What had been a relatively smooth launch for the CanPL, with seven teams holding their unveiling events, with nothing but positive reactions from the greater soccer community, feels like a long time ago. The Fury’s decision not to join the league, has rocked the foundations of Canadian soccer.

Mark Goudie, the CEO of Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, stated Wednesday that the club does not plan to join the Canadian Premier League for the 2019 season.

But, this year, well, the Ottawa Fury offered very little in terms of fight. After losing 1-0 to Toronto FC in the first leg last week, the Fury were beaten 3-0 by the Reds in Wednesday night’s second leg at BMO Field.

“The safety of our fans, employees and supporters is the highest priority for TFC. The events which took place in Ottawa last night involving TFC supporters were unacceptable and needlessly put the safety of others at risk."

Toronto FC will be happy with an efficient 1-0 road win over the Ottawa Fury. The Montreal Impact, meanwhile, might not be so happy with its 1-0 home win over the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Unfortunately, there is a major talking point coming out of the game, and it doesn't have to do with the final score. It's the state of left winger/fullback Maxim Tissot’s health.

The Fury will say “heck, we won the first leg, got a road goal, didn’t give up one” and be confident that it will handle things at home for  the second leg; Blainville can say “heck, we fell asleep right at the start of the game, but didn’t give up anything after that.”

Of course, as Beirne will be shaking hands, meeting and greeting, over the next two days, a lot of topics will be covered. We talked about a few Wednesday night.

The Ottawa Fury can likely make a long shopping list of Canadians, and on Wednesday the club announced the signings of fullback Maxim Tissot and centre back Nana Attakora.

Several times during our phone conversation, new Ottawa Fury Nikola Popovic coach used the word “connection.”