As their principal league rival came to terms with their seven-year MLS itch by splashing their loadsamoney cash and monopolizing the headlines, that likely even NYC FC owner Sheik Mansour has been paying attention to, the Montreal Impact have gone about their off season with a minimum of fuss. Terry Sawchuk Jersey . Last fall as local media awaited news on if Schällibaum would return, finally on December 18th a plume of Stade Saputo white smoke arrived in the form of a solitary press release stating the Impact were placing their 2014 Trust in Frank. That very same evening at a swanky downtown hotel, the Impact hosted 500 of their favourite supporters at their inaugural Members Council. Introduced to the faithful, Klopas was sat at the head table sharing a stage with the IMFC podium - Joey Saputo, Nick de Santis and Richard Legendre. Klopas slipped out of town the following day - only though after some Christmas shopping with his wife; a tradition for the couple which dates back to the ex-Fire coachs playing days. The Impacts third head coach would remain in Chicago until a week into the New Year. Upon officially taking up the reigns as head coach and director of player personnel the first point of business for Klopas was the following weekends combine. The opening of training camp was a fortnight away. As the days ebbed away speculation mounted on what the club would do to plug significant roster gaps. Most prominently this came in the shape of a retired Nesta plus the Impact were in need of replacing their captain who had been acquired in December by Barrack Obamas local club. Then throw in the Impacts need to sign a free scoring supporting cast member for Di Vaio, a player they cant expect to repeat his MVP type season. But the only news for local media to sink their teeth into at this time came from city hall as the Mayor proclaimed he would attend March the 22nd home opener. Then just as the Toronto FC plush red carpet was about to extend itself from Drakes downtown condo to a certain part of North London, training camp a mere 10 days away, the Impact were finally able to announce a player signing. Not a marquee signing most hoped for, instead it was the re-upping of the first player to pen an Impact MLS deal, Nelson Rivas. Having missed last terms entire regular season, the Columbian has the perfect motivation to return the faith shown in him by the club. Aside from calling up three Academy Players plus including four Super Draft picks, Rivas was the only senior player added to the squad of 21 Klopas inherited for when camp opened January 27th. A 28-player squad that was still without Adrian Lopez who was still home in Spain continuing the rehab of a late summer shattered ACL. The FA Cup winner is not expected in Montreal before Easter. It would be a full fortnight into camp before another playing signing was announced when just on Monday the Impact confirmed Andrés Romero would return on loan from his Brazilian side. Romero had certainly impressed in early 2013 but as the season wore on the 24-year-old Argentine became the brunt for much supporter frustration. His form taking the most significant of dips, one we now know is strongly attributed to his wife having to return home to Argentina in preparation for the addition of welcoming twins to the Romero household. The Impacts wait for a new player signing finally ended this morning when announcing the signature of 21-year-old centre forward, Santiago Gonzalez. The Uruguayan, a so termed ‘Discovery Signing becomes the fifth South American footballer to join the club. And with it, there goes the neighbourhood and the myth the Impact only sign over-aged Italians. A few hours later Toronto introduced Inter Milans Champions League winning goalkeeper and Harry Redknapp castaway, Julio Cesar on a season-long loan. The man Felipe Scolari will pin his goalkeeping faith on during this summers World Cup is expected to man the posts for a team that leaked goals in 2013 until returning home for his nations tilt at securing a sixth world crown. Toronto FCs shiny looking new squad currently comes resplendent with more DPs on their roster than even the LA Galaxy are permitted. Dont, though, expect the Impact to up its DP quota anytime soon. Following yesterdays final training session ahead of the clubs departure late this afternoon to Orlando in defence of its Disney World Pro Soccer Classic title, De Santis poured extremely cold water on speculation linking the Impact to Valencias Pablo Piatti and SS Lazios Stefano Mauri. Having added a summer signing DP in each of its two MLS seasons to date, dont be surprised if the Impact continue that trend following this summers World Cup Finals. The Impact are set to get their pre-season and their Disney defence underway February 19th when they take on Fluminense FCs Under-23 team. Rounding out the Impacts group is two significant pre-season matches against the very best in all of MLS last season. A Supporter Shield wielding New York Red Bulls and an MLS Cup Champion, Sporting KC. With Toronto FC paired in a much weaker group which contains Orlando City SC, Columbus and Philadelphia, anything less than an appearance in March 1sts Disney final will likely be deemed as failure. With the Impact starting their 2014 season down in Dallas the night of March 8th, how appetizing is the prospect of a Disney final return and testing themselves against their neighbours, the club which has made most noise this off-season. You can reach and follow Noel Butler at:Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca@TheSoccerNoel Beginning with March 8ths game in Dallas, you can listen to all 34 Impact regular season games home and away this season on TSN690 – online at www.TSN690.ca Andreas Athanasiou Jersey . - Houston defensive end J. Luke Witkowski Jersey . Rooneys latest piece of football genius lost in the furore which now stalks David Moyes, and the man who gave the Manchester United striker his start as a 16-year old at Goodison Park back in 2002. http://www.hockeyredwingsauthentic.com/authentic-trevor-daley-red-wings-jersey/ . In an interview with La Presse this week, the five-time Stanley Cup champion and three-time NHL scoring leader specifically took aim at wingers Thomas Vanek and Max Pacioretty, saying they cant show up in a 7-4 win over the New York Rangers in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final and come up empty in Game 6.TORONTO -- J.A. Happ changed his mindset Thursday night after giving up seven earned runs in his previous appearance. The Toronto left-hander decided to pitch "a little angry" against Chicago and it led to his best start of the season. Happ, who had a season-high eight strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings, combined with two relievers on a four-hit shutout as the Blue Jays blanked the White Sox 7-0 to kick off a four-game series. "He had that good life on his fastball and you could see them swinging through some pitches," said Toronto manager John Gibbons. "Thats when you know hes on." It was a strong bounceback performance by Happ after he lasted just four innings in an 8-0 loss to Cincinnati last week. He originally planned to forget about that start, but it was on his mind as he took the mound on a glorious summer evening at Rogers Centre. "I did pitch a little upset, a little angry tonight at myself," Happ said. "So that helped just trying to be in the zone, trying not to let those kind of games happen (again)." Happ walked a pair and threw 79 of his 124 pitches for strikes. Dustin McGowan and Chad Jenkins completed the shutout as Toronto (45-36) moved two games ahead of the idle Baltimore Orioles in the American League East. It capped an impressive first half of the season for the Blue Jays, who lead the American League with 35 victories from their starters. "Weve played some good baseball and really we deserve to be where were at, to tell you the truth," Gibbons said. Jose Reyes had four hits and Adam Lind drove in three runs as Toronto outhit Chicago 12-4. The stumbling White Sox (36-44) have lost seven of their last eight games and dropped 10 of 11 on the road. "That game just smelled right from the start," said Chicago manager Robin Ventura. "We didnt play very well, didnt hit very well, didnt play defence very well and it showed." The Blue Jays gave Happ an early lead after Reyes and Cabrera reached on back-to-back infield singles in the first inning off Scott Carroll (2-4). Lind drove a ball into the right-field corner that easily scored Reyes from second base. The throw from former Blue Jays outfielder Moises Sierra was between home plate and third base, allowing Cabrera to score on the error. Reyes tripled in the second inning to bring home Juan Francisco, who reached on a walk. Reyes drove the ball off the top of the wall in right-centre field and it bounced high in the air and back onto the field. The play was reviewed to see if it should have been a home run but the calll was upheld. Custom Detroit Red Wings Jerseys. Toronto started to pull away in the fourth inning as Lind drove in Reyes and Anthony Gose with a single. Lind finished with three hits to bump his average up to .342. "Against right-handed pitchers, I mean whos been better in baseball, really?" Gibbons said. "I dont think anybody has. Lind really fits that three-hole mode. Hes got great discipline, hes kind of a pure hitter." Dioner Navarro put a charge into the crowd of 23,248 in the fifth when he hit a drive to the warning track in left-centre field. Left-fielder Dayan Viciedo flubbed the catch attempt and centre-fielder Leury Garcias throw to second base was wide. Navarro ran to third when the ball rolled into foul territory and actually got the wave home -- a stunning decision by third-base coach Luis Rivera given that the Toronto catcher is probably the slowest player on the team. Abreu threw the ball home in plenty of time for Adrian Nieto to apply the tag. Gibbons joked that Navarro might not be able to play for two weeks now after that long run around the bases. "Ill kill Luis if he sends me again, but Im ready to play tomorrow," Navarro said with a laugh. Carroll gave up nine hits, five earned runs and two walks over five innings. He had four strikeouts. Notes: White Sox centre-fielder Adam Eaton left the game in the first inning due to cramping in his left leg. He was replaced by Garcia. ... Steve Tolleson replaced Francisco at third base in the seventh inning. Tolleson had been bothered by blurry vision of late but the problem was corrected after a visit to the eye doctor earlier in the day. ... Tolleson was called out on a close play at first base in the eighth inning. After a long review of nearly 3 1/2 minutes, the call stood. ... Jose Abreu singled in the sixth inning to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. ... The game took exactly three hours to play. ... Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista continues to make progress in his recovery from a mild hamstring strain. Theres a chance he could return to the lineup on the weekend. ... Toronto has held sole possession of first place for 35 straight days. ... Before the game, the White Sox designated former Blue Jays left-hander Scott Downs for assignment and recalled southpaw Eric Surkamp from triple-A Charlotte. ... Knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (6-6, 4.04 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday night against Chicagos John Danks (6-6, 4.34). ... The Blue Jays get an off-day Monday before closing out their nine-game homestand with a two-game mini-series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Cheap Heat Jerseys Cheap Bucks Jerseys Cheap Timberwolves Jerseys Cheap Pelicans Jerseys Cheap Knicks Jerseys Cheap Thunder Jerseys Cheap Magic Jerseys Cheap 76ers Jerseys Cheap Suns Jerseys Cheap Blazers Jerseys Cheap Sacramento Kings Jerseys Cheap Spurs Jerseys Cheap Raptors Jerseys Cheap Jazz Jerseys Cheap Wizards Jerseys ' ' '