What a crazy opening day of the 2014 Major League Soccer regular season.

Saturday saw three men—Jeff Cassar, Gregg Berhalter and Carl Robinson—win in their league coaching debuts. Chad Barrett (remember him TFC fans?) score an improbably late winner for Seattle against Kansas City. And newcomer Gaston Fernandez headed home in injury time, allowing Portland to salvage a draw against Philadelphia.

Here are three thoughts on the opening day of the MLS campaign from a Canadian perspective.

Newcomers shine for Whitecaps

New Vancouver Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson had eight returnees in his starting lineup in a 4-0 win over visitors New York, but it was the newcomers who made the biggest impact. Matias Laba was outstanding in the centre of midfield, forming an effective partnership with Nigel Reo-Coker. The young Argentine did a good job of protecting the back four, while using his excellent distribution skills to link the defence and the attack. Uruguayan midfielder Sebastian Fernandez displayed great technique in scoring Vancouver’s second goal—a bullet from 25 yards out that nestled into the upper, far corner. But he also played a complete game, tracking back and dutifully fulfilling his defensive duties. Chilean Pedro Morales, the club’s new DP, came on as a substitute in the second half and made an instant impact, picking out Kenny Miller with a sublime pass that led to the Whitecaps four goal, and then completed the rout by scoring himself. Robinson said in pre-season that he wants his team to play creative and attacking football this year. That shouldn’t be a problem with these three additions, as the Whitecaps have arguably one of the best midfield cores in MLS.

Impact’s Wenger shows some promise

Even without the suspended Marco Di Vaio, the Montreal Impact had no problems creating offence in a 3-2 road loss to Dallas. Justin Mapp and Felipe were terrors down the flanks, using their speed and ball control to cause problems for Dallas’ defence and deliver dangerous crosses into the box. In total, the Impact registered 15 shots, nine on goal. And believe it or not, one of the most dangerous players was Andrew Wenger. The young forward managed only one goal in 24 league games in 2013, drawing criticism for his unpolished finishing ability and naive play. But against Dallas, Wenger was a threat, working himself into dangerous scoring positions (he’s always managed to do that) and effectively holding up the ball to bring teammates into the play. His goal was a beauty too, as the perfectly-timed run he made into the box to get onto the end of a Felipe cross to nod home showed composure and nuance—qualities his play have routinely lacked. After that, Wenger was a constant threat as Montreal searched for an equalizer. It didn’t come, but Wenger’s man-of-the-match performance was encouraging.

The maturation of Mattocks

More than any other player on the Whitecaps roster, Darren Mattocks has a point to prove this year. After a respectable rookie campaign, Mattocks was far from his best last season with only three goals in 20 games. He made matters worse in the off-season when he complained about his lack of playing time to a Jamaican media outlet. The sense was that he still had some growing up to do. We saw clear signs of that on Saturday. Leading the line in a 4-2-3-1 formation, Mattocks carved out a trio of quality scoring chances in the first half. More importantly, he distinguished himself with his selfless play, working hard to link up, and holding up the ball for his teammates. Too often last season his runs off the ball were selfish. But on Saturday, they were selfless. Check out his run on Vancouver’s second goal, when he played the ball back to Kenny Miller in his half, and then immediately spun away from his marker and burst forward to get on the end of the return pass in the final third before setting up Fernandez. Yes, he’ll need to score goals this season with Camilo gone. But it’s this kind of mature play that will earn him respect and playing time from coach Robinson.

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