TORONTO — This is a hockey city, a hockey country, but for the past two Decembers, the hum of the NHL season and fabled junior leagues has been interrupted by a soccer championship playing out on the frigid shores of Lake Ontario.
On a day better suited for the Winter Classic — those popular outdoor hockey events that have rekindled memories of yesteryear — some 30,000 crammed into BMO Field for MLS Cup on Saturday afternoon. It was a rematch of the final won by the Seattle Sounders on these same chilly grounds a year ago, and with Toronto FC on pace to make league history, the buzz around town swelled this week.