This is what happens when Canadians are allowed to play. The sky doesn’t fall. The team doesn’t go winless. If you don’t ever present challenges for your Canadian players, how can they ever rise to them?

Then, the replay; it showed Haber was a step ahead of those three defenders when the ball was struck. The linesman had got the offside call correct. We couldn’t even have the cold solace of a conspiracy theory.

But, that doesn’t mean the Canadian scene was dead when it comes to the North American first and second divisions. This weekend, Bruno Zebie made his NASL debut, coming on as a sub for FC Edmonton in its 1-1 draw with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. But, what makes it all the more interesting is that his brother, Allan Zebie, started the game.

But at no time in that scoreless 2013 run did Canada have a chance as clear-cut, as golden, as the one that Cyle Larin spurned in the first half of the match in Carson, Calif. against El Salvador.

Mason Trafford scores. Hanson Boakai scores. Sadi Jalali scores. Jay Chapman gets his first start. Jordan Hamilton makes his first MLS appearance. Nana Attakora is sent off. FC Edmonton gave a whopping 512 minutes of playing time to Canadians in a 4-0 win over San Antonio.

With the Canadian women’s national team losing a heartbreaking quarterfinal Saturday at BC Place to the English, this might be the week of weeks where our readers say “oh yeah, I guess MLS had games this weekend. Let me check the phone to see what the scores were.”

The revealing good news/bad news scenario in this week’s Quintessentially Canadian Power Rankings is found in this past weekend’s Vancouver Whitecaps match.

This weekly update to the minutes-played-by-Canadians list need to be taken with more than a few grains of salt.

Canadian national-team coach Benito Floro is working with three “new” players as the team prepares to begin its qualification process for the 2018 World Cup. FC Dallas striker Tesho Akindele, FC Edmonton defender Mallan Roberts and, um, Portland Timbers midfielder Will Johnson are all new players, in Floro’s eyes. Wait? Will Johnson? The Canadian national-team veteran? Floro put him in …

It was moving day on the Quintessentially Canadian Power Rankings.