Says he'll be back
BY MARC WEBER
Gordon Chin proved this season that you can't question his determination.
He set about making the Whitecaps in February after a stint in China, and two months into an unconventionally long trial for head coach Teitur Thordarson, he did just that.
Then he said he'd crack the starting XI, and six weeks into the season, there he was.
So when the 5-foot-6 midfielder from Burnaby says he's hoping to be available for selection for the second leg of the USL-1 final, who's going to doubt him?
Chin suffered an MCL sprain in the Caps quarterfinal playoff opener against the Carolina RailHawks on Sept. 24.
He hasn't trained since, but Wednesday worked out with the residency team.
"I won't say that yet, that my season is over," said Chin, 26. "I'm up getting treatment every day and I'm trying to make a push for it now. Obviously everyone wants to be part of a final."
Chin has been one of the pleasant surprises of 2009. He won over fans with his work rate and aggressiveness, and late in the season showed more in attack.
He made the USL-1 Team of the Week in the final two weeks of the season.
In league, he played 1,340 minutes in 25 games, scoring once and adding four assists.
Thordarson had rookie Kenold Versailles take up Chin's spot along side Martin Nash in central midfield. But in Sunday's 3-3 tie in Portland that sent the Caps through to the final, Chris Pozniak, usually a central defender, played there.
It's Thordarson's biggest decision heading into Saturday's clash with Montreal, along with who will start on left wing if Ansu Toure (thigh) can't go.
"I think Shaun [Pejic] and Luca [Bellisomo] have been doing very well at centre back, so I don't have any plans of [putting Pozniak there]," he said. "It will be a question of whether we start with Chris or Kenold beside Nash. Chris has the experience but Kenold has been doing quite well and both have similar qualities."
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