Canadian Championship Explained

The 2015 Canadian Championship had a stunted start with Vancouver Whitecaps’ semi-final first leg at Edmonton postponed due to heavy snow last week.

Champions League finalists Montreal Impact secured a 1-0 home win against Toronto in their first-leg and MLS’ bottom side travel to Ontario for the return leg tonight.

As well as attempting to predict the outcomes of that game and Whitecaps’ rearranged first leg, we’ve put together a brief history of the competition.

Edmonton play against the likes of NY Cosmos in the NASL

History

Founded in 2008 the competition was initially contested by Montreal Impact, Toronto and Vancouver Whitecaps in a home-and-away series to determine the best Canadian team.

The inaugural Voyageurs Cup was won by Montreal, before Toronto’s 2009 triumph began a run of four consecutive years as Canadian champions. 

When Edmonton joined NASL in 2011 the format changed to two-legged semi-finals and a two-legged final, with the previous year's league placement used to seed the teams.

Ottawa Fury followed in 2014 and that saw the introduction of a play-off round, in which the NASL sides compete to see who will make the semi-final stage.

CONCACAF Qualification

The Championship has determined Canada's Champions League entry since 2008 and it was Montreal’s victory last year that enabled their historic run to the final.

However, this year’s winner will not be handed entry into the pre-group stage play-off round for the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League.

Holders Montreal qualified for the Champions League  

Instead Canada’s place will go to Vancouver as the best-placed team in the 2014 MLS regular season and the winner of this year’s Championship will enter the following season.

Due to scheduling conflicts with the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada, the Championship final will not take place until August.

A Potential Problem?

There has been some debate about the Championship in recent times, particularly regarding the fixture backlog which can build up for the teams involved.

For example, Montreal’s mammoth Champions League campaign means they have played just four MLS games – three less than any other franchise.

They are also the only team in this year’s MLS still without a victory, and their two-legged Championship semi-final with Toronto is further distraction.  

De Rosario won MVP in 2009

However, the Canadian Soccer Association’s ultimate goal is to expand the tournament, so juggling priorities and hectic schedules will only become more problematic for MLS’ Canadian trio.

Past Stars

Dwayne De Rosario

The former Canadian star finished as the outright top scorer in his first Canadian Championship for Toronto,

after netting a hat-trick in the 6-1 final win against Montreal.

Awarded the George Gross Memorial Trophy for Most Valuable Player in 2009, the midfielder retained the accolade the following year as Toronto defended the Championship. 

De Rosario, who retired after a brief second spell with Toronto last year, is the joint all-time Championship record goalscorer with four goals.

Justin Mapp

Montreal Impact star Mapp repeated De Rosario’s feat of securing back-to-back Canadian Championships and MVP awards in 2013 and 2014.

The American opened the scoring as Impact beat Toronto 6-0 in the 2013 semi-final second leg to overturn a 2-0 deficit and reach the final.

The following year he netted against Impact’s arch-rivals again, equalising in the first leg of the final before a 1-0 second leg win secured Impact’s third trophy.

Predictions

FC Edmonton vs Vancouver Whitecaps

Edmonton are struggling in the NASL this season, with just one win from five games, but outclassed fellow NASL side Ottawa Fury 6-2 on aggregate in the preliminary round.

Whitecaps are expected to field a young squad in the belated first leg, but Edmonton have never beaten a MLS team over two legs.

This is the third series meeting between the clubs; Whitecaps won 5-1 on aggregate in 2012 and 5-2 on aggregate in 2013.

Verdict: 1-3

Images courtesy of Mike Stobe, Minas Panagiotakis and Abel Images, with thanks