Crosby said before the tournament hed love to play with Marchand.

In the history of the sporting rivalry between Montreal and Toronto, there are only a few chapters between the two cities professional soccer clubs.But the most riveting entry is about to be written.The Montreal Impact hosts Toronto FC in the first leg of their MLS Eastern Conference Finals on Tuesday at Olympic Stadium in a crowd that could exceed 60,000 fans. Its already become one of the leagues fiercest rivalries and the intensity is going to get kicked up that much further with the honor of being Canadas first ever MLS Cup finalist at stake.Its great for Canadian soccer because two clubs out of the three are in the conference final, and one will be able to attend the final, said midfielder Patrice Bernie, a native of the Montreal suburb of Brossard, Quebec. It shows the growth of professional club soccer here in Canada. ... These are the types of game you want to play in.Given the gravity of the situation, the Impact decided to move the game indoors to the larger Olympic Stadium instead of the usual home of Saputo Stadium, which is just a few steps away and only seats just over 20,000 fans. The Olympic Stadium, meanwhile, is the massive legacy of the 1976 Olympics and its enclosed concrete bowl will amplify what will be an intensely massive crowd for the occasion.Its also fortunate that they did move the game indoors because a weather system could bring snow to the Montreal area the day before the game and into game day.The surface at Saputo Stadium is natural grass while the Olympic Stadium has an artificial surface that will add another dimension of unpredictability to the game.Its the same for both teams. I think anytime you mention turf in MLS, guys kind of roll their eyes a little bit. Itll be a fantastic venue. Itll be a fantastic atmosphere, said Toronto defender Drew Moor. Were excited to go. Its not going to be a factor at all.These same two teams met last season but in the one-game knockout round with Montreal easily winning 3-0 at home. At this stage of the MLS Cup playoffs, there is a second leg to be played in Toronto.That takes place on Nov. 30 when one of these teams will not only represent their respective city but also Canada for the first time ever in an MLS Cup Championship game. Randy Arozarena .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. Lane Thomas .C. - The Carolina Hurricanes have placed backup goalie Anton Khudobin on injured reserve with an unspecified lower-body injury. http://www.custommlbcardinalsjersey.com/custom-dakota-hudson-jersey-large-731q.html . MLS Commissioner Don Garber and Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez also will attend the session, which was announced Monday. The league has discussed placing its next two expansion teams in Miami and Atlanta. Tyler Webb . First off, the fans ripped the Cubbies introduction of a fuzzy new kid-friendly mascot named "Clark". Stan Musial . Brazilian national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has confirmed that the veteran goalkeeper is set to join Toronto on loan, saying it will help him be ready for the World Cup. TORONTO -- The Latest on the World Cup of Hockey (all times local):5:55 p.m.Sweden should be as healthy as it can be when it opens the World Cup of Hockey on Sunday against Russia.Marcus Kruger is expected to play after missing time with an upper-body injury. Kruger practiced Thursday at Air Canada Centre, reported progress and got a vote of confidence from coach Rickard Gronborg.My expectation is hes going to be ready to go when were dropping the puck in the first game, Gronborg said. He should be ready, and he obviously is filling a very important spot on our team. Weve got some stability in one of the lines because hes a very smart player, especially when it comes to defensive situations from defensive face-offs to penalty kills. Hes a pretty important part of our team.Coming off allowing five goals on 22 shots, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist wasnt happy Thursday.If you would be fine with giving up five goals, I mean, I think its not a good thing, Lundqvist said. I tried to last night analyze it and learn from the game. I watched some tape and tried to have a good practice today. But I feel like we still have some time here to correct a few things personally and as a group.---4:30 p.m.Former Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson will get his Canadian citizenship next week in a ceremony being held during World Cup of Hockey festivities.The native Swede, who spent most of his career with Ottawa, will be among 102 people to become citizens Tuesday in a Toronto ceremony attended by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and NHL Players Association executive director Donald Fehr.---3:55 p.m.Alex Ovechkin says he will play in the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, regardless of whether the NHL agrees to participate.Several Russian players made that stance clear before the 2014 Sochi Olympics, but Ovechkin is continuing it. Ovechkin says hell wait and see, adding I will go there.Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Wednesday that it was radio silence on the topic of negotiating an agreement with the International Ice Hockey Federation and International Olympic committee. The league and Players Association will meet with IIHF officials in Toronto over the next two weeks during the World Cup of Hockey.---2:50 p.m.Sergei Bobrovsky is Russias starting goaltender to begin the World Cup of Hockey.Coach Oleg Znarok said through an interpreter Thursday that Bobrovsky of the Columbus Blue Jackets will be in net against Sweden on Sunday in Russias first game of the tournament. Znarok made no commitment to Bobrovsky long term over Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche.ddddddddddddBobrovsky appeared to have the inside track on the job when Russia started him in its exhibition finale Wednesday against Canada.---2 p.m.Connor McDavid doesnt think hed make Canadas World Cup of Hockey team if eligible.McDavid is playing for Team North America, which is made up of players 23 and under from Canada and North America. He wasnt eligible to be selected by Canada.Some around hockey consider McDavid one of the best players already at age 19, but he said Canadas roster was a hard one to crack.---1:30 p.m.Mike Babcock says hes close to finalizing Canadas lineup for its first World Cup of Hockey game Saturday night against the Czech Republic.Theres plenty of fluidity in the lineup, but Babcock seems to have found linemates for captain Sidney Crosby in Boston Bruins forwards Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron. The coaching staff decided on that line in advance, and it clicked well in exhibition play.He likes to play with guys with speed and guys with hockey sense, Babcock said. The other thing is he wants to be on offense, so if you play him with one really intelligent defensive player as well like Bergy, it helps him out.Crosby said before the tournament hed love to play with Marchand. He knows Bergeron because the two were linemates on the way to gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.I think hes just good in every area, Crosby said of Bergeron. Hes reliable at both ends of the ice, hes got really good hockey sense. I think his hockey sense is probably what sticks out the most, playing in all situations.Defensively hes pretty tough to go up against and offensively he can hurt you. Hes really an all-around player.---NoonFinland coach Lauri Marjamaki still wont name his starting goaltender for the first game of the World Cup of Hockey.Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators appears to be the front-runner to start Sunday against Team North America based on exhibition action, but Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins isnt a bad second option.Rinne says hes preparing to play Sunday but that the coaching staff hasnt told him the plan. He started Finlands final exhibition game Tuesday against the United States and stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced.Most teams have their starters figured out by now. Jonathan Quick will be in net for the U.S., Carey Price for Canada, Matt Murray for North America, Jaroslav Halak for Team Europe and Henrik Lundqvist for Sweden. ' ' '