MONTREAL – It was quite a ride the Montreal Impact took us all on during their inspired run to the CONCACAF Champions League final.
And although they fell just short, what the Impact did was remind us what the Amway Canadian Championship is all about. This is where it began for the Impact a year ago, and this is where it begins again, not only for the Impact, but also for Toronto FC, the Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Edmonton in their quest to lift the Voyageurs Cup.
Recent changes to the tournament format, however, have muddied the waters a bit. Suffice it to say, Canada’s entrant into the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League will be the Whitecaps as they had the best record of all Canadian MLS clubs last season. The finals of this year’s Canadian Championship won’t take place until August, and the winner will enter the Champions League in 2016-17. Yes, I know, strange.
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And so both Montreal and Toronto head into the first leg of the semifinals Wednesday night in a strange frame of mind. The Impact are just coming off that CONCACAF run, and now it starts again. They haven’t caught their collective breaths yet.
Montreal coach Frank Klopas wants to win it again, but at the same time his team has played just four MLS regular season games and is staring down a fixture nightmare with plenty of catching up to do. And he’s forced to re-start, re-focus and re-position his thinking with a tired, and injury-riddled roster. It’s just the first week of May.
There’s no question his philosophy is to rotate players through with a tough league game against Portland coming up this weekend. So perhaps there’s room for some Canadian content to make the starting 11 Wednesday night. Patrice Bernier, Maxim Tissot and maybe even goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau come to mind, although the betting is Eric Kronberg will finally make his team debut in net.
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Toronto is in a strange place as well, although for different reasons. Their seven-game road trip to start the MLS season is over, and yet its not. One more game to go. Coach Greg Vanney might be in a slightly better position than Klopas. His team is coming off two confidence-building victories and can already taste the atmosphere that 30,000 fans will provide at a renovated BMO Field for the home opener Sunday.
Vanney is taking a pragmatic approach as well, leaving behind Jozy Altidore, Sebastian Giovinco, Jackson and Robbie Findley at home. On the shelf injured are Joe Bendik and of course Steven Caldwell and Mark Bloom. There’s no indication who will start, but Vanney did bring along several young Canadians in Chris Manella, Jay Chapman, Jordan Hamilton and goalkeeper Quillen Roberts. They complement roster regulars Jonathan Osorio and Ashtone Morgan.
Both teams are having a tough time wrapping their heads around the fact that winning this tournament this year means competing in CONCACAF next year. It seems a long way off. It is a long way off. Tough MLS seasons are just getting underway and the playoffs seem much closer and are a much more tangible goal. But it is the Canadian Championship and it’s ours. And the winner will eventually have the chance to write some history, just as Montreal did this spring.
One other note: Its hard to believe the Impact have played 10 matches already and are still waiting to play one in their natural home at Stade Saputo. For Toronto FC it will be eight games before they come home to BMO Field.
Strange times indeed.
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