Much on line for Voyageurs Cup battle

A19th century politician once said: “There is no life so happy as a voyageur’s life.”

And there are few things that make Toronto FC and Montreal Impact players happier than winning the Voyageurs Cup.

Starting on Wednesday night at Saputo Stadium, TFC and the Montreal Impact will meet in a home/away series to determine the winner of the Canadian Championship.

The Reds are going for a fourthstraight title (and eighth overall) while the Impact are seeking their first title since 2014 and fourth overall. It’s the third all-time meeting in the final between the clubs, with the rivals splitting the previous two: Montreal winning in 2014 and TFC exacting revenge three years later.

And though the tournament comes in the middle of the two teams trying to solidify MLS playoff spots, winning the Canadian Championship and qualifying for the CONCACAF Champions League next year is huge.

“For us, it’s important that, in Canada, we are viewed as the top club in Canada,” said TFC coach Greg Vanney. “We want to be that first and foremost. In the provinces outside of our three (MLS) provinces (Ontario, Quebec and B.C.), we want to be the team that people follow. And if we can do that part — that is to show that we’re better than those teams — then this is one way to do that.”

Toronto and Montreal are teams going in different directions in MLS play. TFC are on a nine-game undefeated streak in all competitions and are now 7-3-5 with a pluseight goal differential since the end of June. The Impact has lost three of its last four games in league play, including a 1-0 loss at home against bottom-feeding FC Cincinnati last Saturday. Toronto sits in fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings, positioned in a firstround home playoff spot with 45 points, while the Impact are eighth with 37 points and are on the outside looking in, in terms of nabbing a post-season spot. Given that, there’s a sense that the Quebec side will throw everything it has at its Upper Canada rival on Wednesday in attempt to try to win something this season.

“We need to see this as an opportunity,” Impact midfielder Samuel Piette told reporters this week. “Every time we play Toronto, they’re always different games. It’s our direct rival and a team we don’t like. If we can win this championship, it’ll be a positive point in our season, one we didn’t get to experience last year.”

Vanney will take a full complement of 22 players to Montreal as the club will travel from La Belle Province on Thursday right to Los Angeles for an MLS match on Saturday night against LAFC.

“These Toronto-Montreal games, they’re special,” said TFC captain Michael Bradley. “There’s something in the air when these two teams walk out on the field. It’s not made up, it’s not commercialized. There’s no need to play it up because it’s reality. It’s there.”