No one wants to hear that losing last night was a blessing in disguise for TFC. But, it was.
Although playing in the CCL is a fun exercise for a small group of loyalists, it is very far down the priority list of MLS teams. They know they can't win the damn thing and flying to El Salvador midweek during the MLS stretch run is not anything anyone wants to do.
Making the playoffs in 2014 is the only thing that matters to TFC. It's also the only thing that matters for 95 percent of the fans that come out to the stadium.
If the other 5 percent are honest with themselves making the playoffs is what most matters to them as well. Not even a single soul uses Voyageur Cup wins as a measure of success. If they did, people would view the 4-time champion TFC as successful.
TFC is viewed as the Chivas of the north in MLS circles.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]So, playing in the CCL was not likely something they really wanted. That doesn't mean the Reds went out to lose last night, but it does mean they lacked a true drive to win.
Montreal had that drive. Montreal won. Like TFC in 2012, the Impact likely know deep down they won't have a playoff push to worry about. Winning this tournament and advancing to the CCL now gives fans there meaningful games to look forward to when playing out the string would have been all that was there before.
TFC will be in a playoff push. By losing last night they now have no excuse to not be and to not finally play at least one home playoff game.
There won't be a single person worried about the Voyageurs Cup loss while standing in BMO in November.