Last year, it seemed that everyone connected to the Whitecaps was whining high and low about the Montreal Impact “bending over” for Toronto in last year’s final Nutrilite Canadian Championship match.

Montreal was, as you all well know, already eliminated from Voyageurs Cup contention heading into that match, and decided to rest some regulars ahead of a crucial league game against those same Vancouver Whitecaps only two days later.

The result was a right thrashing never before seen in either Montreal or Toronto’s respective histories, which sent ‘Caps fans into a tizzy as TFC needed to beat the Impact by four goals in order to win the Cup. Toronto won by five, and Vancouver – though tied with the Reds on point total and actually holding an advantage in the head-to-head record – were left to watch Toronto celebrate its first ever bit of hardware.

As a result of that match, Vancouver demanded that all three teams enter into a “gentleman’s agreement” for this year’s tournament, in which the teams agreed to play a better calibre side even if eliminated.

So of course, that set up tonight’s showdown between Vancouver and Montreal at Stade Saputo, site of last year’s “disgrace.”  The ‘Caps absolutely needed a win tonight to simply have a chance at remaining in contention next week, and they were facing an already-eliminated Montreal side that had agreed long before to not roll out the reserves should they be in this situation again.

Predictably, Montreal played tonight’s match with far more fire in their bellies than last year’s final match, and Vancouver – lacking any sort of identifiable desire to actually win the match – limped through the 90 minutes en route to a 1-1 draw.

Upon the final whistle, the ‘Caps were eliminated and TFC started looking ahead to old friend Amado Guevara and his Motagua side, the first opponent in this year’s CONCACAF Champions League.

Vancouver got its just desserts after spending the better part of 2009 complaining about that year’s Voyageurs Cup tournament. They wanted Montreal to take it more seriously, and the Impact did just that.

Regardless, Vancouver’s fate was still in their own hands, and they did nothing throughout the competition to step up and grab that brass ring that they claim is so important to them.

Posted by Rudi Schuller

Toronto FC – who sources say will ditch the grey kits for its primary red – has never lost to the Montreal Impact. Many of us take great pleasure in reminding their fans of that fact.

Sure, Montreal won the inaugural Nutrilite Canadian Championship on our turf back in 2008, but even that “victory” was actually just a draw. In fact, every other game between TFC and the Impact has resulted in a win for Toronto, a little tidbit that surely weighs heavily on the minds of Montreal’s supporters.

To be fair, TFC’s record against the Impact is probably a bit more lopsided than the actual games have been. Included in Toronto’s 4-0-1 record versus their Quebec-based rivals is a pair of 1-0 victories, the fateful 1-1 draw at BMO Field that propelled the Impact into the Champions League two years ago, the infamous 6-1 TFC win at Stade Saputo last year, and last month’s 2-0 slugfest.

Also included in those meetings is the dominance of Montreal by one Chad Barrett, who in three matches against the Impact has tallied three goals and two assists. Joey Saputo’s side seems to bring out the best in Barrett, and given the Toronto forward is coming off perhaps his finest performance in a TFC jersey against former side Chicago this past weekend, Barrett will no doubt be looked upon to help lead the Reds in a game that could see Montreal eliminated from contention.

The Impact will be without three players due to suspension, as Adam Braz, Reda Agourram and Roberto Brown will all be sidelined due to red cards in previous NCC matches. Brown is actually also on indefinite suspension from his own club after using Nick Garcia’s face as a punching bag during the tournament opener.

With a very tough road match at Los Angeles on Saturday, it’ll be interesting to see what sort of changes Preki makes to his TFC side. Fears about the Toronto coach not placing proper importance on the NCC proved unfounded, as the tournament opener saw the gaffer field a very strong lineup featuring most of his “A” squad.

Expect to see the same on display in Montreal, as Preki pushes for an early Toronto victory in this tournament. Some starters will be rested, but for the most part  Toronto should have close to its strongest squad out there tomorrow night.

The math is simple for Montreal. After a defeat in their first NCC match and a draw in their second, if Montreal loses to TFC on Wednesday they are out.

Toronto will be well aware of this and must be prepared for the fact that the Impact will be fighting for their tournament lives. Montreal coach Marc dos Santos will be forced to instruct his side to push for a victory, which could work right into TFC’s hands provided they can withstand the early pressure. Nothing up to this point suggests that they cannot.

History is on Toronto’s side in this one, contrary to anything the UM02 might sing tomorrow.

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For those traveling to Montreal, please join us for pre-match bevvies at Peel Pub (1196 Rue Peel) from 5:00-6:45pm. Anyone who has ordered match tickets through me will be able to claim them there.

For those staying in Toronto, feel free to head to the Duke of Gloucester (649 Yonge St.) for the U-Sector Away Game Viewing.

Posted by Rudi Schuller

Courtesy TFCpics.com

Well that was fun, wasn’t it?

If there is such a thing as a temporary cure for any ill that TFC (both club and supporters) is feeling, a match versus the Montreal Impact is certainly it.

The rivalry between fans is hot, the games are chippy, and TFC is undefeated against the Impact. Wednesday’s game followed suit, with a dogfight of a match that resulted in numerous cards, a lot of bad blood, and two goals for the good guys.

Dwayne De Rosario, the Toronto FC captain who can seemingly do no wrong in 2010, notched his customary goal for the home side, his fourth in three career matches against Montreal (and sixth in as many games for TFC this season). Chad Barrett, much maligned for his lack of scoring prowess, put himself on the scoreboard with a dazzling run through the heart of the Impact goalmouth -his second in about five minutes – before blasting a right-footer past Montreal keeper Matt Jordan.

Those two goals were all that was needed for the Reds (in grey), as their opponents’ attack was as anemic as anything TFC has ever displayed in its worst games.

That De Rosario and Barrett were the heroes has to be a bit of a sucker punch to a Montreal fanbase that has suffered a few from Toronto’s way over the course of this tourney.

De Ro is, of course, the man who nearly single-handedly dismantled the Impact in the famous “Miracle in Montreal” match last June. His hat-trick woke up the rest of his teammates on that day, and TFC strode on to a 6-1 victory and the Canadian Championship.

Barrett has taken his fair share of abuse, including from some fans of the Impact, for his inability to score the easiest of chances. So it must hurt then, that Montreal seems to bring out the best in the American, against whom he has tallied three goals and two assists in three total matches.

Barrett seems to save his best for Montreal, including scoring a highlight-reel goal at BMO Field last year that secured a narrow victory for TFC, and scoring the clinching fifth goal at Stade Saputo in Toronto’s Voyageurs Cup victory a few weeks later.

Whether Barrett can use yesterday’s strike as a catalyst for further goals remains to be seen, but he’ll surely take solace in the fact that TFC plays at Montreal in less than two weeks time.

The game had an ugly side, as both Ty Harden and Nick Garcia were forced to leave with injuries. Harden’s leg was lacerated to the bone – to the tune of 22 stitches – in the goalmouth scramble that led to De Rosario’s opening goal. Garcia got knocked flat on his back from an incensed Roberto Brown, who decided to bring the UFC to Ontario for a few seconds rather than playing the sport he is paid to play (highlights below). Brown was red-carded for his succession of punches, and Garcia was replaced by O’Brian White following a lengthy delay.

Many of the (many) less obvious fouls were called too, on both sides, as yellows rained down from referee Paul Ward throughout. Despite the card-happiness of the official, Montreal’s game plan of “hack the shit out of Julian de Guzman whenever he has the ball” remained constant, although to de Guzman’s credit he simply shook it off and continued his run of stellar play of late.

The ugliness was not limited to the field of play, though. Some Montreal fans found it necessary to spit upon passing TFC supporters below before the match, the latest in a line of regrettable actions from both sides of the feud. (To be fair, it must be tough for Montreal fans, knowing ahead of time that their team is going to lose to their most-hated rivals.)

Hopefully this latest incident will be the last, but with the teams facing off again so soon, one cannot be so sure.

For TFC, the win has to give them an added bit of confidence heading into Saturday’s MLS game at Salt Lake. Will they be able to recover physically in time for a match at altitude against the defending MLS Cup champs?

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Pros and Cons for Toronto FC vs. Montréal Impact, played Wednesday, April 28, 2010:

PROS

• Dwayne De Rosario finding new ways to score
• Chad Barrett’s continued dominance over Montreal
• TFC’s ability to fight through against a physical, rough-tackling team
• Julian de Guzman’ emerging consistency as a DP-level player
• The willingness to kill off a game through possession and passing at the back
• The supporters as a whole, likely in the best form we’ve been in for a long time

CONS

• Allowing Montreal just a little too much possession (especially after they went down a man)
• Robert Brown impersonating Robert Duran
• Light Grey vs. Light Pink, the TV production staff must have been having fits

HIGHLIGHTS

Posted by Rudi Schuller

No one knows the importance that Preki places on this event, and no one will until shortly before kickoff.

Toronto supporters, of course, relish this tournament. The Voyageurs Cup competition has resonated with this fan base, much more so than the average, run-of-the-mill MLS match.

Perhaps the fact that a real rivalry with Montreal (the city) existed long before either TFC or the Impact ever kicked a ball in anger helps fuel the passion, a rivalry that doesn’t really exist with opposing MLS cities. That the civic rivalry translated onto the field of play, backed by rather large fan bases that genuinely dislike one another, really comes as no surprise.

There are so many angles at play in a match involving TFC and the Impact. MLS versus USL/NASL/USSF-D2. English Canada versus French Canada. Multiple Voyageurs Cup winners versus the brash new kid on the soccer block.  And so on.

The fact of the matter is, we (the TFC fans) want to beat them just as much as they want to beat us.

But does Preki share that sentiment?

This is a tough stretch for Toronto, a team that will be averaging roughly a game every three days for the next month. Preki is already on record as saying that his priority is MLS and having his side reach the playoffs for the first time ever, which would suggest that we’ll see many of the benchwarmers (Nick Garcia, anyone?) in red tomorrow night.

Of course, Preki has also been quoted as saying that every match is important to him and his coaching staff, and that he’ll treat the Canadian Championship matches the same way as he does every game.

So which is it? Will Preki throw out the scrubs versus Montreal and hope for the best? Or will we see the De Rosarios, de Guzmans, Freis and Attakoras out there on the BMO grass?

TFC is finally showing signs of coming together as a team, so perhaps Preki will use the modest bit of momentum that Toronto built up in Sunday’s victory over Seattle.

Only time will tell.

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As for Montreal, they are only two games into their 2010 USSF-D2 campaign, and still looking for their first win.  They lost their season opener 2-0 at Austin Aztex before drawing Portland Timbers 1-1 at their 2010 Stade Saputo debut.

The Impact showed a bit of rust in those games, and could be ripe for the “outwork the other team” philosophy that TFC has implemented this season.

Montreal remains largely unchanged from the squad that only scored one goal in the NCC in 2009, with young striker Reda Agourram taking over Joey Gjertsen’s roster spot after the American departed for San Jose Earthquakes. A couple of Euro imports have also joined the Impact, with varying degrees of success thus far.

Last year’s form means nothing, and Montreal will have the advantage of familiarity amongst its players. The Impact will obviously be motivated to keep the game competitive, and will feed off the hostile BMO Field crowd that will likely be the biggest they play in front of in 2010 (not including friendlies).

The “Miracle in Montreal” match notwithstanding, every TFC versus Imact match has been a close one, and it would be wise to expect more of the same on Wednesday.

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Join U-Sector at Maro (135 Liberty St) for pre-game bevvies, starting at 5:00pm Wednesday. We will be marching with RPB to the stadium starting at 7:30pm.

Posted by Rudi Schuller

The USL has indicated that interested investors from Edmonton and Ottawa may land teams in its First Division within the next two years, effectively replacing (or joining) the disgruntled Whitecaps and Impact as the Canadian flagbearers of USL-1.

TFC won the Voyageurs Cup in 2009.

Should Edmonton and Ottawa kick off next spring, and Vancouver and Montreal figure out their situation (USL or otherwise), the CSA will have little choice but to organize a five-team tourney to crown a Canadian club champion. And while I’m sure the long-term strategy was to eventually have more clubs of a certain level – the minimum standard being USL-1 level at the moment – involved in an expanded competition, I don’t think anyone could have fathomed the possibility of that happening by the third year.

Should all the pieces fall into place, TFC supporters groups can look forward to planning an in-province road trip next year in addition to their annual pilgrimage to Stade Saputo to collect three points.

Before anyone starts asking when the bus leaves for Ottawa, there are some other questions that need answering. Who is behind these potential expansion teams? Are they committed, deep-pocketed owners, or are they the same type of fly-by-the seat-of-your-pants operations that proved so disastrous the last time the USL expanded to Canada?

And what about on the field? Can Edmonton and Ottawa reasonably expect to put together a competitive side on six months’ notice? If indeed one or both of those teams kick off in 2010, they will find it nearly impossible to field a team to be competitive in USL-1, there’s simply not enough time to put together a technical staff and quality roster in such a short window. And a bad team would be would be a hard sell in markets with no real track record of supporting club soccer, especially with so many other attractive options for local fans to watch on TV, domestic and otherwise.

That’s not even mentioning the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. For my money the NCC is a calibre somewhere between USL-1 and MLS. If a team hastily thrown together finds it hard to succeed at the USL-1 level (and it will), it’ll find it nearly impossible to win in what is arguably the most hotly-contested domestic cup competition north of Mexico. For those fans still bemoaning a certain 6-1 scoreline as a blemish on the integrity of our beloved little tournament, imagine what two more teams at the level of the Trois-Rivières Attak will do for the credibility of the Voyageurs Cup.

For the good of the game in this country, let’s hope that the rumours of Edmonton and Ottawa joining USL-1 are true… for 2011. Canada needs more success stories in the club game, and diving into a turbulent league just because the opportunity has presented itself is not the way to write those stories.

Posted by Rudi Schuller