by Gerald Barnhart

Unlike the parity in MLS and the WUSA, where each of the teams in the league has a decent shot at the title at the beginning of the season, the parity is found among the playoff teams in the A-League. There seems to be a clear difference between the playoff contenders and the rest of the league, but when you compare the postseason-caliber teams against one another, there is a lot of parity with no real clear standout as a future champion.

This is Vancouver's year. The Whitecaps will down the Sounders in the division playoff series and move past the winner of the Central series between Minnesota and Milwaukee to reach the A-League final. The Central series is a lot tougher to call here in the preseason, but right now, I would have to give the edge to Minnesota.

I like an all-Canadian A-League final with the Impact finding their way through a difficult conference playoff run. I see Montreal getting the better of Rochester this time around in the division series and battling past the winner of the Charleston-Richmond Southeast series. After two years of failing to advance in the playoffs, I think the Battery will get past Richmond in a very close series before falling to Montreal in a series overtime or, in a repeat of last year's Richmond-Rochester series, via penalty kicks.

The 1994 championship Montreal Impact is the only Canadian team to ever reach the A-League final. There is a good chance that will change this year, possibly even triple. Vancouver and Montreal just look to be the strongest teams out there on paper right now and have shown well in recent years.

The winner of my Vancouver-Montreal final will be the club who plays host to the final. With that as an unknown, I will pick Vancouver as the winner based on a neutral site. The Whitecaps have a little more firepower in their arsenal and I think for once, offense will prove the key in this year's championship although defense will be what gets these teams to the championship game.