Victor Montagliani: "From the technical side, there are a handful of players in MLS who could be part of the team that would be at the Gold Cup. And it would hurt if those players weren’t playing. But, when you look at all the countries in CONCACAF, we might be one of the ones least affected by an MLS work stoppage. Certainly, it would not affect us like it would the United States, where the majority of their players play in MLS.”

So, as MLS looks to tweaking or making major changes to the international rule as it relates to Canadians, the Canadian Soccer Association and the league need to set a goal that’s more cut-and-dried than giving more roster spots or even, gasp, dropping the Canadians-as-internationals-on-American-teams designation. Someone needs to write down a number. And that number would be a ballpark average of first-team minutes for Canadians.

enough to get picked in the second round of the 2013 SuperDraft. A year later, the Canadian reflects on a season of frustration and a new beginning in the nation’s capital...

In 2013, the chance of a Canadian player getting first-team minutes with an MLS side was only slightly better than it was in 1996. We looked at every minute played by all Canadians who have ever been in MLS employ; we found that, over the last four years, the first-team minutes granted to Canucks by MLS coaches have been in steady and serious decline...

"In the first half it wasn't very good. We made a lot of mistakes… the second half was better, not much better but better," head coach Marco Schallibaum said. "There were some chances to score and maybe get a 1-1 but we were not good enough to win this game today."

“It’s not a penalty. I’m biting my lips here as hard as I possibly can,” Miller said, sporting a wry smile. “What I’m saying and what I’m feeling are two totally different things, I can assure you.”

“It would be easy for me to say he’s made a foolish mistake, but I will leave it at that,” said Miller. The coach said Canadian supporters need to remember that Cavallini is “still a young boy” and shouldn’t be vilified for saying no.

Canadian national team coach Miller had nothing but praise for Bekker, saying the TFC midfielder’s service was excellent, and that Canada could have won the game 4-1 or 4-2.

There are five Canadian players making US$35,125 this season, while eight more are on the books for base salaries of $46,500 each.

“I felt all day that we were going to have a good result,” said head coach Marco Schallibaum. “I also felt it yesterday in training and during my pregame speech tonight. The guys were pumped.