As the MLS Playoffs resume this weekend with the second leg of the Conference Semifinals, Canadas three teams will be watching on from afar. Where To Buy Cheap Jerseys . Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC failed to make the postseason while Montreal Impact fell at the first hurdle losing heavily to Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round. This year the leagues Golden Boot did head north for the first time courtesy of Camilos 22 goals for the Whitecaps but none of Canadas teams have ever been close to being an MLS Cup contender. What if you could pick a team using players from the three Canadian MLS teams? Who would be in your starting lineup? Heres mine in a 4-3-3 formation, based on performances from the 2013 season. Goalkeeper - Joe Bendik: This one was a close call with Montreals Troy Perkins having a strong season and Vancouvers David Ousted a formidable presence between the posts following his mid-year move from Denmark. If I had a full season to judge Ousted, he may have been my choice but Bendik was excellent throughout the whole year for Toronto FC in his first season as the clubs number one goalkeeper. He was handed the opportunity following an injury to Stefan Frei and he grabbed it with both hands. The 24-year-old Georgia born keeper saved TFC on countless occasions while having to deal with a constantly changing back four in front of him. Right Back - YP Lee: At 36 years of age, YP Lee brought an illustrious career to a close in 2013, retiring from the game at the conclusion of the Whitecaps season. The South Korean international appeared at three World Cups during his career and was an extremely valuable player for Vancouver during his two years with the club. Although Lees performances in 2013 did not meet the heights of the previous year when he was named the teams MVP, the veteran provided a steadying presence at full back. He is positionally very strong and good defending one-on-one, but it is his ability to get forward down the right, especially during home games that stood out. Lee narrowly beat out Montreals Hassoun Camara for a spot in my fantasy starting lineup. Central Defender - Matteo Ferrari: Ferrari was a calming presence in Montreals defence in 2013 as he draws on his vast experience in Europe to be a big asset for the Impact in his second MLS season. He is aerially strong, very athletic and has a good positional sense. Ferrari is also a handful in the opposition penalty area as a threat in the air from set pieces. Central Defender - Steven Caldwell: The former Scottish international was the main reason for Toronto FCs defensive improvement in 2013. A defence that set a league record for the number of goals conceded in 2012 was tightened up considerably and Caldwells leadership was a key. He reads the game very well and is a commanding presence in the air. Had Jay DeMerit not missed a large part of the season due to injury, the Whitecaps captain would likely have been a strong contender for one of the two central defensive positions. Left Back - Jeb Brovsky: Brovsky was defensively solid as Montreals first choice left back and has really settled into that position well. He also likes to get forward down the left and finished the year with two goals and two assists. He played in every match until needing surgery with four games to go. Brovsky battles hard, and is also an excellent character to have in the locker room. Midfield - Matias Laba: 2013 will be remembered as the year Toronto FC over-promised and under-delivered, but for all the signings that didnt materialize, there was one high profile addition that will prove to be a major piece of the club moving forward. 21-year-old Argentine Matias Laba grew in stature with each game he played as he settled into MLS and has the potential to be one of the best players in the league in his position. His distribution is superb. He is tenacious in breaking up play and he also showed good ability to burst forward from a holding midfield role. Midfield - Patrice Bernier: The Canadian midfielder can be an impact player in both defensive and attacking aspects of the game. He has the qualities to win possession and then when he gets the ball, he has excellent distribution. Bernier can pull the strings in midfield, start attacks and also provide the killer pass that can lead to a goal, he finished the season with a total of eight assists for the second consecutive year. Bernier also has a perfect record from the penalty spot since joining Montreal two years ago, having scored all 10 of his spot kicks. His absence due to injury in the final weeks of the season left a hole the Impact were unable to fill. Midfield - Nigel Reo Coker: An experienced, fearless leader, Reo Coker had an excellent first year in Major League Soccer. He is strong in the tackle, positive with distribution and his lung-bursting runs forward can change defence into attack in the blink of an eye. When Reo Coker speaks, his team responds, and there was evidence of that on a few of occasions this year when the London born midfielder lifted the Caps team on his shoulders. He is also versatile; most at home as a central midfielder, he can also be effective on the right side of midfield and as cover at right back. Forward - Kekuta Manneh: The teenager didnt get the opportunity to be a regular starter for the Whitecaps in his rookie season but showed enough during his limited appearances to prove he has the ability to be a match-winner, finishing the year with six goals. He is a raw but exceptional talent with great speed and composure in front of goal, as he showed when scoring his hat-trick at Seattle in early October. With a run of games and experienced heads around him, Manneh can blossom into one of the most dangerous attacking players in MLS. I originally had Vancouvers Kenny Miller in the lineup instead of Manneh, but at just 18 years of age, the Gambians potential edged him ahead of the veteran Scot to give a youthful spark to the team. Forward - Marco Di Vaio: The Italian may be getting towards the end of his career, but he made an exceptional impact for Montreal on and off the field during the season. He was in the chase for the Golden Boot until the final day of the regular season, finishing with 20 goals. Di Vaio is one of the fittest players on the team and is an excellent example for the younger players on the team. He reads the game superbly and his intelligent running creates opportunities for himself and others. He is one of the best, most clinical finishers in MLS. Forward - Camilo: The Brazilian had the best season of his career, finishing as the leagues Golden Boot winner with 22 goals and being named to the MLS All Star team. There was great variety amongst the goals he scored including two diving headers at Seattle, a free kick against Sporting Kansas City, and of course the spectacular finish against Portland Timbers. He also finished the year with six assists. At the age of 25, he has some great years ahead of him.So there is my starting 11. There were plenty of close calls and a couple of decisions that Im still not certain about, but there will never be a perfect answer. The lineup I have chosen would play a 4-3-3 formation but could also switch to a 4-4-2 with Kekuta Manneh and Nigel Reo-Coker playing wide in midfield. Feel free to send me your thoughts on who should be in the 11 - @lukewileman on Twitter. Wholesale Jerseys Online . A police inspector told The Associated Press the crane operator is not yet suspected of any wrongdoing but is considered a key witness to the accident at the Arena Corinthians. Best Site Buy China Jerseys . PETERSBURG, Fla. https://www.cheapjerseysreview.com/ .com) - Patrik Elias registered the winner in the shootout as New Jersey nipped Toronto 2-1 at Prudential Center on Wednesday.Having served the first game of his suspension in Game 3 of the Blackhawks-Blues series, Seabrook will miss only two more if the series should end in five games, and regardless, thats all he will miss according to the NHLs handling of this affair. But my amendment will force him to miss one or two more games if the series goes that long and if Backes does not return. You see, Im interested in fairness, and theres no fairness if theres a discrepancy between the number of games Seabrook misses and the number of games Backes is forced to sit out. In short, Seabrook should only return to the series if Backes does. If Seabrook comes back and Backes doesnt, imagine the outcry if Seabrook scores the winning goal to eliminate the Blues. I dont want to see that. I dont think the NHL does either, but given the chance to prevent that scenario, the NHL took a pass. On fairness. Now, I will save both of us time by asking you to go to the top, insert the names of Matt Cooke and Tyson Barrie where Seabrook and Backes were mentioned, and read this again. Same deal—Cooke should not return to the Minnnesota-Colorado series unless Barrie does, and we know Barrie wont, due to an MCL injury, so Cooke is either finished for the season or waiting to play St. Louis or Chicago. No need for a hearing, NHL. ------- Heres item two - the 2015 NHL entry draft, to be known as the Conor McDavid-Jack Eichel sweepstakes. McDavid and Eichel are two so-called "franchise-changers". The NHL teams that land them wont just be better, they may succeed for many years to come solely because of them. So there will be more interest than normal in the draft lottery that will identify the teams with 2015s first and second picks, and more interest than normal, so the theory of "tanking" goes, in playing just badly enough to secure the most favourable lottery odds next year.Heres where I come in. I will create more interest than ever in the draft lottery and, at the same time, end all thought and any mention of tanking. I will do that by giving all 14 non-playoff teams an equal shot at the first draft pick in 2015. Fans of each of those 14 teams will hang on every second of the draft lottery. Itll be similar to, but better than, the draw that sent Sidney Crosby to Pittsburgh. It was packed with suspense, but it had odds attached that happened to favour the Penguins, so there wasnt the wide-open nature of competition and interest that pure luck creates. However, the biggest reason for eliminating draft lottery odds is to wipe out any incentive to gain a draft advantage on the ice, and to eliminnate all the talk that goes with it. Cheap Jerseys For Sale. As the imaginary leader of the NHL, Im furious whenever I hear a team advised to think about winning a draft by losing a game. The NHL includes just one guarantee when it sells a ticket - it guarantees a contest that will see two teams trying their best to win. If there is any doubt that the customer is receiving that guarantee, the doubt must be removed. A "luck of the draw" draft order will do that. And before you, or the NHL complains that the worst teams should be the ones that land McDavid and Eichel, realize two things - the NHL could make it happen that way by eliminating the lottery, and chooses not to do so, and the NHLs current system allows for the possibility that its best non-playoff team will make the first draft selection. Its just unwilling to make that a stronger possibility. Im not. --------- Now its time to open the rule book and apply some common sense to it. The Tampa Bay Lightning will be complaining all the way to next season about a Ryan Callahan goal against Montreal that didnt count because…..well, because the referee thought it shouldnt count. I cant explain it better than that. When Alex Killorn was trying to put the puck past Carey Price and ended up in the net himself, all sorts of confusion ensued. The refs arms waved, play continued as Killorn extricated himself and tried to avoid Price and P.K. Subban, even as they didnt seem to be trying to avoid him, and Callahan eventually scored…..sorry…put the puck in the net. Then the refs arms waved again, and the goal was disallowed. My new rule wouldnt have allowed the Lightning to be tied with Montreal on the scoreboard, but it would have prevented all the controversy. The best new rules are simple ones. In this case, when Killorn plunged into the net, regardless of whether he did that on his own, was pushed, or did so because of contact with Price, the whistle should have blown to halt the play. Nothing good ever follows a net crash like the one involving Killorn. If he stays there, no goal can be scored. If he tries to get out, he can get mugged, or at least interfered with, and theres every chance hell be bothering the goalie enough to affect things and make any refs ruling subject to criticism. Just as the whistle blows if the puck enters the net, so should it blow if a player does. Thats all the time I have to run the NHL today. If Ive made any sense, pass it on. And if I havent, Ill try again next time. (English indie band - Im declaring this the official anthem of "Pass It On") ' ' '