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Milestones - April 20, 1980: In front of a crowd of 22,051 the Blizzard win their home opener at Exhibition Stadium 3-0 over the Rochester Lancers. Drew Busby, Ivan Lukacevic and Jomo Sono each score
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1980 - One Step Back
After qualifying for the play-offs in 1979 only to be swept by the mighty New York Cosmos 3-1 and 2-0 the Blizzard looked forward to the 1980 season. A revamped team carrying several new and younger players found themselves in second place in the Eastern Division mid-way through the season. Following two consecutive shootout over Los Angeles and San Jose, the Blizzard felt sure they were well on their way to contention for post-season play. It was not to be as an increasingly difficult schedule and a rash of injuries, particularly to new star Jose Velasquez, in the latter part of the season combined to leave the team short of the play-offs with a 14-18 record. However the season was not without its highlights. Midfield star Jomo Sono rose to world-class prominence. Selected as Molson "Player of the Year", he also received an honourary mention to the NASL All-Star Team. Peruvian international Jose Velasquez found his niche on the Blizzard midfield, while the new batch of young Canadian players began to show improvement. A record crowd of over 34,000 witnessed an international exhibition between the Blizzard and the European Cup champions Nottingham Forest. In addition, regualr season attendance rose an average of 27% over 1979. In the fall, the Blizzard was honoured with the selection of six of their players, Gordon Sweetzer, Sam Lenarduzzi, Mike McLenaghen, Tony Chursky, Gordon Wallace and Randy Ragan, to the Canadian National Team as it compete in World Cup qualifications. After weathering two such varied seasons, the Blizzard continue its building year, heading towards the days of a largely Canadian team. (from the1981 Blizzard Media Guide)
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