When this site started out, you could count on an ELO ranking of the top teams in Canada. It was a long and painful process to put it together and required a few adjustments along the way. The rankings fell by the wayside as things became busy, on field, on the site, and in this author’s personal life. I’m pleased to say that I’ve been able to put together an ELO snapshot of the top teams of 2016, with all teams having been reset as of the beginning of the season.

Since there is no binding tournament to help determine the starting rankings between different divisions, some loose numbers were first determined. MLS, NASL and USL were easy, being the top leagues in Canada & the United States. PLSQ, L1O & PDL are more or less on-par at this point, although PLSQ seems to be a slight step below. I’ve given these three leagues the same starting ranks. Finally, the Pacific Coast Soccer League (PCSL) was included with a low base-level that I still think may be higher than they’ve earned. From there, it was a long series of number crunching including all the matches in those leagues, the Amway Canadian Championship and the US Open Cup, in order to come up with the current rankings.

Top of the heap: Toronto FC (MLS 1418.112). This year Toronto FC has done a phenomenal job to keep above the MLS starting average (1400). Vancouver Whitecaps (MLS 1404.383) are in second, with the Montreal Impact being the only Canadian MLS team to sit below the league’s average (1390.139). The NASL’s leader is FC Edmonton (#4 NASL 1223.486), while the USL is led by Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 (#5 USL 1050.281).

Rounding out the top of lower divisions, we have Vaughan Azzurri (#9 L1O 917.017), Lakeshore SC (#15 PLSQ 905.757), and K-W United (#17 PDL 902.495), all of whom are above their respective league starting average of 900. The Thunder Bay Chill (#23 PDL 900.00) are the only team among these 3 leagues yet to play. The Victoria Highlanders (#29 PDL 894.734) were the subject of another team’s forfeit, but I elected to maintain the score of the match when calculating their ratings since the league-forced forfeiture did not actually affect the match in question (as the additional registered over-23 players were not on the bench or in the match).

Similarly, in the PCSL, their top-ranked team is currently Penticton (#38 PCSL 802.250), although no team in the PCSL has played more than 2 matches, and Kamloops Heat has yet to play this season.

Expect updates on this list over the course of the season. I’m very happy to return with this feature and with some Victoria Highlanders home-match coverage. If you have questions about my methodology or would like a copy of the Excel workbook that I’m using for these statistical calculations, I will be happy to provide. Feel free to e-mail or post your request.

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Shawn Gray Shawn Gray, father of two, has had a varied background, reflecting a life dedicated to learning and exploration. Having spent time living in 7 distinct cities of various sizes and character, Shawn adapts to his location and always aims to make the best of any situation. While in Ottawa, Shawn fell in love with Ottawa Fury FC, which led to him writing soccer-related articles for Northern Starting Eleven. A brief relocation to Victoria, British Columbia, gave him the opportunity to cheer on Victoria Highlanders FC. He stepped in to acquire NSXI in October 2016 and recruited additional authors from across the country to write about the soccer teams they love. Recently, Shawn returned to Greater Sudbury, Ontario. Employed as an Administrative Assistant, he continues to own & edit articles on the NSXI Network while cheering on his favourite teams from afar.

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