Quintessentially Canadian Power Rankings, Week 4 By Steven Sandor Posted on March 30, 2015 3 0 797 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Kianz Froese This is a strange week for the Quintessentially Canadian Power Rankings. As MLS played through the international break, there were a few Canadians who would have been eligible for MLS minutes this week who are still with the Canadian national side, which beat Guatemala 1-0 on Friday and will play in Puerto Rico Monday night. But, with Sam Adekugbe playing the full 90 and Kianz Froese coming in as a second-half sub, the Vancouver Whitecaps padded their lead when it comes to MLS teams giving minutes to Canadian players. But one word of caution; Toronto FC has one game in hand on the Whitecaps. We also changed the way we do the list in week four. Why? We have headaches when it comes to four players. Kofi Opare got his first minutes of the season with D.C. United; but the Niagara Falls, Ont.-raised player has been with the U.S. U-20 squad, which puts into question his eligibility for Canada down the road. But D.C. United says, “on the international stage, Opare is eligible to play for the United States, Canadian and Ghanaian national teams.” Columbus Crew forward Ethan Finlay has yet to accept Canada’s overtures to join the national-squad. Tesho Akindele has not closed the door on playing for Canada, and there remains hope for Steven Vitoria playing for Canada down the road, we still count them. So, to deal with this confusion, we’ve created a NEW category for “maybes.” That is, players who aren’t sure-fire Canada-eligible players, but there still remains some hope for eligibility. MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIANS: 1. Sam Adekugbe, VAN 255 (3) 2. Jonathan Osorio, TFC 225 (3) 3. Marcel de Jong, SKC 180 (2) 4. Russell Teibert, VAN 154 (2) 5. Ashtone Morgan, TFC 122 (2) 6. Maxim Tissot, MTL 90 (1) 7. Kianz Froese, VAN 55 (2) 8. Cyle Larin, ORL 18 (1) 9. Patrice Bernier, MTL 14 (1) 10. Kyle Bekker, FCD 12 (2) 11. Jeremy Gagnon-Lapare, MTL 6 (1) MLS MINUTES BY PLAYER, THE CANADIAN MAYBES: 1. Steven Vitoria, PHI 360 (4) 2. Tesho Akindele, FCD 346 (4) 3. Ethan Finlay, CLB 233 (3) 4. Kofi Opare, DCU 85 (1) TEAM RANKINGS, MINUTES PLAYED BY CANADIANS IN 2015 (INCLUDES BOTH SUREFIRES and MAYBES): Vancouver 464 Philadelphia 360 FC Dallas 359 Toronto FC 347 Columbus 233 Sporting Kansas City 180 Montreal 110 DC United 85 Orlando City 18 Week five is where it promises to get really interesting. That’s because NASL games will start to be counted, and we can get an even better idea of which teams in North America are getting Canadians the most minutes.
