TORONTO – It's beginning to look a lot like winter.
With about 24 hours before kickoff of the 2016 MLS Cup final between Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders at BMO Field (8 pm ET; FOX, UniMás; TSN and RDS in Canada), a chill has set in around the city.
Thursday night saw the first snowfall that clung to the ground, leaving the distinct impression that the coldest season was here to stay.
Conditions for Saturday's conclusion to the Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs has been a topic all week. The general impression: It's nothing to be worried about.
“I don't think the weather will affect anything,” said TFC captain Michael Bradley during Thursday's press conference. “Every forecast says it should be right around freezing. I've played games in Germany, in the winter, where it's very cold. It can be hard to play, [but] I don't think the weather will come into it at all. It's going to be an amazing night.”
Bradley, of course, along with Jozy Altidore played in that memorable "Snow Clasico" in Colorado with the US national team in 2013. And current forecasts imply nothing of the sort is headed for Toronto.
According to the Weather Network, game time conditions are set at 23 degrees Farenheit (-5 Celsius), though wind chill will have it feeling more like 10 degrees (-12C). There may be scattered flurries throughout the morning and afternoon, calling for approximately an inch of precipitation, but thanks to the undersoil heating installed at the stadium in 2010, when the surface was switched from artificial to grass, that should not factor into the match.
"If it snows, I don't think it will stick, the field has a heater under it, so that will come off quickly," TFC head coach Greg Vanney said on Friday. "The element that probably changes [the game] the most is if it is really windy, so we're crossing our fingers that the wind won't be here.”
Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment have spent heavily to ensure the pitch is at its best, including separate million dollar investments in heating and lighting systems. The BMO grounds crew have been hard at work since last Wednesday's match, preparing the field for Saturday.
And the players are focused primarily on the contest.
“It's going to be cold, it's going to be fun. I don't think the energy will be any less,” said Will Johnson on Wednesday. “When you're out there and you start to move, you feel good. Conditions will be the same for both teams.”
Justin Morrow and Nick Hagglund, Ohio natives, are no strangers such climes; Hagglund recalled shoveling the fields at Xavier University in his college days.
Clint Irwin teased Hagglund over his habit of training in short sleeves during the week.
“No shame in trying to stay warm out there," Irwin said. "Nick Hagglund has been showing us all up because he's been in shorts the whole week. But he's a different breed.”
Panamanian Armando Cooper, the player perhaps most likely to be afflicted by the wintery blast, said spells in Germany and Argentina have prepared him well.
“Would I like it warmer? Of course,” joked Cooper through a translator on Tuesday. “Cold and [I] get along well. All the places [I've] played, [I've] done just fine.”
Vanney admitted to tracking the forecasts and hoping it would warm up a little, but Johnson was unconcerned with such matters, as was Steven Beitashour.
“Weather is weather, you can't control it,” said Beitashour on Tuesday. “Throw on a couple of layers, maybe some gloves. I'd be lying if I said I didn't check, multiple times, hoping that that little snowflake turns to sunshine. But both teams have to deal with it. If it's cold it's cold, if it's raining its raining. It'll be fun no matter what.”
Bradley was adamant that the weather was just one of the many factors that would go in the MLS Cup final.
“The atmosphere will be unbelievable, our field will [be] in a good way,” said Bradley. “You get to this point and the last thing anybody is worried about is the temperature. It's about two teams who have played all year to get to this point and are going to go after the game.”
