OH, CANADA - Happy Anniversary !

Celebrating 100 years of their National Federation, Canada is coming into their own. The nice neighbors to the North have had little to celebrate in international terms, but have always been supportive of the "other" sport. They did manage to qualify for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, and appeared in several card and sticker sets (see below).

1986 Panini World Cup - MEXICO '86

But Canada is not new to the professional ranks. When hockey season is over, the summer months have seen Championships with both Toronto (1976) and Vancouver (1979) during the NASL years.

 In the last decade, new professional clubs have been established in Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa, with the Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact moving up from lower league to the MLS.

The development of Canadian players in North America has also taken big strides with players like Dwayne De Rosario of DC United (see below) as last season's MLS MVP.

2010 Upper Deck World of Sports - De Rosario

The Canadian Soccer Association recently revealed its All-time XI:

Goalkeeper

Craig Forest —
Defender

Bob Lenarduzzi —
Randy Samuel —
Bruce Wilson —
Midfielders

Paul James —
Julian de Guzman — 
Dwayne De Rosario —
Mike Sweeney —

Forwards

Alex Bunbury — .
Dale Mitchell —
Branko Segota — 

Second Team 
(GK) Tino Lettieri; (D) Paul Stalteri; (D) Robert Iarusci; (D) Colin Miller;
(M) Wes McLeod; (M) Paul Peschisolido, (M) Lyndon Hooper, (M) Gerry Gray,
(M) Randy Ragan, (F) John Catliff; (F) Mike Stojanovic

Congratulation  Canada !

Turning Over LEAFS in TORONTO

Well it is finally done. One of Canada's best has come home. After four Championships titles (two with San Jose and two with Houston) Ontario native Dwayne De Rosario has been traded to Toronto FC. Seen here on this 2008 Upper Deck - with a wicked team patch - De Ro will be right at home in Canada.

The reception he got at this summer's MLS All-Star Game in Toronto was high-lighted by his late Penalty Kick against West Ham United.

Speaking of TORONTO ... when I was covering NHL games for FLA Hockey Magazine, I met the oldest living MAPLE LEAF - Murray "Army" Armstrong. At age 93 he has some great stories about the game. He played in the 1938 Stanley Cup with Toronto and later played with both the Detroit Red Wings and the now defunct New York Americans. One of his claims to fame is that a young player that came up to take his place on the Detroit roster was Gordie Howe.

The second accomplishment was being awarded the Lester Patrick Trophy. In a twist of longevity, Murray was actually friends with Patrick. Armstrong went on to coach in the NCAA - winning 5 titles and developed several NHL players. After almost a year of planning to do so, I got Murray to autograph a few custom made cards that I designed like the In The Game series.