The North American Soccer League took a step towards stability with the hiring of an independent commissioner on Monday. David Downs will take over as the head domo of the second-division league on April 4. Downs has 30 years of broadcast experience as an executive with ABC Sports and Univision Communications. He negotiated U.S. broadcast rights for World Cups from USA ’94 to Brazil 2014. He was also the head of the U.S. bid committee for the 2022 World Cup, which lost out to Qatar in the voting.

Before the kickoff of the season, MLS headquarters instructed its officials to crack down on fouls in the box and to make absolutely certain that a player was in an offside position before raising the flag. More penalties, more cards, less offside calls — the recipe to boost scoring. We are clearly seeing the effect of the mandate. Fans will likely have to get used to seeing the flag stay down more often than not.

Canada has announced its roster for the U-20 CONCACAF championships, which kick off two days from now in Guatemala. “We are ready to challenge for a FIFA U-20 World Cup spot,” said U-20 coach Valerio Gazzola. “The players are upbeat and ready to play.”

The needs of television have outweighed the needs of Canada’s fledgling professional team. The Canadian Soccer Association and Rogers Sportsnet unveiled the broadcast schedule for the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, and the news was awful for FC Edmonton’s front office.

This week, both Canadian keepers are nominated for MLS Save of the Week. Sutton made a couple of fantastic stops on attempts from Seattle’s Fredy Montero in a 1-0 win, but the best was a reflex stop with his arm as Montero tried to get one upstairs from only a couple of yards out. Onstad, who is old enough to recall a time when players wore cotton jerseys, made a diving stop off a redirected Columbus Crew corner, as D.C. United won its opener by a 3-1 count.

Matt Lam had just returned home from a training session when the earthquake struck. Even though Chiba, a suburb of Tokyo, was nearly 400 kilometres from the epicentre of the 9.0 temblor that triggered the tsunami that has claimed thousands of lives, the Canadian midfielder — and his mother, who was visiting at the time — they understood the gravity of the situation. “The whole building rocked back and forth,” said Lam, who is back in Edmonton, training on his own, after his club, JEF United, decided to send players home after the quake. “Even though we were 350, 400 kilometres from the epicentre, we could really feel the shake.”

Omar Bravo won the hearts and minds of soccer reporters across the continent, capturing the first Player of the Week award of the MLS season. Bravo, Sporting Kansas City’s Mexican Designated Player, scored twice as his new club travelled to Los Angeles and edged Chivas USA 3-2. As Bravo once starred for Chivas Guadalajara, the irony was too good to pass up.

MLS commissioner Don Garber thinks the temporary arrangements that the Vancouver Whitecaps have at Empire Field can be translated into other potential MLS expansion markets. A sold-out throng of 22,592 electrified the stadium as the Whitecaps beat Toronto FC 4-2.

In 2007, it took Toronto FC 23 minutes and 13 seconds its fifth MLS game before it could register a goal. It took the Vancouver Whitecaps only 15. Designated Player Eric Hassli got the party started at a sold-out Empire Field (22,592), slamming home a half volley — endearing himself as a new folk hero on the Vancouver sports scene, as the Whitecaps stormed past an overwhelmed Toronto FC 4-2 in the all-Canadian curtain-raiser for both clubs.

Oakville Soccer Club is a fascinating case in point. Earlier this month, the club unveiled a new Red Zone, where OSC-branded Umbro gear would be made available to the paying public. The new store is located in the Pine Glen Soccer Centre, where Toronto FC does the bulk of its indoor training.