Montreal officially first canadian MLS team to reach 11 wins, on expansion year!

[narduch]

With 11 wins, Montreal has surpassed TFC's single season high of 10 (which occurred in 2009).

Doesn't look like TFC will hit 10 wins this season either.

[shawn_strat]

Even if Montreal doesn't make the playoffs, they will have had one helluva year, and light years ahead of where Toronto and Vancouver were their first seasons.

[1996]

Well done Montreal and this coming from a TFC season ticket holder since day one. We have suffered through almost 6 sad years here in Toronto a TFC organization that is slowly becoming one of the worst pro clubs in all of sport here in North America. We can only wish we had a team like Montreal which after only one season is already fighting for a playoff spot while here in Toronto another nightmare of a season continues with no light at the end of the tunnel. The oh so great atmosphere at BMO that was the only positive part of this organization is just a memory now going to a game at BMO these days is like going to a funeral, the stands are getting emptier and emptier, MLSE have only themselves to blame, can just imagine what the season ticket count will be for next season, they have something like 16 000 now I bet they will be lucky 5000 will renew for next season and who can blame people if they don't renew after putting up with 6 seasons of pure garbage!

[madmonte]

Yeah, so you guys are saying the attendance is finally starting to go up as well? If so, that's well deserved. I think of all three Canadian franchises, Montreal needed this promising start to be able to start building a loyal fan base. I hope they stay loyal in seasons where Montreal doesn't win so much.

Given their first game where there was, what, 60,000 people, I would have been inclined to say that football in Canada was REALLY taking off! It still is taking off, but subsequent attendance figures for Montreal definitely dismissed the notion that it was going to be easy to sell out every game, a notion that some people had after that initial 60,000.

[Ruud]

Here's my two cents

1. It has been a GREAT season as a season ticket holder with IMPACT and also TFC fan from southern Ontario. Surprised that Impact are still not yet getting the respect they deserve, though the goal.com article helps - says that Impact are among the elite teams now, and that Bernier has no business being in the MLS. (because he's just too good). Henry also complemented him recently, which makes two Canucks along with DeRo that he's given props to. (anyone know why this may be?). Maybe he just hates everyone on his own team.

2. Props to Saputo for getting the good players - however he got them.

3. Marsch has been brilliant. Hardly question any of his decisions anymore.

4. Perkins for Ricketts also stroke of genius. Ummm - how can anyone think this was a bad deal? What are Portland fans thinking?

5. This weekend will be another sell out.

and 6

WTF is with a league that has one team playing 5 more games than another team. Seems highly dubious and does not favour a new team in the league (given lack of playing time together). We were shafted and we are STILL on 11 wins.

[Ruud]

Could someone please explain why an expansion team has played 5 to 6 more games then their opponents at this stage of the season?

Sorry - my 6th point is a repeat on this thread...but still. Injustice mes amis!!!!

[Lord Bob]

Sorry - my 6th point is a repeat on this thread...but still. Injustice mes amis!!!!

You guys benefit from an easy run with plenty of rest down the stretch (for what it's worth, which isn't much; Montreal is only tied for most games played in MLS with Dallas and one ahead of Vancouver, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake). Chivas USA, who has played four more games than the team they're trying to catch for the last playoff spot, faces fixture congestion right when they need it least.

It all comes out in the wash.

[madmonte]

You guys benefit from an easy run with plenty of rest down the stretch (for what it's worth, which isn't much; Montreal is only tied for most games played in MLS with Dallas and one ahead of Vancouver, Los Angeles, and Salt Lake). Chivas USA, who has played four more games than the team they're trying to catch for the last playoff spot, faces fixture congestion right when they need it least.

It all comes out in the wash.

For the record, they weren't when those comments were posted but other than that, your point stands.

[kyam]

Montreal officially first canadian MLS team to reach 11 wins, on expansion year. Maybe it's too late to make the playoffs, but it's a noteworthy accomplishment nonetheless.

I'd be more impressed if they manage their current run and make the playoffs. If this is the extent of their accomplishment, lets not forget, TFC had a Canadian quota requirement during their expansion year, a quota that the Impact are not subject to (nor are they anywhere close to meeting).

If they didnt water down the rule to benefit the Whitecaps\Impact, things might look very different. I do wonder if Vancouver would have had at least this many wins, if they didnt fire their coach mid-way through the season.

I do think does bold well for the future, especially if Saputo continues to use his connections (whatever they are) to attract foreign talent like Nesta. Not sure how well they fare if the CSA ever negotiates a Canadian quota. The Impact have perhaps to least established academy program. They didnt have anything close to what the Whitecaps had in USL\NASL and are basically starting from scratch.

Not sure if Saputo has announced investing in the proper infrastructure ala the Kia Training Centre or the Whitecaps structure.

Some food for thought before we get too excited. Philly had a decent expansion year. They didnt make the playoffs but it was generally a good first year. Its year 3 for Philly and they have actually regressed over the years. Point is, a good first year doesnt necessarily = future success.

Another example might be the Sounders. With the success they had in year one, you would think they could have won the MLS CUp by now. Sure they won the US Open Cup but lets face it, a lot of American MLS clubs dont take the USOC as seriously as we take the ACC. Besides, the majority of matches are often played against lower division teams...

[phil7777]

Regardless of all comments, Montreal is having a more-than-respectable first year, especially considering having a rookie coach (which I'm not specially fond of) and tons of injury.

[mmd]

I do agree that Montreal doesn't seem to be playing alot of Canadians. But what they are doing is making Soccer popular. Meaning less kids asking for Skates and Sticks and more asking for Cleats and Soccer balls. That will mean more young Canadian kids to choose from in the near future. I think you need a winning team to make a sport popular for kids to want to play,especially when soccer is competing against the NFL, CFL, NHL, NBA and MLB

[shawn_strat]

I believe that if the Impact start next season with the team that they have now, they make the playoffs, and easily.

[Keano]

I believe that if the Impact start next season with the team that they have now, they make the playoffs, and easily.

Yes, the eyes-bleed first 8 games were all about tinkering and convincing Marsch to put a cold shower on his hard-working-American boner. The current system is very tight and it would be weird if it didn't stay that way next season if successfully reunited.

[SteveBeau]

https://mobile.twitter.com/24thminute/status/125322018882195456

Also Duane Rollins' "2012 season preview" preview for IMFC:

Outlook: They are an expansion team. And they look like it. Then you have the possibility of Joey losing his mind and doing something insane in mid-season. The Impact might end up with the worst expansion record since Chivas demonstrated that Mexican reserve players weren’t good enough for MLS.

The more the season goes on, the funnier it gets to read this...

[ThiKu]

^^^uuuhhhhh, I never defend Duane but in this case.....

You realize this was written prior to significant signings by IMFC right??? This prediction is no longer applicable. Thanks for coming out though.

[Mr.Impact]

Win Baby Win !!!

[SteveBeau]

^^^uuuhhhhh, I never defend Duane but in this case.....

You realize this was written prior to significant signings by IMFC right??? This prediction is no longer applicable. Thanks for coming out though.

Who? Nesta? Who played a grand total of 3 games? And Di Vaio who didn't score for his first 6 games? The rest of the team is pretty much the same..All teams sign new players during the season, its not exactly surprising. Not to mention everyone knew all along Montreal would be signing a big name DP considering all the rumors during the off-season..

Also hilarious was him predicting TFC would make the playoffs.. LOL

The Impact now has more points then Vancouver and Toronto, I wonder if the CSA will stick to their guns and rank teams in next year's V-Cup according to where they finish in league play or pander to TFC and change the rules again?

Montreal also tied the highest win total for an expansion team (Seattle 2009 with 12) in the MLS 2.0 Era, and tied the total amount of wins that Vancouver and TFC had combined in their 1st seasons.

The normal order of things is being put back in place in Canadian soccer..

Thanks for coming out though..

[Grizzly]

What a fu-cking system shock tonight to be actually cheering for TFC! Actually I prefer to think about it as cheering against Houston but nevertheless I think Dunfield's goal was the first time I was ever happy about a TFC goal. Oh the irony of TFC helping us to do what they have failed to do in 6 years, make the playoffs!

[SteveBeau]

What a fu-cking system shock tonight to be actually cheering for TFC! Actually I prefer to think about it as cheering against Houston but nevertheless I think Dunfield's goal was the first time I was ever happy about a TFC goal. Oh the irony of TFC helping us to do what they have failed to do in 6 years, make the playoffs!

[narduch]

With 39 points, Montreal has now tied TFC's highest single season total (2009), with 6 more games to play. Its funny though, Montreal could finish with more points than Vancouver and miss the playoffs while Vancouver might make it.

The playoffs are still a long shot for the Impact. If it isn't the extra games that will make it tough, playing 4 or their last 6 on the road is also a fairly big barrier.

But at the very least, Impact fans get to watch their team in a playoff race to end the season.

[RS]

The more the season goes on, the funnier it gets to read this...

We get it, dude. You don't like Duane.

You could post your preseason predictions so we can compare, if you'd like.

[RS]

The Impact now has more points then Vancouver and Toronto, I wonder if the CSA will stick to their guns and rank teams in next year's V-Cup according to where they finish in league play or pander to TFC and change the rules again?

Vancouver was ranked highest this year, no?

I'm not trying to start an argument, but when did the CSA change the rules to pander to TFC? They've only ranked the V-Cup according to league position twice so far, and in 2011's V-Cup TFC (as the lone MLS team from the previous year) was ranked first with Vancouver second based on their 2010 USSF D2 ranking (or their non-existent MLS record, take your pick).

In 2012, Vancouver was ranked first in the V-Cup based on the MLS play, with TFC second. Somehow, Montreal was ranked above FC Edmonton (under the rule that IMFC was now an MLS team and automatically ranked higher than FCE) even though Edmonton finished 2011 higher in NASL play.

So if anything, the CSA's rule change favoured Montreal this year.

[Free kick]

^^^uuuhhhhh, I never defend Duane but in this case.....

You realize this was written prior to significant signings by IMFC right??? This prediction is no longer applicable. Thanks for coming out though.

Yes. Predictions are based on information which were known at the time. If that information changes then how can you shoot the messenger.

[Juby]

We get it, dude. You don't like Duane.

You could post your preseason predictions so we can compare, if you'd like.

*shudders* I've noticed I've been rather abysmal at calling games from half time let alone preseason. I always figured predictions really need to be taken with a grain of salt, we all want to hear them as we look for news in preseason but how often do they really pan out? There's always surprise package or two and under-achievers, and usually the guy who nails those gets a whole lot else wrong.

Anyone ever read NBA preseason predicitions? Raptors have been predicted to be the worst team a few times, usually bottom five, and there almost always like 20th (out of 30), you'd think someone would realize their usually somewhat-to-almost-competitive but it's probably not worth losing sleep or pointing fingers or even a told you so ('How dare you mispredict something in an article I read').

[Free kick]

Vancouver was ranked highest this year, no?

I'm not trying to start an argument, but when did the CSA change the rules to pander to TFC? They've only ranked the V-Cup according to league position twice so far, and in 2011's V-Cup TFC (as the lone MLS team from the previous year) was ranked first with Vancouver second based on their 2010 USSF D2 ranking (or their non-existent MLS record, take your pick).

In 2012, Vancouver was ranked first in the V-Cup based on the MLS play, with TFC second. Somehow, Montreal was ranked above FC Edmonton (under the rule that IMFC was now an MLS team and automatically ranked higher than FCE) even though Edmonton finished 2011 higher in NASL play.

So if anything, the CSA's rule change favoured Montreal this year.

The rankings (Seedings) for 2012 were :

TFC

VAN

EDM

MON

The reason why EDM was ranked ahead of MON was because it was based on league play in the previous year. Whereby Montreal finished behind Edmonton in the NASL in 2011. They didnt factor in the fact that Montreal now had an MLS roster. So it was TFC who actually got screwed because they didnt get to play the realistically lowest ranked team.

Your right, they didnt change and never had changed the rules. Some people have no clue what they're talking about when they say "Change the rules to favour TFC". They have stuck to the rules that top finisher in mls is seeded first followed by other MLS teams based on points and then its the NASL team based on points. It just worked out against TFC in 2012 because they based montreals results on the 2011 team that was in the NASL.

http://www.canadasoccer.com/about-s15268

Taken from the link above:

"The 2012 Amway Canadian Championship features a four-team format with teams taking part in a two-legged home-and-away semi-final............................................With clubs being seeded based on their 2011 league results in Major League Soccer and North American Soccer League, respectively, the 2012 Amway Canadian Championship will feature a pair of regional rivalries in the initial semi-final stage............"