That concern is extended to what’s happening at Stade Saputo. Or, more accurately, what’s not happening at Stade Saputo. Through two home dates, there have been a concerning number of unused blue seats.

Projected to come out on the short end of a one-sided affair against the relentlessly offensive visiting Whitecaps, Marc Dos Santos’s pink and black-kitted crew surprised by showing far better ensemble play than they did on Saturday in its NASL game against Tampa Bay FC and made the game a close one, losing a 1-0 decision to Major League Soccer's Vancouver representative.

With one tackle, FC Edmonton’s slim chance of upsetting Toronto FC in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship evaporated.

Harry Sinkgraven and Aron Winter know each other well. They played against each other in the Dutch league. They were in classes together as they worked towards getting their coaching certificates. And, both are working to bring the Dutch 4-3-3 style to their respective teams. Winter’s Toronto FC and Sinkgraven’s FC Edmonton will face each other Wednesday in the first leg of their Nutrilite Canadian Championship semifinal at Commonwealth Stadium. But, once the first ball is kicked in anger, the friendship between the two will evaporate.

FC Edmonton’s two newest signings were on hand at the club’s meet-the-team event at a south side restaurant on Monday. Midfielder Kyle Porter and defender Adrian Leroy were on hand to shake hands with fans as the club hyped its Wednesday date against Toronto FC at Commonwealth Stadium, the opening leg of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship semifinals.

FC Edmonton debuted its new blue home jersey at a meet-the-team event at a south side eatery Monday. The club is also expected to announce the hiring of a new general manager later this week, after the first leg of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship semifinal against Toronto FC Wednesday. The team has also set a local broadcast crew for webcasts and television.

But the Montreal-Vancouver matchup is more than a rekindling of an old, bitter rivalry. It’s fascinating test for the staggering Impact, which moves to MLS next season. So, far, this NASL campaign, the Impact hasn’t won in three matches. The club has scored only once. No member of its current roster is signed to a deal that would take him into MLS in 2012.

FC Edmonton’s final push to promote Wednesday’s Nutrilite Canadian Championship opener at Commonwealth Stadium begins on Monday. The club is hosting a meet-the-team event at Sports Central Bar and Grill (9221 34 Ave.) Monday at 6 p.m. Edmonton products Shaun Saiko and Chris Lemire, Trinidad and Tobago striker Conrad Smith and coach Harry Sinkgraven will be on hand to meet fans. FC Edmonton’s new all-white road jerseys will be available for sale for the first time at the event; here’s to hoping that the new home blue strip also is at the event. On Tuesday, Toronto FC coach Aron Winter and Sinkgraven will attend a press conference at Commonwealth Stadium. For the pair, it will be a reunion of sorts. The two took classes together to get their coaching certifications in the Netherlands.

The Montreal Impact was hoping to record its first victory of the 2011 campaign over FC Tampa Bay in front of 13,000 fans this afternoon — but inclement weather kept the attendance down as the home team had to settle for a 0-0 draw in front of considerably fewer spectators. Near-freezing temperatures and winds that regularly gusted beyond 30km/h combined to make for an afternoon during which only the 36 media folk on the press gallery and the Ultras in section 114 — their drums banging, flags flying and vocal cords fraying — seemed to be immune. It was weather more appropriate to November than late April.

Edwini-Bonsu, an Edmonton native, has been on the wish lists of FCE fans since the club started playing friendlies in 2010, long before it kicked a ball in NASL play. But the former Canadian U-20 standout hinted on his Twitter account that it might be time to go “back to Europe.” And he also pledged not to play with the Montreal Impact, the Whitecaps old hated Div. 2 rival.