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Soccer world loses Tony Waiters, 83, who led Canadian men to 1986 World Cup – CBC.ca

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Tony Waiters, who coached Canada in its only appearance at the World Cup and led the Vancouver Whitecaps to the North American Soccer League championship, has died. He was 83.

Waiters will be forever linked to one of Canada’s biggest soccer memories — the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. The Canadian men failed to score a goal or register a point but held their own against mighty France, Hungary and the Soviet Union.

Canada has been trying to get back to the World Cup since.

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“It’s with heavy hearts and much sadness that we must inform of the passing of our beloved Tony,” his family said in a statement Tuesday. “He achieved a great deal in his life, his legacy speaks volumes. Our family is beyond devastated with the loss of a wonderful husband and a hero of a father.”

Canada Soccer called Waiters “a tremendous ambassador for the game.”

“His passion for football and the people he touched throughout his career is unparalleled in Canada,” added former Canadian international goalkeeper Craig Forrest.

“This one hits hard. He gave so much to Canadian soccer and so much to me personally,” said former Canadian ‘keeper Paul Dolan.

“Tony was a gentleman, leader, mentor and one of the most significant people in Canada football history,” said HFX Wanderers FC coach Stephen Hart, a former Canada coach himself.

Whitecaps became sensation

Waiters, a former England goalkeeper, is also remembered as a coach who always had his teams organized and prepared.

Waiters came to Canada to coach the Whitecaps during the 1977 NASL season after being fired as manager of Plymouth Albion. At the time, he thought he might only stay for a few months.

But Canada became his home, with the Whitecaps becoming a sensation after defeating the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the 1979 Soccer Bowl.

In his first full season with the Whitecaps, Waiters led the team to a 24-6 record and the conference semifinals, good enough to earn the NASL’s Coach of the Year honours.

The ’79 championship team featured Whitecap icons Bob Lenarduzzi and Carl Valentine and big-name imports like Alan Ball, Roger Kenyon and Kevin Hector.

The Whitecaps dispatched the rock-star New York Cosmos in the ’79 playoff semifinals and then sealed the deal with a 2-1 victory over Tampa Bay at Giants Stadium before 50,699, thanks to two goals by former England international Trevor Whymark.

A crowd of 100,00-plus welcomed the team home. Vancouver was in love with the Whitecaps. But it was to mark Waiters’ swansong with the team.

“Changes were made. I ended up being the president and general manager which didn’t suit me. And so I resigned and went working for the Canadian Soccer Association.”

Family affair at World of Soccer

Waiters lived most recently on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast where he built a home three years ago.

He remained closely involved with the game. He was president of the National Soccer Coaches Association of Canada at the time of his death and served as an adviser to soccer organizations on both sides of the border. He worked with Cliff Avenue United FC, a team in Burnaby, B.C., looking for ways to bring inner-city kids to the game he loved.

He also operated World of Soccer, a long-standing company that offered a wide array of coaching manuals. It was a family affair, with wife Anne overseeing the operation and daughter Victoria handling the graphics.

“It keeps me out of mischief,” said Waiters, who also has a son, Scott

Waiters was born Feb. 2, 1937, in Southport, just north of Liverpool, on the English coast. He served in the Royal Air Force and earned his teacher’s certificate in physical education from Loughborough College.

He started his playing career as an amateur with Bishop Auckland in 1957 before moving to Macclesfield Town. But he spent the bulk of his career with Blackpool, making more than 250 appearances from 1959 to 1967.

He won five caps for England in 1964 under Sir Alf Ramsey at a time when Gordon Banks was early in his career as England No 1.

Waiters retired at 30, eventually working for England’s Football Association.

Canada reached 1984 Olympic quarter-finals

He was hired as Canada’s head coach and manager on Dec. 4, 1982, helping Canada qualify for the 1984 Olympics just 16 months later.

The Canadian men had a good run at the Los Angeles Games, eventually losing to Brazil in a penalty shootout in the quarter-finals after the game finished tied at 1-1. Waiters never forgot an offside call that cost the Canadians the go-ahead goal.

Colombia was originally slated to host the 1986 World Cup but gave way to Mexico. The U.S. failed to reach the final three-team round of CONCACAF qualifying, finishing runner-up to Costa Rica in its group.

So Canada was the only CONCACAF team to qualify, booking its ticket with a famous 2-1 win over Honduras in St. John’s, N.L., on Sept. 14, 1985.

Waiters stepped down as Canada coach after the World Cup but returned for a second stint from October 1989 through the 1991 Gold Cup. He was influential away for the pitch, using his coaching expertise with both CONCACAF and FIFA.

Waiters was awarded the Aubrey Sanford Meritorious Service Award in 1996 for outstanding service to Canadian soccer. He was inducted into the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame in 2001, the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 2019, and the Soccer Hall of Fame in British Columbia as part of its inaugural class in 2019.

He was also honoured as a Canada Soccer Life Member in May 2019.

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Allen on trade to Devils from Habs: 'Sometimes you've got to be a little bit selfish' – Yahoo Canada Sports

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Jake Allen loved being a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

The hockey-mad market, the crackling Bell Centre on a Saturday night, the Original Six franchise’s iconic logo.

The 33-year-old goaltender is also realistic.

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With the Canadiens still in full rebuild mode — and two young netminders in Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau ready for more playing time — Allen could see the writing on the wall.

Desperate for help in their own crease, the New Jersey Devils asked Montreal about the veteran’s availability. But the team, general manager Tom Fitzgerald told reporters earlier this month, was initially on Allen’s no-trade list.

There wasn’t anything the Fredericton product disliked about the organization or city. The Devils simply appeared to have their crease set for years to come.

But when the club that finished with 112 points and made the second round of the playoffs in 2022-23 was badly hampered by poor play from Vitek Vanecek, Nico Daws and Akira Schmid — each netminder owned save percentages below .900 — the Devils circled back.

And Allen had changed his tune.

“Loved my time as a Hab,” he said of pulling on Montreal’s red, white and blue threads. “I always will cherish that. Put on probably the most special jersey in hockey, in my books. But you realize in your career, it doesn’t last forever.

“You’ve got to make decisions sometimes.”

Allen, who is signed through next season, eventually agreed to a deal that sent him to New Jersey ahead of the NHL’s March 8 trade deadline for a conditional third-round pick at the 2025 draft.

Apart from playing meaningful hockey on a team trying to claw its way back into the Eastern Conference playoff race, the swap gave him more runway to get his family settled in a new city instead of waiting to see what this summer’s crowded goalie market might bring.

“Sometimes you’ve got to be a little bit selfish,” said Allen, a Stanley Cup champion with the St. Louis Blues in 2019. “Look yourself in the mirror and wonder what’s best for you and your family.”

He’s been really good for his new team.

Allen was lights out in Tuesday’s first period against the Toronto Maple Leafs, making an eye-popping 25 saves in what would turn into New Jersey’s 6-3 victory.

So far he’s 4-2-0 with a .925 save percentage and a 2.51 goals against average in six starts for the Devils, who sit five points back of the East’s second wild-card spot.

“A real pro,” said interim head coach Travis Green.

Allen is a combined 10-14-3 in 2023-24 with a .900 save percentage and a 3.39 GAA. Across his 11 seasons with St. Louis, Montreal and now New Jersey, he’s 193-164-41 with a .908 save percentage and 2.75 GAA.

“Makes the saves we need to get some momentum back,” Devils captain Nico Hischier said. “If you have a solid goalie in the net, that makes your work easier.”

Allen is also 11-12 with a .924 and a 2.06 GAA all-time in the playoffs — a good sign for his new club should New Jersey manage to make the cut.

For now, though, he’s just enjoying being back in a post-season race.

“I thought this was a good opportunity to come in the rest of this year, play some games,” Allen said.

“It’s been a good start.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2024.

___

Follow @JClipperton_CP on X.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press

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Matthews game-time decision for Maple Leafs against Capitals with illness – NHL.com

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TORONTOAuston Matthews will be a game-time decision for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Washington Capitals at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; SN1, MNMT) because of an illness.

“It’s going to be on how he feels throughout the day,” Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said.

The forward did not participate in Toronto’s morning skate. Max Domi took his place as the center on a line between Tyler Bertuzzi and Mitch Marner, a right wing recovering from a high-ankle sprain sustained March 7 and will be out the next two games.

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Matthews leads the NHL with 59 goals, one from becoming the ninth player in NHL history with at least two 60-goal seasons. He scored 60 in 73 games in 2021-22, when he won the Rocket Richard Trophy, Hart Trophy and Ted Lindsay Award. He had one goal and nine shots in 23:44 of a 6-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, which extended his point streak to five games (four goals, seven assists).

He missed one game this season with illness, a 7-0 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Dec. 16.

“Of course, it’s an adjustment when your best player is out of the lineup,” Domi said, “when anybody is out of the lineup, but I think we’ve done a great job all year of guys stepping up when they have to, and we just have to continue to do that.”

Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly will miss his second straight game with an upper-body injury.

“He just remains day to day,” Keefe said. “We’re hopeful he’s going to bounce back here. The one thing that is good is once he gets through this day or two here, it’s not going to be a lingering situation. It’s not going to be an injury that’s ongoing. Once he’s past it, he’s past it so we just need to give him some time.”

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Canucks place goalie Thatcher Demko on long-term injured list

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The Vancouver Canucks have placed all-star goalie Thatcher Demko on the long-term injured reserve list retroactively.

“It’s just cap related,” coach Rick Tocchet said after practice Wednesday. “We get some cap relief, that’s all it is.”

The 28-year-old netminder has been considered week to week since being sidelined with a lower-body injury midway through Vancouver’s 5-0 win over the Winnipeg Jets on March 9.

That injury designation hasn’t changed, Tocchet said.

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Demko boasts a 34-18-2 record this season, with a .917 save percentage, a 2.47 goals-against average and five shutouts.

Casey DeSmith has taken over the starting job for Vancouver, going 3-2-1 since Demko’s injury. He has a .899 save percentage on the season with a 2.73 goals-against average and one shutout.

The earliest Demko could be back in the Canucks’ lineup is April 6 against the Kings in Los Angeles.

He’s expected to be a key piece as Vancouver (45-19-8) prepares for its first playoff appearance since the COVID-shortened 2019-20 campaign.

Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin also announced Wednesday that the club has called up forward Arshdeep Bains from the Abbotsford Canucks of the American Hockey League.

“I’d like to see where [Bains is] at,” Tocchet said, noting he isn’t sure whether the 23-year-old winger will slot into the lineup when the Canucks host the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

WATCH | Bains makes NHL debut

 

Surrey, B.C.’s Arshdeep Bains makes Canucks debut

1 month ago

Duration 2:20

Arshdeep Bains from Surrey, B.C., has made his NHL debut with the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night against the Colorado Avalanche. As CBC’s Joel Ballard reports, it’s been a hard-fought journey for the hometown kid to the big leagues.

Bains played five games for the NHL team in February before being sent back to Abbotsford.

“He went down, he’s done a couple of things that we like, and he’s got some speed,” Tocchet said.

Vancouver may get another forward back in the lineup Thursday.

Dakota Joshua practised in a full-contact jersey on Wednesday for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in Vancouver’s 4-2 win over the Blackhawks in Chicago on Feb. 13.

The physical winger, who’s set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, has a career-high 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) this season.

Sitting out injured “hasn’t been fun,” Joshua said.

“It feels like forever,” he said. “But at this point, that’s behind me and I’m moving forward.”

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