Our team of fan reps, beat writers, podcasters and bloggers following each of the MLS teams have been with us all season. Here's their Eastern Conference review of the year

LA Galaxy have claimed the MLS Cup and now it's time to look back on the highs and lows of the 2012 season. We asked our regular previewers to choose the events, players, moments that made the MLS season. Today it's the turn of the Eastern Conference. Tomorrow, the Western Conference.

Chicago Fire

Dan Martin, Section 8, Chicago:

Best Game:

Difficult to pick just one, but I'll go with the 3-1 win at home vs. New York in June. The Fire had just had their worst stretch of the season up to that point, making a dominant win that much sweeter.

Worst game:

The extra time Open Cup loss to the Michigan Bucks in the suburbs of Detroit. Worst bus ride ever too.

MVP:

Patrick Nyarko. I voted for him for Supporters' Player of the Year, he was the team's leading light of "Tradition, Honor, Passion".

Best goal:

Also very difficult, but Rookie of the Year (to-be) Austin Berry's tying goal at Chivas was great to see -- in his first appearance for the club no less.

Best trade:

The Fire didn't really make that many trades in 2012 (and I sure as hell am not saying "Flaco Fernandez") but the best move they made has to be either bringing Chris Rolfe home or signing Arne Friedrich, probably the former for sentimental reasons.

Highlight of the year:

Winning 2-0 at New York to clinch the playoffs for the first time in 2 years, followed a couple of days later by the club's supporter-organized 15th Anniversary celebration, attended by the current squad, fans, club legends, and staff.

Low point of the year:

The season-ending losing skid was incredibly disheartening.

Running joke among fans:

So many to choose from... "Keane-type money", "Kansas City #FeartheFlag", and of course Phillip the Tiger.

Columbus Crew

Ben Hoelzel, Crew Union, Columbus Crew:

Best Game:

After winning the double in 2008, Crew head coach Sigi Schmid left to take charge of MLS newcomers Seattle Sounders. In seven tries, The Crew had never defeated their old manager until this season. The away 2-0 victory on 5/23/12 finally got the monkey off Crew Cat's back.

Worst game:

At D.C. 10/20/12: The Crew needed a win to keep their playoff hopes. The Crew took the lead twice in this game only to squander it both times. They lost 2-3 keeping the Crew out of the playoffs.

MVP:

Newcomer Federico Higuain changed the entire team when he arrived mid-season. Eddie Gaven had his best year to date. But, the MVP has to go to reserve goalkeeper turned starter, Andy Gruenenbaum. He lead the league in saves, and without his heroics the Crew would have been nowhere near playoff contention.

Best goal:

Sebastian Miranda's smashing, game-winning 20 yard header against Dallas on 5/12/12 was unlike any I've ever seen.

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Best trade:

Not a trade, but the mid-season additions of Higuain and Jairo Arrieta completely change the Crew and could possibly go on to become the best attacking duo in the 2013 season.

Highlight of the year:

Higuain already notched a goal and two assists in his first 2 appearances. But his start against New England (8/25/12) in the Crew's 4-3 win really announced his presence to the league. The Crew's other newcomer, Arrieta, also scored an impressive brace. The league was on notice: The Crew have some new fire power.



Low point of the year:

September - the Crew once again slumped in September losing 3 games to Eastern Conference rivals. Also, being eliminated from the US Open cup by lowly USL Pro side Dayton Dutch Lions at home really stung.

Running joke among fans:

Higuain joined the Crew at the start of a grueling stretch of 6 matches in 18 days. His outstanding introduction to the league had the Nordecke thinking there was hope for this season after all. However, many joked that once the team had a regular practice week, Robert Warzycha's coaching would make Higuian worse. Sure enough, he wasn't quite the same after his first full week of practice.

DC United

Kim Kolb, Screaming Eagles:

Best Game:

The 1-0 win over New York in the playoffs

Worst Game:

The 3-0 loss at Montreal. United had an up and down summer and this was the nadir.

MVP:

Perry Kitchen. Many would say Chris Pontius, and he's qualified, too.

Best Trade:

Danny Cruz for Lionard Pajoy. Also, it's the only in season trade for United this year.

Highlight of the Year:

Branko Boscovic's diving goal against Chivas USA on September 23 to give United a 1-0 win. The mis-used midfielder finally got his first tally for United in a critical point of the season, on an incredibly brave effort.

Low Point of the Year:

Andy Najar's ball throwing incident against New York in the playoffs that earned him a suspension. The team could have used his ablities against Houston. Dishonorable mention in this category: the Mark Geiger officiated Philadelphia match.

Running Joke Among Fans: Part owner Jason Levien's mention of using a machete if/when needed to get a stadium deal done.

Houston Dynamo

Zach Woosley, Dynamo Theory, Houston:

Best Game: 10/23 1-1 draw with Olimpia. The Dynamo advanced to the next round of the CONCACAF Champions League with the draw and that's a big deal. A presence in the CCL is important for the growth of the club and being a part of the knockout stage is vital.

Worst game: MLS Cup Final…do I really need to explain?

MVP: Bobby Boswell. There' are plenty of reasons why you could say Brad Davis, Boniek Garcia or others, but Boswell was an anchor all season on the back line and when they needed him the most, he made the plays that needed to be made.

Best goal: Adam Moffat on 11/2 vs SKC. It was the first goal of the game and set the tone for the Eastern Conference semifinal. Beyond that, it was an amazing strike, a Moffat Rocket, and one I can happily watch over and over again.

Best trade: Trading for Macoumba Kandji in February. Yeah Kandji can be amazingly frustrating at times with his finishing, but he gave the Dynamo another speed option at forward, something they really needed in order to attack and stretch defenses. If he could only consistently put the ball in the back of the net, he would have had a huge season.

Highlight of the year: Winning a second straight Eastern Conference Final. In the end, it doesn't get any better than lifting silverware…even if we didn't end up getting the one we really wanted.

Low point of the year: 4-2 loss to Montreal on 6/23. It was a bad loss, the team played terribly, Adam Moffat got a red card. It just sucked.

Running joke among fans: There's only one team in Texas. After all FC Frisco (Dallas doesn't have a team) might as well be in Southern Oklahoma.

Montreal Impact

Sofiane Benzaza, Mount Royal Soccer, Montreal:

Best Game:

Montreal Impact 4 - Seattle Sounders 1 — the opening of Stade Saputo

Worst game:

3-0 loss to the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium

MVP:

Felipe Martins

Best goal:

Felipe Martins side scissor-kick vs the Philadelphia Union

Best trade:

Troy Perkins for Donovan Ricketts

Highlight of the year:

5-game winning streak for the Montreal Impact in the summer

Low point of the year:

Jesse Marsch ''amicably'' leaving the club after a thumbs-up post-mortem by Joey Saputo and Nick De Santis 3 days earlier. There was nothing amicable about that.

Running joke among fans:

TFC...enough said (sorry, Waking The Red)

New England Revolution

Julie Kumor, Midnight Riders:

Best game:

I would guess it's the one against Vancouver when Lee Nguyen scored all those goals. Sadly most of the high points of the year came in this game.

Worst Game:

Honestly, the worst game was the Chivas game when Shalrie Joseph scored two against us after we'd traded him, and Chivas came back from 3-0 down to tie the game.

MVP:

Lee Nguyen. Hands down.

Best goal:

See above...

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Best trade:

Not picking up Benny Feilhaber's option in the off-season

Highlight of the year:

Beating LA, in LA, at the start of the season. We all watched with our mouths open saying "Is that our team?" It wasn't.

Low point of the year:

The losing streak through the summer

Running joke among fans: The front office have been promising for at least 3-4 years now that in the next 6-12 months they'll be making an announcement on a soccer specific stadium

New York Red Bulls

Dan Ryazansky, editor, Metrofanatic, New York:

Best Game: Down early to Montreal, Metro and Titi Henry turns it up to another level. Henry ends up with a hat-trick and a spectacular backheel assist on a Mehdi Ballouchy goal in a 5:2 victory.

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Worst Game: The 4:1 loss at DC. Enough said.

MVP:

Dax McCarty might have been the team's most consistently good player (if only "Clever" Hans Backe didn't move him to right midfield...), but the team played well when Titi Henry played well (minus a Titi-less stretch in May). Some of Henry's individual performances this year rank among the best in team history.

Best Goal:

Titi's directly off a corner kick against Columbus. Should have been MLS goal of the year, if not for Seattle fans stuffing the ballot box. Actually, should be MLS goal of the decade.

Best Trade:

Kenny Cooper for a first round draft pick and an allocation. Cooper went on to score 18 league goals, the second best total in league history. And who needs draft picks, right, Erik Soler?

Highlight of the Year:

The Henry backheel assist vs Montreal and the corner kick goal vs Columbus.

Low Point of the Year:

Mark Geiger calling Cooper's penalty kick back for encroachment, the subsequent Rafa Marquez red card and the late goal to see Metro lose to DC in the playoffs. Why are you bringing this up?

Running Joke:

Rafa Marquez. He will continue to be a running joke as long as he is still on this team.

Philadelphia Union

Corey Furlan, Sons of Ben, Philadelphia:

Best Game:

Union vs SKC 4-0

Worst game:

The game in Montreal

MVP: Carlos Valdez

Best goal:

Gabriel Gomez's blast against Chicago

Best trade:

None of them

Highlight of the year:

Advancing to the US Open Cup Semifinals

Low point of the year: Trading away almost all of our Playoff team from last year.

Running joke among fans:

Who are we going to trade away next, and how much allocation money are we getting for them.

Sporting Kansas City:

Mike Kuhn, Editor, Down the Byline, Sporting Kansas City:

Best Game:

1-1 (3-2) PK win over Seattle US Open Cup final. Winning a game that wins you a trophy is always the best game of the season. It wasn't the prettiest game and took penalties but that night was fantastic.

Worst game:

2-0 in Houston in the playoffs. The team just didn't seem to come out and play well, and Dominic Kinnear out coached Peter Vermes again. I was also shocked that down a goal KC continued to really attack when they hadn't had much success all game instead of shutting the game down to come home down a single goal.

MVP:

Graham Zusi. Hard to argue with one of the MVP finalist, Zusi was involved in 20 of KC's 42 goals this season, almost 50%, and made himself a regular national team call up.

Best goal:

Julio Cesar vs Toronto. The phrase after that goal was "technically perfect"

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Best trade:

Seth Sinovic and cash from Montreal for Davy Arnaud. While Arnaud will go down as one of the best to wear the KC jersey, Sinovic's importance to the team has been understated all season. He's been arguably the most consistent defender for KC all season.

Highlight of the year:

Watching Jimmy Nielsen "paint the wall" after the US Open Cup final win.

Low point of the year:

When the final whistle blew in the 1-0 win over Houston, ending the season, the frustration from the game and the series was overwhelming.

Running joke among fans:

Players pulling an Eddie Johnson by shooting well over the bar after his miss in the US Open Cup final.

Toronto FC

Duncan Fletcher, Waking the Red, Toronto:

Best Game: 3-2 home win over Vancouver, a crazy second half, after giving up an injury time equaliser, still found time for fan favourite Terry F***ing Dunfield to score the winner. Suck it Matttocks!

Worst game:

So many to choose from on the pitch, it's easiest to judge by the post game interviews. I won't choose losing 3-1 at DC United which prompted Danny Koevermans to proclaim TFC 'the worst team in the world', instead I'll choose the 2-0 defeat to DC United, a failed park the bus attempt that produced the most depressing set of interviews ever, highlighted by a thoroughly broken Ryan Johnson declaring it unbearable.

MVP:

Danny Koevermans. Didn't even play half the season, finished our top scorer, we looked woeful without him.

Best goal:

Ryan Johnson v Seattle

Best trade:

There weren't many, and this one is certainly debatable given the price, his age, his injuries and his DP spot and wages, but Eric Hassli from Vancouver for a 2014 1st round draft pick brought some excitement to a long depressing season.

Highlight of the year:

Beating LA 2-1 back in March to advance to the semi finals of the Concacaf champions league. For a short while, anything seemed possible, then it all fell apart.

Low point of the year:

Very early in the season, any semblance of hope for TFC fans was transferred over to Canada, who were trying to qualify for the hex for the first time since the 90's. The home games were well supported, there was legitimate momentum behind the team, they did well and got to the final game needing only a tie in Honduras to qualify. And lost 8-1. That one really hurt.

Running joke among fans:

When TFC received bit part player Andrew Wiedeman in a trade from Dallas, Paul Mariner was quoted calling him "the best finisher in the modern era" Preposterous and proven wrong many times over the season. Those actually at the interview say Mariner was cleaarly talking about the modern era of the NCAA, but fans weren't about to let that get in the way. "Best....in the modern era" provided many laughs in a season that needed them.

A huge thanks to everyone who has helped out all season with our fan previews, and also to those of you who've been a regular part of the conversation in our comments section. We'll have the Western Conference reviews up tomorrow.