And, in a month that was dominated by some great goalkeeping performances around the league, Hartman was named MLS Player of the Month after the ballots from the North American Soccer Reporters were counted.

Canada likely won’t have reigning national player of the year Atiba Hutchinson available for the beginning of the World Cup qualifying schedule. Canadian national team coach Stephen Hart said in a conference call Thursday that Hutchinson is still recovering from meniscus surgery in June. The injury forced Hutchinson to miss two of Canada’s three games at the Gold Cup.

FC Edmonton’s training session at Foote Field Wednesday was more, ahem, spirited than usual. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. To see some tough tackles and a few curse words uttered on the pitch is a sign that the team isn’t taking its current four-game losing streak all that well. In fact, it’s comforting to see that FC Edmonton isn’t getting comfortable with poor results.

Two great moments of indivual skill from Ryan Johnson ensured that Toronto FC’s CONCACAF Champions League campaign will continue into the group stages.

FC Edmonton confirmed Tuesday that Canadian keeper David Monsalve has signed with the club. Monsalve, who had been on trial with FCE for the past couple of weeks, announced the deal via Twitter on Friday.

The Montreal Impact became the scourge of play-by-play men across the NASL with the signing of former New York Red Bulls’ midfielder Sinisa Ubiparipovic.

And, having the games in one city does make sense. While the Canadian Soccer Association won’t release ticket info until later this week, there are strong indications from the CSA there will be multi-game ticket packages available.

"When you come back and make it 2-2, it's very good but honestly you have to win the game because we've lost two points,” TFC head coach Aron Winter said after the match.

Saturday’s match between the Vancouver Whitecaps (last overall in MLS) and the Los Angeles Galaxy (first overall) played out a lot like a mid-round FA Cup match. That is, the kind of FA Cup match that pits the Blue Square Premier club, or even a semipro factory team, that made a Cinderella run through the early round having to face one of the Premiership big boys.

Just as it did in losses to Carolina and FC Tampa Bay, FC Edmonton started poorly, surrendering two goals to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the first 29 minutes of the game. And, it led the way to a comprehensive 3-0 defeat.