A hopecast is a prediction of an upcoming game based on the desires rather than the beliefs. The cast is the result best placed to advantage the club supported by the person making it.
A Vancouver Whitecaps hopecast is therefore the results from other games that would best benefit the Whitecaps’ aspirations.
It makes the other games more interesting as you now have a dog in the fight.
WHICECAPS FC SEPTEMBER HOPECASTS
H=Home Win A=Away Win D=Draw
Saturday, September 5, 2015
New England A Orlando
Given New England’s play off prowess, Vancouver might prefer someone else to represent the East in the post season. That said, everyone outside the top 5 there looks awful.
The lower half of the East winning also increases home advantage chances in any putative final.
Montreal A Chicago
If there’s one Eastern team that the Caps would cherish meeting in the final, it’s Montreal.
They have already dumped them out in the Voyageurs Cup and have their measure. That said, the priority must be to see as many teams in the Eastern half with less points than the Whitecaps so a Fire victory is still the preferred option. Frank Yallop could do the Whitecaps the biggest favor since he didn’t sign to be their coach!
Seattle A Toronto FC
Sounders losing at home takes significant pressure off the sides above them, including Vancouver. Although the Caps are thinking Shield; a bad run could see them grateful to have the best available seeding with the lowest points total.
TFC trail them by eight points but have two games in hand. However the picture out east is not clear enough yet to start prioritizing Shield rivals that far behind on points over Conference rivals.
San Jose A Philadelphia
This is the most important other game for Vancouver. If by some miracle, the Earthquakes mess up against the second worst team in the country with home advantage, it would be reduce the number of points Vancouver need for higher seedings. It would in fact cause jubilation throughout Cascadia. The rule that you want the East to win most inter Conference clashes only breaks down when that Eastern side is a Supporters Shield rival.
That unapplies here. With chips and ketchup.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Columbus H FC Dallas
Columbus and Dallas are both legitimate Shield rivals but Dallas have two more games in hand. So the hopecast is for a Crew victory but that might have been reversed if Dallas had fewer games to play. Dallas remain dangerous to all, but the Caps have them twice so the ball remains very much in the Vancouver court where finishing about the Texans is a factor.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Vancouver H Colorado
Ipse dixit.
Portland D Sporting KC
This was the toughest match to call. A Timbers loss probably secures the Caps playoff place and allows them to coast and juggle resources and maybe even to pull off a CCL qualification, by allocating top players to the home game with Olimpia and the short trip to Seattle.
However SKC remain Shield rivals and of course can catch Vancouver if they win their games in hand. A draw removes that latter possibility and puts the Caps back in charge of their own destiny while stripping Portland of a home game.
A draw does everything for the Whitecaps although an outright result would damage the loser more. Tough call this one but the draw removes a point from the table as two are allocated rather than three.
Best case scenario Western Conference table
| # | Club | P | PTS | W | PPG |
| 1 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 28 | 48 | 15 | 1.71 |
| 2 | LA Galaxy | 28 | 46 | 13 | 1.64 |
| 3 | FC Dallas | 26 | 41 | 12 | 1.57 |
| 4 | Sporting Kansas City | 26 | 41 | 11 | 1.57 |
| 5 | Portland Timbers | 28 | 41 | 11 | 1.46 |
| 6 | San Jose Earthquakes | 27 | 38 | 11 | 1.41 |
| 7 | Seattle Sounders FC | 28 | 38 | 12 | 1.36 |
| 8 | Houston Dynamo | 27 | 35 | 9 | 1.23 |
| 9 | Colorado Rapids | 28 | 33 | 8 | 1.18 |
| 10 | Real Salt Lake | 27 | 32 | 8 | 1.23 |
