With Toronto FC officially annoucing their USL PRO affiliate and the Vancouver Whitecaps looking set to do the same, I'm ready to call this a "banner year" for Canadian soccer.
It's a pretty low bar.
Still, this expansion - those two teams will join the Montreal Impact in fielding fully fledged reserve squads - is legitimately the best bit of news for fans of Canadian soccer as a whole since... well, quite possibly since the 2000 Gold Cup. It looks like the Great White North will be home to eight professional soccer teams in 2015, up from three in 2010. That means more spots for Canadian kids, a clearer developmental path forward, and a national team program that can rely on a steady stream of professionally bred talent.
It's too early in the cycle to predict that the Canadian national team will qualify for the Hexagonal. And the 2015 Gold Cup is probably too early for them to realistically compete with Mexico, the US and Costa Rica.
But the wheel is finally starting to turn for the Canucks, and the new generation - read about them HERE - looks every bit as good as what the US have on offer.
The central midfield battle will be getting a lot of attention in the Eastern Conference Championship, especially after the way New England's trio of Jermaine Jones, Lee Nguyen and the underrated Scott Caldwell (I'm petitioning the Revs to add "the underrated" to his given name) ripped apart their Columbus counterparts. New York have been elite with Dax McCarty and Eric Alexander sitting deep in the 4-2-3-1, posting a 7-2-1 record in their 10 games together in that role, but New England have posed some thus far unsolvable problems since Jones arrived in August.
Out on the other coast, the focus is on the central midfield for other reasons: Will Ozzie Alonso really be ready to play for the Sounders this weekend? While team chemistry and overall continuity have been crucial for Seattle this year, Alonso has verged upon "irreplaceable" in his six seasons in Rave Green. There's no amount of chemistry that can replace him like for like.
Landon Donovan says he wants the Honey Badger to play (watch the above video), and as a neutral I'm in LD's camp. Seattle have had one of the truly great seasons in MLS history, and it'll be a shame if they have to go into this series without the guy who's really been the on-field face of the franchise since 2009.
Thanks for another fun afternoon. Enjoy the playoffs this weekend...
