Just the thought of corner kicks will give Impact supporters nightmares throughout their offseason. All three TFC goals in regulation time of the second leg came off of corners that Montreal couldn't deal with.

And, when the chips are down in a big-game situation, Toronto FC’s Sebastian Giovinco and Montreal’s Ignacio Piatti showed us why you would rather have them on your team than any of the three MVP candidates.

The hopes for a 401-Derby Eastern Conference Final are still very much alive. The spirits of Macdonald and Cartier are strong.

The Impact’s coaching carousel keeps on spinning — but Mauro Biello hopes to bring it to a stop. The much-loved Impact legend hopes to see the “interim” tag removed from his job title

Sometimes, dammit, don’t you just love this game? How it could turn enemies into strange bedfellows? How Smits’s agony of defeat against the Impact a little more than a year ago could end up having the chance to be part of the greatest victory thrill in Canadian club soccer history?

“After Evan had finished warming up, it was time for me to go in and face the shooters,” recalled Smits, who was back in Edmonton on Thursday. “And, any time the ball went over the goal, the fans on that side weren’t trying to just toss the ball back; they were trying to hit me. They were throwing it as hard as they could. They were throwing objects at me.”

They aren’t getting a lot of MLS playing time just yet, but a group of locally trained players have steadily moved up the ranks all the way to the Montreal Impact’s senior roster. Will they eventually get their chances to play?

“He (Mallan) had his hands behind his back and the ball’s gone off the label on his jersey. That’s never a penalty. The funny thing is, I thought Drew was having a good game up to that point. But there was also six minutes of time added on. As soon as the six minutes went up, you go the feeling that something was up.”

When a rabbit is seen at the stadium, good things happen for FC Edmonton. Maybe it was the mystical power of the rabbit that made Montreal Impact defender Karl Ouimette blow an 89th-minute defensive header on a long kick. Maybe it was the rabbit that gave FCE substitute Michael Nonni the foresight to jump on Ouimette’s turnover, round keeper Evan Bush, and score the goal that gave the NASL Eddies their first-ever Amway Canadian Championship win over MLS opposition.

"You have to say that the season as a whole was a good one. We may not have achieved everything we wanted but it's normal. We're going to have some serious discussions. It's important for the future that the club move forward and that everyone is going in the same direction.”