3 KEY STORYLINES in the 2023 Canadian Championship FINAL

This Wednesday marks the conclusion of the 16th annual Canadian Championship, with the 2021 winners CF Montréal heading to BC Place to take on the defending champions, the Vancouver Whitecaps.

This will be the first time in tournament history that the past two winners clash in the final, and the 3rd time that these two clubs will meet in a championship game in the modern era, with the sides splitting their first two match-ups in 2013 and 2015 with one win each.

There's always a lot of substance to base narratives off of when two teams so familiar with each other meet in a big match, so with that in mind, let's highlight the top 3 storylines heading into the 2023 Canadian Championship final, shall we?

Whitecaps battle on after Ali Ahmed injury

Although Vancouver head into this game as the betting favorites to hoist the Voyageurs Cup, they will have to do business without one of their young emerging talents.

The hyperactive Ali Ahmed has made quite the impression since joining the Whitecaps first team in late 2022, featuring as both a fullback and midfielder, Ahmed is a spark plug for his club, constantly getting involved on both sides of possesion.

Unfortunately, Ahmed suffered a concussion after an ugly collision in the semi-final contest vs Pacific FC and has yet to recover.

Vancouver have had to make do without the aid of the 22-year-old in their last 3 matches and in those contests the Whitecaps have gone 1-1-1 with 6 goals conceded, the most recent result being a 1-1 draw to bottom dwelling Sporting KC, where Vancouver escaped with a point thanks to a Ryan Gauld 88th minute equalizer via penalty kick.

In Ahmed's absence, Vanni Sartini has turned to Luis Martins to fill the void, but, the 30-year-old fullback offers much less of a threat going forward than Ahmed, who scored and assisted during Vancouver’s dominant 5-0 victory over Montreal back in April.

Who starts up top: Becher? White? Both?

Much like Ali Ahmed, Simon Becher is impressing in his first senior campaign with Vancouver, scoring in his first Canadian Championship start vs York United in the Quarterfinals, Becher has tallied as many goals as starts in MLS competition with 4G, 1A in 11 Appearances, along with 2 goals in as many appearances at the Canadian Championship.

Traditionally, we've seen Vanni Sartini's Whitecaps set up in some variation of a 4-3-3, where depending on personnel they opt for a more narrow or wide attacking trio.

It's hard to believe that in a Cup final, Sartini wouldn't turn to his top goal scorer Brian White to man the number 9 role, but as mentioned earlier, Becher has done little wrong in his appearances so far, and his goal record considering the minutes he's played, is right on par with White's.

Sartini has yet to find a way to consistently start both of Becher and White in the same team, having only shared the pitch as starters twice this season, one of those games being the aforementioned 5-0 victory over Montreal, where both Becher and White would get on the scoresheet.

Montreal's gameplan: Park the bus?

CF Montreal's league worst -12 Goal Differential and 3rd most goals conceded in MLS doesn't seem like the recipe for becoming Canadian Championship winners but so far in the tournament, they've been surprisingly stingy, conceding just 1 goal across their 3 knockout stage games.

The key for Montreal in this final has to involve sticking with that script, they have to limit Vancouver from causing problems to their back 3, they'll need commitment from the wing backs and midfielders to track back and support as well as being switched on when it comes time to create a quick counter attacking opportunity.

20-year-old Ibrahim Sunusi took home the award for tournament's top scorer in last year's Canadian Championships, he arrives at the 2023 final in a 5-way tie for top scorer with 2, and if Hernan Losada's Montreal side are too pull off the upset, it's likely Sunusi's pace and power will open up their chance to score, especially without the services of veteran Romell Quioto.

If it's not a quick counterattack, Montreal will have to take their chances off set pieces, if there's one thing that stands out when looking at CF Montreal's team sheet, it's the amount of size and aerial threat throughout the lineup.

In one of their latest results in MLS, CF Montreal sent out 6/10 outfield players who were above 6 feet tall.