Championship kick off: Edmonton, Montréal host opening legs

The 2011 Nutrilite Canadian Championship kicks off this Wednesday 27 April in Edmonton, AB and Montréal, QC. There are four teams this year, but only one can be crowned national champion on 25 May and earn the coveted Canadian spot in the 2011-12 edition of CONCACAF Champions League.



Will it be the Impact or two-time champions Toronto FC? Will the Whitecaps finally win it all or will newcomer FC Edmonton surprise a nation?



With an additional fourth team in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, the new format features two home-and-away semi-final series, with the first legs played on 27 April and the return legs played on 4 May. Championship newcomer FC Edmonton hosts title holder Toronto FC at Commonwealth Stadium (18.00 local kickoff) while inaugural winner Impact Montréal hosts Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Stade Saputo (20.00 local kickoff).



Both matches will be broadcast live in high definition on Rogers Sportsnet (20.00 ET / 18.00 MT / 17.00 PT). The Edmonton-Toronto match will be broadcast on Sportsnet Ontario and Sportsnet West; the Montréal-Vancouver match will be broadcast on Sportsnet East and Sportsnet Pacific.



The Montréal-Vancouver game will also be available on radio on THE TEAM 990, CKAC.com and via a French webcast at Radio-Canada.ca/sports.



Both matches will also be streamed live on CanadaSoccer.com.



Fans can also follow the scoreline via CanadaSoccer’s official twitter feed, twitter.com/CanadaSoccerEN.



The 2011 Nutrilite Canadian Championship runs 27 April to 25 May in Vancouver, Edmonton, Toronto and Montréal. Winners of the semi-final legs will meet in the two-leg championship final, with the first leg on Wednesday 18 May and the return leg one week later on 25 May. All six matches of the 2011 Nutrilite Canadian Championship will be broadcast live in high definition on Rogers Sportsnet.