Time for sports fans to really get behind the Impact

While the Montreal Canadiens were on their way to a third straight loss in their best of seven division final series with the Tampa Bay Lightning, I was at Saputo Stadium to watch the hometown Impact soccer team defeat Toronto FC 1-0 in the first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship, which involves the five top professional clubs in Canada, in the race to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League. This is an international competition between professional clubs from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.  Montrealers are quite familiar with it all now since the Impact went all the way to the finals against Club America of Mexico, with more than 61,000 people pouring into Olympic Stadium last  week.

Saputo Stadium, which is a work of art, was hardly filled to capacity on this night as many fans no doubt stayed home to watch the Habs self destruct. Sorry folks, but it is curtains for the Canadiens. They will not win four straight. Hats off to them for a terrific 2014-15 season. It is now time to get behind the Impact and the Alouettes.

On  a warm and sunny evening as it was Wednesday, there is  no better place to be than an open air stadium the likes of Saputo. It kind of brings to mind all of the talk about how the Expos would have survived if that downtown outdoor stadium had been built near the Bell Centre.

There was great end to end action and  Jack McInerney's goal at the 68th minute was a thing of beauty, bringing the crowd to its feet.

O Canada is sung at Saputo Stadium

I was delighted to see an Impact first on this night - a first at least in some time. A young lady was brought on to the field to sing the national anthem. What a breath of fresh air! For years the Impact have either completely ignored  the anthem or just played the instrumental version. "This was just a test," a senior staffer told me. Let's hope owner Joey Saputo gave this test a thumbs up!

Adam Braz

Adam Braz

Before the game I chatted with Adam Braz, a former star defender with the team. When he retired a few years ago, he was appointed club manager. The role mostly dealt with logistical matters and support for players getting settled in the city. He left two seasons ago to join the family real estate business, but when the team's technical director Matt Jordan was hired by Houston last fall to become their general manager, Joey Saputo wisely repatriated Braz. A well spoken and educated young man, I have always considered Braz to one of the franchise's best ambassadors. While he has a heavy load to carry in his new job, somehow the team must find a way to get him out on the speaking circuit. He can sell tickets! See my video interview with him below.

Making Impact: A visit to Saputo Stadium is a satisfying experience

Some of the action I caught on my camera.

I attended my first Montreal Impact game of 2014 on June 4 at Saputo Stadium and I did not go home disappointed. This has been a frustrating season thus far for our franchise in Major League Soccer, with a disappointing 2-6-4 record. On this night they defeated Toronto FC 1-0  in the Amway Canadian Championship final. By virtue of a 1-1 draw in game one versus Toronto, a hard to understand formula meant that Montreal only needed a scoreless draw to advance to the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League, the annual club competition featuring 24 teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

This was the type of game that makes one want to return for more: end to end action, lots of physical contact, a rowdy crowd and excellent ambience. There is a rivalry between Montreal and Toronto and it showed. Head coach Frank Klopas looked as if he was behind the bench for the final of the World Cup, pacing back and forth and repeatedly berating the officials for missed calls. And why not? Advancing in an international tournament is a shot in the arm for a team performing poorly.

It was a player who just goes by the name “Felipe,” who scored a sensational goal at the 90 minute mark that lifted the crowd to its feet after sniper Marco Di Vaio had hit the crossbar. Felipe broke the rules when he pulled off his shirt to celebrate, receiving a yellow card from the official.

With the Canadiens season over and the Canadian Football League possibly looking at a strike, the Impact may be the only game in town. If you have not seen a game yet, you are doing yourself a disservice. The stadium, which has been refurbished since its original opening in 2008, is gorgeous and worth attending a game for all by itself.  If the Saputo family had owned the Montreal Expos, baseball would have still been here for they would likely have built their own stadium here. Joey Saputo is as a dedicated a team owner you will find. His family poured $7.5 million alone for the construction and then came up with the countless millions necessary to enter the MLS.

As CTV’s André Corbeil shared with  me before the game, “this is just a great place to come sit down for a few hours with a friend, chat, watch the game and enjoy. And you will probably want to come back.”

The in-house entertainment are the Ultas fan club. They sit behind the net near the entrance to the stadium, chant en masse the entire game and even light flares at a certain point.

For this game it began to rain during the second half. Many of the seats are covered by overhangs so in the case of my group, we did not get wet at all.

I would like to see the Impact have a living human being sing the national anthems and come up with a way to enhance their physical presence in the West End of town where many, many potential fans wait to be courted.

Saputo Stadium is directly next door to Olympic Stadium. There is plenty of parking and a slew of restaurants to choose from along Sherbrooke Street East. One of those is the first Dallas BBQ franchise in the city. It is on the site of a former Scores and has a very similar format and menu. I urged the manager Tim, who resides in Snowdon,  to take a look at Sherbrooke Street West in NDG and some vacancies. A Dallas BBQ would look pretty good there.

The Impact’s next game is June 11 (7:30 p.m.)  when they host D.C. United at Saputo Stadium.