MONTREAL - If its not a must-win game, the Montreal Impacts home opener is certainly one they would very much like to win. After opening the Major League Soccer season with two tight losses on the road, the Impact will play host to the Seattle Sounders before more than 25,000 at Olympic Stadium on Saturday afternoon. It will be a first home game for new coach Frank Klopas, the first time Brossard, Que., native Patrice Bernier will play at home as team captain, and the last that star striker Marco Di Vaio will sit out from the three-game suspension he got for wading into a skirmish in the playoffs last October. "Its the third game of the season, but we need to start getting some points," former Chicago Fire boss Klopas said this week. "Its good to be home. "We definitely felt that we should have picked up some points on the road, but thats the game." The Impact opened the season March 8 with a 3-2 loss in Dallas marked by a harsh penalty awarded to the home team. They followed a week later with a 1-0 defeat in Houston. There was a feeling the team played better in the second game — that the defence was sharper, that better chances were created and that Di Vaios replacement Andrew Wenger looked more comfortable up front. "We have some momentum even if were 0-2," said Bernier, who replaced the departed Davy Arnaud as captain. "Its not like we played bad and got cleaned out. "We felt we progressed last game from the first game and now were coming home. We have to defend our home and weve been very good at home the last two years. This is a game that could send us in the right direction and give us a positive boost." They are up against a Seattle side (1-1-0) with a formidable attack, but which is coming off a 2-1 loss at home to Toronto FC on former Tottenham striker Jermain Defoes pair of first-half goals. The Sounders, old foes of the Impact from their A-League and United Soccer League days, have not beaten Montreal in MLS play. The Impact won 4-1 in Montreal in 2012 and opened the 2013 campaign with a 1-0 win in Seattle. But Seattle has been among the better away sides in MLS, with a 29-28-24 road record since they entered the league in 2009. Di Vaio and midfielder Andres Romero, both with three game suspensions, wont see action until a March 29 game in Philadelphia. In Di Vaios absence, winger Justin Mapp and attacking midfielder Felipe Martins have led the offence. The veteran Mapp was among their best players last season, but Felipe looks to have rebounded from a mediocre campaign and is looking more like the energetic playmaker he was as a rookie in 2012. He has yet to score, but leads the team with eight shots. "I had a few chances," he said. "But the hardest thing is to create chances and were doing that. "The only thing is we have to put it in the net, but that is going to come. Its not after one or two games you have to figure out whats going on. Its just soccer, no? One time a goal goes in and after that it comes natural." Klopas likes what hes seen of the Brazilian. "He missed the beginning of the season with injury last year and that was one reason his fitness level and sharpness werent the same," the coach said. "Hes a guy that sometimes doesnt get the points, but he helps the team in so many ways without the ball, with his work rate and stuff like that. "Ive been very pleased with him and I know he has a lot more room to grow." Bernier, coming off knee surgery, missed the season opener but got in 72 minutes in Houston. The team is still waiting for Bernier, Felipe and designated player Hernan Bernardello to all be at peak form to see what the centre of their midfield can do. Bernardello was injured shortly after signing last summer. The Impact are to play their first three home games at the Big O before moving outdoors to Saputo Stadium. Klopas coached Chicago against the Impact in Montreals first MLS game at Olympic Stadium in 2012, a 1-1 draw. "Its amazing that two years ago I was on the opposite side in the first game here, with a tremendous atmosphere," he said. "I hope its the same, only now theyre cheering for me and our team." Steven Souza Jersey .com) - The Vancouver Canucks hope an upcoming stretch of home games will be enough to get the club into the postseason. Taijuan Walker Diamondbacks Jersey . Pearce had a career-high four hits and drove in two runs, and Wei-Yin Chen shut down Texas again as the Orioles completed a four-game sweep of the Rangers with a 5-2 victory on Thursday night. http://www.diamondbackssale.com/diamondb...almonte-jersey/. Chris Heisey followed with a two-run triple and Billy Hamilton added an RBI double, all but sealing Cincinnatis fourth straight victory and seventh in eight games. Brandon Phillips, celebrating his 33rd birthday, hit a go-ahead homer in the ninth for the Reds before pinch-hitter Buster Posey tied it with an RBI double off hard-throwing closer Aroldis Chapman in the bottom half. Yasmany Tomas Jersey .com) - NFL owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Buffalo Bills. Caleb Joseph Diamondbacks Jersey .com) - Australian Open champion Li Na, former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and former world No.ARLINGTON, Va. -- Ryan Miller was simply brilliant at the 2010 Winter Olympics. He put the U.S. in a position to win silver and came within a goal of gold. The Buffalo Sabres goaltender was named tournament MVP after making 139 saves on 147 shots over six games. Not a bad, little run. His Olympic journey, however, may have ended there. Even though hes just 33 years old, potentially in the prime of his career, theres a chance he might not be at the Sochi Games. Miller has struggled to have success since the last Olympics for the Sabres, whose rebuilding efforts may include trading him with one year left on his contract. USA Hockey coaches and officials invited 48 players to this weeks camp because of their body of work or potential as a future Olympian, but management has made it clear how each player performs for their NHL club from October through December will be pivotal when the 25-man roster is revealed on New Years Day. "Ryan is well aware of that," general manager David Poile said Tuesday at the Washington Capitals training facility, as Team USA wrapped up a camp. Miller is one of six goalies in the mix and hes in a pack of perhaps four players vying for two spots behind Los Angeles Kings and Stanley Cup-winning star Jonathan Quick. "Its wide open," Miller acknowledged. That may be bad news for him. Jimmy Howard of the Detroit Red Wings, Craig Anderson of the Ottawa Senators and Cory Schneider of the New Jersey Devils might get the other two spots as Quicks backups. John Gibson, a 20-year-old prospect, was also invited to this weeks camp, but isnt expected to make the team. Miller made it clear what his goal is over the final months of 2013. "I want to make the team," he said. "I want to be the guy who is there stopping pucks in Sochi. I want to start." Miller started in each of the six games at the Vancouver Games and the only game he didnt finish was a 6-1 rout against Finland in the semifinals. His run included a spectacular, 42-save performance in a 5-3 win over Canada in the preliminary round. "It was the best two weeks Ive seen a goalie play in my lifetime," said Quick, who was the third goalie behind Miiller and Tim Thomas in 2010.dddddddddddd Quick, though, has perhaps been the best goalie on the planet the past two years. He lifted Los Angeles to a Stanley Cup championship in 2012 -- allowing an average of 1.41 goals a game during the playoffs -- and helped the Kings reach the 2013 Western Conference finals while giving up an average of fewer than two goals a game. During each of the last two postseasons, Quick had three shutouts. Quicks time, for the Americans, seems to be now. "What makes Quickie unique is his attitude," Kings and U.S. teammate Dustin Brown said. "Hell make a save he has no business making and then hell flip the puck out to the dot like it was just another save. His quiet arrogance trickles down and rubs off on guys." Miller is also relatively quiet, and has been mostly mum about the trade rumours swirling around him this off-season, but insisted he doesnt resent the fact that he appears to be on the trading block. "Thats the nature of sports," Miller said. "Its a transitional time in Buffalo. ... I think its still a feeling-out process about where I fit into that. I got one more year left and my intention is to be the best I can be. "I feel like I still have a lot of hockey left and feel like I can still play at a high level." The one puck Miller couldnt stop in 2010 that haunted him for a while was Sidney Crosbys wrist shot 7:40 into overtime that gave Canada the gold. "Its not a sore subject for me, anymore, but its definitely bittersweet," Miller said. "It was a lot of fun to play hockey at such a high level in a great place, where they respect hockey, but at the same time it wasnt the fairy-tale ending. You just have to trudge on and hope for your next opportunity." It will be up to Poile and his advisory group, which includes some other NHL general managers, to decide if Miller will get that chance in Russia. While every spot on the team is important, none will be more than who is in net. "We got to make the right decision," Poile said. "Because if we screw up on one up guy, that could be the difference between us winning and not winning." 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