Hasal's head finally clearing but future for Caps' goalie still cloudy
It takes a certain type of personality to play goal in soccer.
Cool but aggressive. Loud, but one who speaks loudest through actions.
“I think every position has to have its own kind of bravery, but when you've got us putting our heads where guys put their feet, people call it a bit crazy,” said Vancouver Whitecaps goalie Thomas Hasal.
It was exactly that kind of moment of insanity which ended a breakthrough season for Hasal, who threw caution to the wind pursuing a dropped 60th minute corner kick against Real Salt Lake on Sept. 19, and an equally reckless — some could say intentional — boot to the head from Kyle Beckerman that left the Caps' keeper with a season-ending concussion.
Hasal passed the on field protocols and stayed through the end of the game while Beckerman was ejected for a second yellow-card offence after a video check. Vancouver won it in their usual fashion, being outshot 25-8 but claiming a 2-1 victory, with Hasal making three saves.
“I know when I got hit, I felt the impact on top of my head, and obviously I was tender there,” said the 21-year-old Saskatoon native, who says he's about “80 per cent” and is currently rehabbing in Vancouver with team medical staff.
“It wasn't even at that point, but later it was like the lights were weird, things were a bit foggy, and it was like I wasn't really there. Later in the flight I started getting headaches. The next few days it was like `OK, something's not right.'”
Hasal had been dealing with a stress fracture in his left tibia all season, and with that injury flaring up it made the decision to shut him down for the season even easier.
Hasal had started the year as the No. 3 keeper behind Max Crepeau and Bryan Meredith. At the MLS is Back Tournament in Florida, Meredith had to leave the bubble after his mother died, but when Crepeau suffered an season-ending injury himself against the Seattle Sounders, Hasal stepped into the breach and stoned the defending champions the rest of the way. It was a surprise to everyone except him.
“I've been playing football for 18 years of my life at this point. It's what I've done throughout the Academy, with the youth national teams, so when I got a chance to play, it was just like playing another game,” said the 6-3 Hasal.
“And in the moment you definitely don't take it as a surprise because you're just doing what you've done this whole time. But it was cool, it was different, because now you got a bit of recognition from it.”
His star continued to wax as he strung together a 239-minute scoreless streak and filled a season's worth of highlights. His first career MLS start was a 2-0 win over the Chicago Fire, backstopping Vancouver into the knockout round at the MiB tourney. He took Sporting Kansas City to penalty kicks, only losing to the Shootout Whisperer, Tim Melia, who has yet to lose a shootout in five tries.
The Caps were on a two-game win streak after the RSL game. Without Hasal the next game, against LAFC, they lost 6-0.
The team took no chances with Hasal's future, paying for a premium-priced keeper in Montreal's Evan Bush — his $294,000 salary is only exceeded by six other MLS goalkeepers — to be the No. 1. It leaves the Caps with an embarrassment of riches at the position; Crepeau, the team's 2019 MVP; Bush, two years removed from being one of the top keepers in MLS; and Hasal, the heir apparent.
Whitecaps CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster has said there is a plan in place for next season, but that road map has several different exits. There is a strong possibility Hasal could be loaned out next season, but the Whitecaps have to think carefully about how that plays out.
The recently released CONCACAF World Cup qualifying schedule could see Canada, and by extension, Crepeau, play 20 games between now and next March. The summer could see Hasal potentially be part of the Canadian Olympic squad for the Summer Games in Tokyo.
And then there is the general uncertainty of how the COVID-19 pandemic will affect the season or the roster.
“I want to play. And if I don't get the chance to play here, I want to play wherever I am,” he said. “As a goalkeeper, you want to prove everything. At this point in my career, I need minutes, I need games, I need to get experience.”