

I'll be interested to see how Herdman rotates the squad because of the heavy travel involved in the window

Edited November 18, 2021 by mrstepp817

[SpursFlu]

10 hours ago, Cblake said:

You can easily get a free covid test in the US these days. Walgreens and CVS does them. I was in New York this past weekend and was able to get a free PCR test in Manhattan and got the results back in 5 hours. The US supporter base will not let this get in their way of attending. 

I really dont think a lot of people are willing to put themselves in that position to go watch a football game. Its not worth the risk. The die hard and people with a lot of time on their hands sure but the casuals or busy people will definitely think twice. Maybe they have less hoopla surrounding having covid down there but I know I wouldn't do it

Edited November 18, 2021 by SpursFlu

[boris4c]

1 hour ago, baulderdash77 said:

THF is a newer and state of the art stadium.  It’s used by Forge every week and regularly by Forge for CONCACAF tournaments.  It’s only 24,000 seats but it will sell out as well with good strong ticket prices.  It really ticks all the boxes.

I mean, TD Place is just as good and IMO looks much better than THF, not to mention that there is a roof on both stands providing decent coverage. It was renovated a few years ago and one of the stands was torn down completely and rebuilt so it is effectively just as new. It has a slightly larger capacity than THF as well. 

The game would no doubt be a sell-out. 

The only pro in favour of Hamilton that I see is the milder winter climate. 

Edited November 18, 2021 by boris4c

[Shway]

6 minutes ago, SpursFlu said:

I really dont think a lot of people are willing to put themselves in that position to go watch a football game. Its not worth the risk. The die hard and people with a lot of time on their hands sure but the casuals or busy people will definitely think twice. Maybe they have less hoopla surrounding having covid down there but I know I wouldn't do it

Did you see the few hundred fans that were in Kingston? And that’s going to Jamaica!

I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw El Salvador like numbers of American fans if the game is in Vancouver.

 The PNW has the most dedicated fans.

[Yoginess]

I'm fully on board with us playing cat and mouse with the US and where they play their first home game. If it's in Minnesota or anywhere west of that, play it in Toronto. If it's east of that, play it in Toronto. 

EDIT: Scenario - If the US said, we're playing our first home game in Columbus (which I assume is a realistic possibility). Just in terms of travel (taking city, conditions, and what the team wants out of the equation) it better for us to play in Toronto (4.5 hour travel for Canada and 1 hour for US) or better to play in Vancouver (6 hour travel for Canada and 4.5 hours for the US).

Edited November 18, 2021 by Yoginess
scenario

[SpursFlu]

47 minutes ago, Shway said:

Did you see the few hundred fans that were in Kingston? And that’s going to Jamaica!

I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw El Salvador like numbers of American fans if the game is in Vancouver.

 The PNW has the most dedicated fans.

You just need to be vaccinated to go to Jamaica. And it's Jamaica and it's November. So in other words, how far was the stadium from club med?

Edited November 18, 2021 by SpursFlu

[Cblake]

12 minutes ago, Yoginess said:

I'm fully on board with us playing cat and mouse with the US and where they play their first home game. If it's in Minnesota or anywhere west of that, play it in Toronto. If it's east of that, play it in Toronto. 

EDIT: Scenario - If the US said, we're playing our first home game in Columbus (which I assume is a realistic possibility). Just in terms of travel (taking city, conditions, and what the team wants out of the equation) it better for us to play in Toronto (4.5 hour travel for Canada and 1 hour for US) or better to play in Vancouver (6 hour travel for Canada and 4.5 hours for the US).

I do not think it is cat and mouse with the US, it all comes down to what is best for Canada. Travel it seems has become the major consideration. I think we can all agree that playing at BC Place in January would provide the most ideal conditions but it has become clear that more is at play here.