With about 55,000 tickets sold as of yesterday morning, the Impact "expect a sellout crowd of more than 60,000" at Olympic Stadium for the first leg of the MLS Eastern Conference Final against Toronto FC, according to Stu Cowan of the MONTREAL GAZETTE. A sellout would be a "pleasant surprise" for the Impact after only 15,027 showed up at Saputo Stadium for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Red Bulls. Another sign of "just what kind of an event the Impact-Toronto game has quickly become" is the fact Canadian French-language broadcaster RDS has "decided to put the Impact on its main channel and drop the Canadiens game to RDS2" (MONTREAL GAZETTE, 11/16). Impact coach Mauro Biello yesterday said, "Everybody's ecstatic on my team. It means a lot to them to have 60,000 fans come out." The CP's Bill Beacon notes the Impact's "crowd record is 61,044 at Olympic Stadium, set at the CONCACAF Champions League final game" in April '15 against Liga MX' Club America. The team drew a club-record 60,860 in May '12 for a match against the Galaxy when David Beckham was still playing and 58,860 for the club's first MLS home game in March '12 against the Fire (CP, 11/16).
PROUD PAPA: In Toronto, Laura Armstrong noted former MLSE President & CEO Tim Leiweke’s fingerprints are "all over the current regime at Toronto FC," but he "isn’t taking credit" for this season's success. Leiweke said, "We did good things. (Current TFC president) Bill Manning came in here and did better things.” Manning said of Leiweke, "He really thrust this team into the spotlight, and I think if we go on to be a championship team, certainly he gets some credit for that, without a doubt." Leiweke: "Toronto’s a really unique, special place and right now if you look at it, they’re arguably, within Major League Soccer, they’re the talk of the league." He added, "A lot of people would argue not having a U.S. team in the Eastern Conference finals would hurt the league. I’d argue this is the best thing to ever happen, because people don’t understand the competitiveness, the animosity, the rivalry between Toronto and Montreal." Armstrong noted Leiweke has "yet to make it back for a game at BMO Field this season," but that "could change on Nov. 30, when he’s hoping to be in Toronto for the decisive second leg of the Eastern final" (TORONTO STAR, 11/15).
