http://blogs.canoe.ca/reds/sports/the-csas-cynical-cup-decision/
According to a blog entry from Kurtis Larson, the seeds for the 2012 edition of the Canadian Championship are out and are as follows:
1. TFC
2. Vancouver
3. Edmonton
4. Montreal
Did you also do a double-take? I did. TFC is slated to face off against Montreal instead of Edmonton. Why you ask? Because Edmonton placed higher in the 2011 NASL season than Montreal did, the CSA contends.
However, the seedings from the 2011 Canadian Championship were:
1. TFC (champions)
2. Vancouver (2nd place in 2010 NCC)
3. Montreal (3rd place in 2010 NCC)
4. Edmonton (newcomers to NCC)
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Canadian_Championship
Now all of a sudden, the CSA decide to change how teams are ranked (by league position rather than previous NCC position). This rather conveniently arranges and guarantees an obvious heated first round between TFC and Montreal which was missing from the 2011 edition of the NCC.
How can the CSA defend its position to suddenly change the rules and seed teams based on league position? And how can you even compare league positions when the four teams are spread across two different leagues (MLS and NASL)?
Obviously now as an MLS team, it's not unreasonable to claim that Montreal will be a lot tougher to play against than if it were still in the NASL. So the CSA purposely made the seeding unfair just to have the TFC-Montreal rivalry in the first round rather than wanting to send Canada's top team (whoever that will turn out to be) to the CONCACAF Champions League.
Having a Canadian team perform well in the CCL (by having the best possible representative there) is much more important than having a rivalry in the first round of the NCC. Canadian teams which consistently perform well will be a solid position from which to argue Canada deserves more than one slot in the CCL. Whether such logic would be accepted by CONCACAF remains to be seen but the CSA shouldn't close that possibility by not sending Canada's best team to the CCL and instead cashing in on a first round rivalry.
It's a short-sighted decision by the CSA. They guarantee themselves the hype of a first round rivalry but at the expense of handicapping the Canadian "champion" in the CCL.