CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES
The Montreal Impact started off well in a rare road win against Seattle.

Major League Soccer kicked off its 2013 season the first weekend in March, and even though it's still very early, it wouldn't hurt to make some observations about the Canadian teams in the competition.

Montreal Impact looked the most promising after their 1-0 win over the Seattle Sounders on the West Coast. Montreal had only won two games on the road last season, but looked at home with how they controlled large portions of the match. They played a 4-1-4- 1 formation, with Canadian Patrice Bernier sitting between the midfield and defenders. He worked well in that system, stopping many attempted attacks by Seattle.

Really, Montreal has been put together player by player: getting the best available player for each position, and then assessing how they should play together later. It works well because players like Justin Mapp, Davy Arnaud and Felipe Martins are versatile players who fit a number of different roles. This also bodes well for second half adjustments.

Oh, and did I mention Italian legends Marco Di Vaio and Alessandro Nesta? After that first game, this team looks destined for the playoffs.

Irony is on the minds of Vancouver Whitecaps fans after opening weekend. Over the past two years, the team has struggled defensively, and now MLS All- Star Jay DeMerit may be out for the entire season; he ruptured his Achilles tendon less than 10 minutes into their game against Toronto FC. They won the game 1- 0 and kept a clean sheet, but they will face more explosive teams than Toronto over the next 30-odd games and need to find a replacement for DeMerit. Luckily their 4- 2-3-1 formation gave them enough lines of defense to alleviate some pressure on their central defence, where DeMerit typically plays.

Manager Martin Rennie started Darren Mattocks (a quick striker with a great touch) and Kekuta Manneh (a rookie with great speed) on the sides of the attacking midfielders.

The goal came from a quick pass made by talented playmaker Daigo Kobayashi at the top of the box. Gershon Koffie finished it off, hammering the ball into the bottom right corner.

The team knows each other really well at this point, and not having such drastic roster turnover they have really created a good team.

Even though TFC lost their first game, it was an encouraging loss for a team that has no expectations for this season whatsoever. They added Welsh international Robert Earnshaw days before this game as he played up top by himself in a 4- 5-1 set up. He played just fine considering he was likely not in full fitness.

Meanwhile, draft pick Kyle Bekker played slightly ahead of the five midfielders and looked very promising in an offensive position. Bekker has brought with him a creative mind and it showed in the game as he made several crafty passes (including a few chips into space that made me become giddy with joy). Overall, the only Canadian team that lost but has a lot of things to look forward to.