Christopher Vose is AFTN's photographer and here is a selection of his photos from the Whitecaps' Voyageurs Cup game on Wednesday night against Toronto.

You can view all of Christopher's Whitecaps photographs at ConsulPhotography.com.

Be sure to check his photos daily, as he is will have regular shots up from training, as well at Caps matches at all levels.
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The Voyageurs Cup hasn’t been kind to Vancouver over the years.

If the Whitecaps go on to lose the 2012 title, then they will have no-one to blame but themselves this year, after a flat home performance against a surprisingly attack minded Toronto side.

Vancouver had a couple of keys going into this game. Securing the win and keeping a clean sheet were both musts.

In the end they achieved neither, but a spectacular last ditch equaliser by Eric Hassli has at least given them a lifeline heading in to the second leg in Toronto next week.
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Speaking to MLSsoccer.com today, Martin Rennie infuriatingly referred to the Voyageurs Cup as the “Canadian Cup.” He’s hardly the first person to do so. Many people, IN ALL FOUR CITIES IN THE COMPETITION, have made that mistake. It doesn’t excuse it. You can be sure that Rennie, or others, would be quick to correct themselves if they were to slip up with the sponsors name – Amway Canadian Championship, not Nutrilite Canadian Championship, thank you very much – so it’s also reasonable that it be expected that the cup be correctly identified.

For those new to following the game in Canada this rant may seem like a bit of an over reaction. A little history lesson may be in order. I’ve written this history every year of the competition. Hopefully one day the history will be well known enough that I don’t have to.
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KEY PLAYERS

ATTACKING

If TFC plays a similar system like the first leg against Montreal, then Vancouver will need to be precise with their passing and Davide Chiumiento will especially need to find the small windows to set up the strikers. The Swiss playmaker has picked up an assist in the last five goals Vancouver has scored in all competitions, including three against Edmonton.

The visitors from Toronto will need the pace of Ryan Johnson up top if they decide to play behind the ball and try to get chances on the counter. While Johnson has not lived up to preseason expectations, the Jamaican international is capable of scoring in bunches for TFC.

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Episode 17. Very apt really.

It's the number of points that Toronto are behind Vancouver in the MLS standings, in the week that TFC are coming to town in Voyageurs Cup action.

Four big Cup games coming up for Vancouver in the next eleven days, two Canadian and two Cascadian, so this week's edition of "West Coast Soccer Weekly" is a Cup special.

There's lots of Voyageurs Cup talk and we also look ahead to the visit of Pacific northwest rivals Seattle on Saturday.

We're joined by Whitecaps assistant manager Paul Ritchie and Whitecaps legend, and current Club ambassador, Carl Valentine to look at both matches, how the Caps will cope in this crunch period and the season so far.

The pair discuss their own past Cup experiences around the world, and with Paul being a City fan (and former player) and Carl a United one, we have to see what they thought of Sunday's thrillling Premiership climax.

We also have a chat with Martin Rennie, Jay DeMerit, Eric Hassli, Bryce Alderson and Callum Irving about just what winning the Voyageurs Cup would mean to each of them on a personal level.
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By: Michael Crampton

If attempted redemption has been a theme of Toronto FC’s season to date then maybe, for once, it’s actually better applied to their opponents in tonight’s Canadian Championship final first leg. As in incredible as it sounds, over a decade of its existence, the Vancouver Whitecaps have never lifted the Voyageurs Cup. Not in the days that it was a fan created challenge trophy nor since the formalization of the tournament as the gateway to the CONCACAF Champions League for Canadian clubs. For an organization that values history and styles itself a leading soccer organization on the continent that has to be frustrating.

There’s been some near misses, heartache, heartbreak, and more than one claim of conspiracy along the way, but the fact still remains that the only two names inscribed on the side of the trophy remain Montreal Impact and Toronto FC.
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The 2012 Voyageurs Cup final will be played out over the next two Wednesdays, hopefully with some good football on display and new Champions being crowned by the end of it all.

It will be a battle between a Vancouver Whitecaps side looking for their first ever Canadian Championship, and a bit of revenge after last year's thunderstorm debacle, and a struggling Toronto side who have shown a fine Cup pedigree this season and are looking to lift the trophy for the fourth consecutive year.

Disappointingly, some of the Whitecaps fanbase are seemingly not that bothered about the Caps winning the Voyageurs Cup and would prefer them to concentrate on making the playoffs. The two aren't mutually exclusive, but sadly some fans aren't particularly emotionally connected to the national championship just yet.

Thankfully many are and so are the Whitecaps management and players and the Club have made it a priority to win this year's championship and qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.

The "Road to Morocco" and the 2013 Fifa Club World Cup is underway.

In the build up to the first leg, we thought we'd ask some of the Whitecaps management and players, along with a long time fan, just what the Caps lifting their first ever Voyageurs Cup would mean to them personally.

This is what they said....
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Dear David,

Pleased to make your acquaintance. Can I call you Junior? Everyone else does, so, I hope that's cool.

I have to ask: Wow, what did you make of that Premier League season? What a roller coaster! What an ending!

Now, of course, things didn't go so well at Blackburn. Sorry about that. Given your long-time association with the club, it couldn't have been easy to endure those results, and the ultimate relegation -- not to mention the ongoing, sometimes-vitriolic responses from Rovers supporters. And the chicken. That was kinda weird, eh?

Things look bright for you, though. A true breakout campaign. You're being touted as one of the most promising young stars in the league. A very large piece of your heart resides in Blackburn, surely; but if you'd like to play Premiership football next season, someone will give you that chance. Suitors may even be lining up from the continent. Suffice to say, you've got a lot of potential, and a lot of important thinking to do.

But that's not what I'd like to talk about. Instead, I'd like to present to you the one reason -- the most compelling reason of all -- that the time has come to pledge your international playing career to the nation of your birth.
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Record crowd, musical chair and a full slate of guests on this week's show.

We talk Impact vs Galaxy before a Canadian record-setting crowd for a pro game with Pat Leduc (RDS/LaPresse), Fred Lord (TVA Sports) and Marc Tougas (CP).

We touch base with Duane Rollins (CSN's 24th Minute) to discuss the musical chair game at BMO Field on Monday and revisit MLS' weekend activities with Jonathan Tannewald (Philly.com) and Lisa Erickson (www.CenterLineSoccer.com).

Our new columnist Ludovick Martin summarizes what Canucks did abroad in the last few days.

As a special guest we talk with RDS' Jean Gounelle to go over what happened on the weekend in the main European leagues.
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Shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic.

It's a cliche, but it's going to be the first instinct of many to today's moves by TFC. Jim Brennan to the first team, Bob de Klerk to work with the kids and Paul Mariner...somewhere.

The move some wanted - Winter out, Mariner/Nicol in - was not on the table and it looks like it might not be for a while.
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When it was announced towards the end of last month that Richard Grootscholten was moving on from his role as the technical director and head coach of Vancouver Whitecaps' Residency program, it was met with genuine sadness.

Richard has spent two years with the program and played a pivotal role in developing the Caps of the future. The building blocks for seeing local BC talent playing for the Whitecaps in MLS have now firmly been laid and the future looks very bright indeed.

AFTN's Steve Pandher sat down with Richard and chatted about the past two years, the current state of the Whitecaps Residency program and what the future could, and should, hold in store for youth development not just in Vancouver, but throughout the Canadian game...
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Toronto FC announced a pair of coaching changes today - and it wasn't the one people have been expecting after Toronto's 0-8 start.

Jim Brennan moves from his role as head coach of the U-17 Academy side to become an assistant coach of the first team side. Bob DeKlerk now moves into the technical manager role which will see him work more closely with the Academy and intentional scouting.

Also of note, and perhaps the most telling of the intentions of today's moves, Paul Mariner, director of player development, will now take on the role of 'occasionally coaching the team's strikers.'

CSN will have more reaction on these moves and what they mean (if anything) but what do you think of changes? Is Brennan ready for first team responsibilities? Is Mariner's move to the coaching side a sign of things to come? Will this change anything for Toronto FC's fortunes?

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