A nearly full house of 58,912 fans, the most to ever turn out for a pro soccer game in Montreal, showed up for the Impact’s MLS home opener at Olympic Stadium, with very few of them returning home disappointed after seeing their team put on a solid performance against the visiting Chicago Fire.

On Friday, the NASL expansion side announced that it had signed ex-Whitecaps Blake Wagner and Wes Knight. Wagner and Knight will join two other former Whitecaps, Kevin Harmse and Greg Janicki — who were the first two signings the Scorpions ever made.

But, as you look at TV numbers and attendance figures — as an economist, not as a sports fan — you’d find it harder and harder to distinguish between the MLS business model and the NHL’s business model.

The Montreal Impact held its pre-season open house on Thursday evening in front of about 2,000 of its most devoted fans at a poster-festooned Olympic Stadium, many drawn by the news that 1,000 tickets for Saturday’s opener were to be given away to the first folks turning up.

Aron Winter outmanaged and outcoached Arena in the second leg. Winter made the right decisions, while Arena struggled to adjust. And the coaching decisions could very well have been the deciding factors in the quarters.

With more than 50,000 fans expected for Saturday’s home opener at Olympic Stadium, the Montreal Impact has made an attempt to shore up the team’s attack.

If, last July, someone was to predict that Toronto FC would be the last MLS team standing in the CONCACAF Champions League, they’d have been offered some pretty sweet odds.

But the team’s staff is planning to place flyers and posters around Vancouver’s downtown core, promoting FC Edmonton and taking some jabs at the Whitecaps.

Alhassan got 12 of the 18 first-place votes from the membership of the North American Soccer Reporters.

Last week, NASL confirmed that 14 of its 2011 alumni were on MLS rosters heading into opening weekend. Now, Emory is added to that list.