story from the Toronto Star
Lynx are hoping youngsters will provide punch
Williams among the newcomers
Team looks to end playoff drought
Apr. 19, 2006. 01:00 AM
MORGAN CAMPBELL
SPORTS REPORTER
The Toronto Lynx hope to revitalize their roster with players like Chris Williams.
The 25-year-old midfielder has pedigree, spending part of last season in Germany. And he's competitive, saying he wants to help instil a "winning mentality" in a team that lost 16 of 28 games in the USL first division last year.
But he's also got an eye on the 2007 season.
"That MLS team is coming," he said. "And when it does, there's something to look forward to."
During yesterday's meet-the-team news conference, new Lynx head coach Duncan Wilde described how playing five of its first six games on the road will challenge his young team. Afterward, though, officials acknowledged that the Lynx's stiffest competition will come from within Toronto, when Major League Soccer fields a team here next year.
Both teams will play out of the new 20,000-seat stadium at Exhibition Place, which should open next May.
"It will stunt our growth. That's pretty clear," said Lynx co-owner Bruno Hartrell. "If you've got two pro teams competing for the soccer crowd, it stands to reason you've got to share it."
But Hartrell also thinks the new team can help his club. In a new stadium he's confident the Lynx can average 5,000 fans at home games. With an average ticket price of $8, attendance like that would mean the Lynx would break even for once.
The MLS team is also a tantalizing prospect for young Lynx players, who want more money and tougher competition, but not the hassle of travelling to play overseas.
"Everybody says they want to go to Europe, but we've got families here," said first-year Lynx player Marko Bedenikovic. The 22-year-old University of San Francisco grad spent parts of last season in Hungary and France.
Hartrell doesn't mind local players using the Lynx as a launching pad to a larger league, but he would like a formal arrangement to make the Lynx a farm team.
He hasn't talked to MLS club officials yet but thinks they'd like the idea because the league will force Toronto's team to carry Canadian players.
"It's in their best interest to develop Canadian talent," he said.
Wilde, who also coached the Lynx in 2004, will have to manage his players' ambitions while trying to resurrect a team that hasn't made the playoffs in five seasons.
The squad totalled only 17 points last year, and 31 in 2004.
"If we don't take a minimum of 32 points we'll be nowhere near the playoffs," he said.
And he hopes to reach the playoffs with a squad that retains only eight players from last year's 22-man roster.
Former national team member Tony Menezes signed with the Lynx on Monday.
In addition to Bedenikovic, high-scoring striker Jeremy Shepherd joins the Lynx from the Oakville Blue Devils.
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