It has been a weird season, with the traditionally weaker Eastern Conference overpowering the Western Conference, and teams such as the LA Galaxy and FC Dallas finding themselves on the outside of the playoffs.
For fans of the Vancouver Whitecaps, it has also been a strange season. Taking a step back to last season, many were predicting that the Whitecaps would challenge for the Western Conference title again, as they had in 2015. That never materialized as the Caps missed the playoffs. Flash forward to the start of the 2017 Major League Soccer season, and many were predicting that Vancouver would be near the bottom of the West.