TORONTO

Two words haunt sports fans throughout this country.

No, not "Gary Bettman," the NHL commissioner who regularly receives vitriol from Canadian hockey fans.

"Work stoppage" are words Canadians are far too familiar with -- and Major League Soccer could be heading for one if its players fail to come to terms with the league's top brass when their current CBA expires next month.

"Nobody wants a work stoppage," Toronto FC goalkeeper Joe Bendik told the Toronto Sun this week.

Bendik, who represents the Reds with the MLS Players' Union, was diplomatic when asked if the players were prepared to implement a work stoppage if the chips don't fall their way this offseason.

"The players want to play," he told the Sun. "The owners and the league want to keep the momentum that we have going. If you go in with the mindset: 'We're going to stop working,' it's not going to solve anything."

The players, who Bendik said want a "bigger piece of the pie," are adamant the league is in a much better spot financially than when the two sides butted heads five years ago -- a standoff that eventually was resolved via federal mediation days before the 2010 season.

"The two main topics are more money and free agency," Bendik, who made around $150,000 last season, told the Sun after finishing up MLSPU talks in Las Vegas this week.

"That's mainly what we spent our time talking about."

With MLS now collecting expansion fees as high as $110 million, the players are expecting a raise the league's paltry $3.1 million salary cap. The average MLS salary rose above $200,000 this season but was mostly bolstered by the league's Designated Player rule, which allows teams to pay up to three players anything they want above the restrictive cap.

"I think we have a good feel for where we think the league should be and what we think the players should get more of a chunk of," Bendik said. "Hopefully the league feels the same way."

That's not to say the players' union isn't aware of the investment -- and losses -- the league's owners have swallowed throughout two decades of existence. Just last week MLS commissioner Don Garber stated publicly that the league's clubs are losing $100 million annually despite recently inking an impressive eight-year, $720-million deal with ESPN, FOX and Univision that will take it through the 2022 season.

And with prospective expansion sides in Miami, Minneapolis, Sacramento, San Antonio and Las Vegas, an infusion of additional cash is undoubtedly on the horizon.

"The players who have been in this league have endured a lot," Bendik said. "We deserve a bigger chunk of the pie. I think Don Garber understands that. Hopefully we can come to a negotiation and not have a work stoppage.

"There are guys that make $80,000 that have played in the league for a lot of years. Getting more money is a huge issue. We all know free agency is a big one because right now the players don't have any say in anything."

Union boss Bob Foose insists Major League Soccer should begin to take the shackles off its players who continue to play under outdated roster restrictions that will inevitably hold MLS back. While the league's single-entity structure was once essential to soccer's survival in North America, it's now a detriment to outsiders looking to arrive from abroad.

"We can't be structured so drastically differently from every other league in the world and think somehow we're going to compete with them," Foose told Sports Illustrated prior to Sunday's MLS Cup. "MLS has a system that's unattractive for players."

It's a system that sees players relocated via a plethora of drafts and trading schemes, which even the league's most faithful followers struggle to comprehend.

"Now it's time to really make a push towards being one of the leagues that people from around the world watch," Bendik said. "We just feel the players should have more of a say in where they want to be instead of just being thrown around. A player should also make what he should make."

Bendik stopped short of throwing out a number he would like to see the MLS salary cap reach.

"That's up to the economists," Bendik said with a laugh.

"But if was an owner, I'd want my players to be happy. But I'd also want to make as much money as I can. They're going to do what they think can make them money and make the league more attractive while making the players happy. I'd like to hope that they're going to do what's right."

STOPPAGE TIME

D.C. United is closer than ever to finally moving out of cavernous RFK Stadium and into a new 20,000-seat stadium in the U.S. capital. Washington mayor Vincent Gray announced Thursday an agreement that will see the city finance $139 million -- roughly half -- of the total cost ... The Montreal Impact announced Thursday they have re-signed Canadian international Patrice Bernier to a new contract. The 35-year-old is considered a main cog in the centre of the Quebec club's midfield and could continue to play a role in Canada's midfield moving forward ... The first stage of Major League Soccer's re-entry draft goes Friday when teams will be allowed to select players whose options have been declined.