VANCOUVER - Around this time last year, the Vancouver Whitecaps displayed considerable bravado as they aspired to place among the top teams in MLS. Eric Ebron Jersey . But in 2014, the Whitecaps will have a new coach, a new look and less attitude, starting with Saturdays season-opener against the powerhouse New York Red Bulls at B.C. Place Stadium. Watch the Whitecaps vs. Red Bulls live on TSN tonight at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. "Were all looking ahead with a cautious optimism," Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi said before the team held its final pre-season practice Friday. The Whitecaps finished seventh in the Western Conference with a 13-12-9 record in 2013 after becoming the first Canadian team to make the playoffs the year before. New York, which features a star-studded lineup, finished first overall with a 17-9-8 mark. Carl Robinson, a former Whitecaps assistant coach, will try to excel in the top job after Martin Rennie was fired at the end of the last campaign. "Obviously, with a new coach coming in, theres going to be a transition, but hes had a full pre-season to work with a majority of the guys," said Lenarduzzi. "And then, getting the guys that weve added over the course of the pre-season, therell still be I would think a required time for players to gel and for the newer guys to get to know Carl and his coaching staff and their teammates." Robinson has brought in several new players from South America and Europe, including new designated player Pedro Morales, a Chilean midfielder who was signed earlier this week. "We dont want to put too many unrealistic expectations on him, but were hopeful that hes going to produce and well see results of that in goals and assists," said Lenarduzzi. "But ultimately what were looking for from him is to bring out the best in players around him." Other prominent newcomers include attacking Nicolas Mezquida and Sebastian Fernandez, who both hail from Uruguay, and Mattias Laba of Argentina, a designated player who was acquired from Toronto FC. Vancouvers acquisitions have paled in comparison to TFCs splashy off-season signings, but Lenarduzzi did not feel pressured to match them. "I dont think any team in the league feels the pressure to match $100 million spent on three players," he said. As a result of the changes, the Whitecaps lineup features players from 16 countries, who bring diverse skill levels, backgrounds and languages. "Football is a global sport," said Lenarduzzi. "The language barriers? I dont believe they are barriers. Obviously when you get on the field youd like to be able to communicate with your teammates. But really, if youre good players, your ability will do the talking for you." Lenarduzzi is hopeful that Robinson, 37, a former Welsh international player who toiled in England and in MLS with Toronto and New York, will be able to get his message across. Known as a strong communicator, Robinson developed close relationships with players in his assistants role and, according to Lenarduzzi, succeeded in getting them to accept what they sometimes did not like to hear about their play. "Now that hes the head coach, hes the guy where the buck stops," said Lenarduzzi. "So it wont be the same as it was the previous two years. Itll be different. But Im encouraged that up until now hes maintained his willingness to communicate with the guys." Lenarduzzi also likes the fact that Robinson stresses a possession-oriented, attacking style of play while still requiring the club to display a disciplined defensive structure, and "puts a premium" on young players. "We havent kicked the ball in anger yet, so were not getting carried away," said Lenarduzzi. "We think weve got a good squad of players. But if he applies all of those things then I think weve got an opportunity to make the playoffs this year, which is really our objective." The quest for a post-season berth became more difficult following the departure of striker Camilo Sanvezzo — who led MLS with 22 goals last season — to Queretaro of the Mexican League. Camilo angered the club by donning the Mexican teams jersey while he was still a Whitecap and a transfer was eventually negotiated. "The hope is that two players or, more than likely, three players will help pick up that (scoring) slack," said Lenarduzzi. One likely source of more offence is striker Darren Mattocks, who had a disappointing sophomore season marred by injuries, inconsistent play and international absences that limited him to just three goals. Lenarduzzi also hopes to get "10-plus" goals from striker-midfielder Kekuta Manneh, a gifted 19-year-old scorer who was used sparingly in his rookie season but still found the net six times in only 764 minutes of action over 20 games. "What I dont think we want to do is heighten the expectations of Kekuta," said Lenarduzzi. "Hes a very good player, and he proved that late last season." Former Scottish international striker Kenny Miller will be expected to produce early as he plays on an unusual six-month contract that could see him leave the team in mid-season. "Kenny will need to do what he did the first half of last season and if thats the case, then certainly thats going to encourage us to keep him around," said Lenarduzzi. Striker Omar Salgado, 20, the teams first-ever MLS draft choice who has missed most of the past two seasons with foot injuries, could also help make up for Camilos absence, depending on how much playing time he can earn after his long layoff. Ultimately, Vancouvers scoring prowess could hinge on Robinson, also a former Red Bulls assistant coach, who was not managements first choice to replace Rennie. "Im excited. I really am," Robinson told reporters this week. "But Im trying to keep a calm head on my shoulders in (the dressing room) and in front of the guys." Notes: The Whitecaps loaned five players, including seventh-overall 2014 draft pick Andre Lewis, to the second-tier Charleston Battery on Friday. Lenarduzzi said the Whitecaps made the move to ensure that Lewis, a 19-year-old midfielder from Spanish Town, Jamaica, gets plenty of playing time. Strikers Mamadou Diouf and Marlon Ramirez, midfielder Aminu Abdallah and defender Jackson Farmer were also sent to Charleston. … Vancouver beat New York in their lone meeting last season. The Whitecaps are unbeaten (1-0-2) against the Red Bulls in three all-time games. Quincy Wilson Jersey . Left-handed reliever Boone Logan agreed to a $16.5 million, three-year contract on Friday, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. LeRaven Clark Jersey . Hicham Khalouas late goal improved Almerias chances of avoiding relegation in a match dominated by contentious calls, including three penalties. One day after Barcelonas 4-3 win at Real Madrid featured three penalties, referees again dominated a wide-open game that saw Almeria ultimately move out of the relegation zone and one point ahead of Getafe which took its place. http://www.coltsfansshop.com/Colts-Marshall-Faulk-Draft-Jersey/ . Playing in his fourth major league game, Polanco broke a tie in the 13th inning with his first homer, helping Pittsburgh to an 8-6 victory over the Miami Marlins after the Pirates had a ninth-inning meltdown.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry Fraser wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca! Hi Kerry, I am really confused about something that happened in the game between the Flyers and Leafs last night. The Flyers scored a goal that was verified immediately by the ref directly behind the net. He signaled the goal. But the goal was disallowed apparently when the other ref (who was closer to Argentina then he was the play) called it no goal. The replay clearly showed it was a goal, and more importantly, in the net BEFORE the whistle. Now I understand that is not reviewable, but what I dont understand is why the ref behind the net cant just say, "Hey I was right on top of it, its a good goal". The explanation provided by the announcers was something akin to the other ref losing sight of the puck. If that was the case, almost every goal in the NHL could be disallowed by the center ice ref since it is unlikely they would have a very good view of the puck itself from about 100ft away. Thanks. John Berry Hi Kerry, During this game, the Flyers had a goal disallowed when the neutral zone ref blew the play dead on a "hold the post" type play. The question is: why is someone that is about 100 feet away blowing the play dead? The ref that could actually see the play signaled goal. Later in the game, the Leafs scored on a play where the puck was jammed out from underneath the goalies pad, no whistle. There was no way to see the puck from center ice on the Leafs goal, either. Help me understand which game these refs were watching. Brian Mullaney View the play in question here (17:04, 2nd period). John and Brian: While I must admit that we dont often see the back referee kill a play when he deems the goalkeeper has the puck covered, it is well within his authority to do so. Let me explain why I agree with the call made on the ice by referee Dean Morton from his position in the neutral zone. Both of you are only partially correct when you stated that the referee behind the net, Kevin Pollock, was in position to see the play and then signal a goal once the puck entered the net. The overriding fact is that Leafs goalkeeper, Jonathan Bernier, clearly had the puck covered underneath his blocker and held tight against the post a reasonable time for the play to be considered dead. This "reasonable time" frame is demonstrated by the fact that Bernier initially covered the puck when Matt Read, the Flyer who eventually dislodged the puck, was positioned well behind the net near the end boards and had some distance to travel to the post at the sidee of the net. Malik Hooker Jersey. In fairness to referee Kevin Pollock, he had a considerable distance to travel from the opposite side of the net towards the corner and was unable to see that Bernier had the puck covered. By the time referee Pollock was able to assume a position behind the net, Matt Read had already jammed Berniers blocker with his stick and dislodged the frozen puck. At this point, the referee gained a sightline that allowed him to see the exposed puck which Matt Read knocked into the open corner of the net from the seat of his pants. Even though back referee Dean Morton was a long distance from the net (albeit much closer than Argentina) he had a view from the open side to where Jonathan Bernier froze the puck with his blocker against the post. From this unobstructed view to the goal and with a broad perspective of the play, Morton would have taken a quick look to determine the sightline that his had partner on the other side of the net in that moment. Knowing that Pollock could not possibly see that the puck was covered from his position, referee Mortons radar intensified once he saw an initial attempt by Michael Raffl to jam at Berniers glove with his stick and as Raffl was subsequently knocked to the ice by Leafs defenceman Cody Franson. Knowing that Kevin Pollock had not yet assumed a position to determine the frozen puck, referee Mortons "intent to blow the whistle" would have kicked into high gear once he saw Matt Read jam at Berniers blocker and expose the puck. Mortons whistle to kill the play is audible just as referee Kevin Pollock moves into position behind the net to signal a goal once the puck crossed the line. The correct call was made by back referee Dean Morton to determine that the puck had been frozen by the Leafs goalkeeper prior to Matt Read dislodging it with his stick and then knocking the puck into the net. The correct procedure was also followed to the letter when Morton quickly approached referee Pollock to inform him that the puck had been frozen by Jonathan Bernier. FYI, in an article I wrote on November 28, 2011 I responded to a fan question when Kris Letang of the Penguins dug a frozen puck from underneath the catching glove of Carey Price to score the game winning goal in overtime. The goal line referee was on the opposite side of the net and impossible to detect that Price had the puck covered. My answer in that column was that the back referee near the blue line with an unobstructed view should have blown the play dead prior to or as Kris Letang jammed the puck loose. Click on the link below to see the similarity of these two plays. Fraser: Discussing Letangs goal and Paciorettys hit Wholesale Hoodies NFL Shirts Outlet Jerseys NFL Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys Free Shipping Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Cheap NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '