Storylines, growing pains and footballing lessons to learn in the 2024 TELUS Canadian Championship

For better or for worse, competing in the 2024 TELUS Canadian Championship brings with it some valuable footballing lessons.

Take, for instance, a lesson on the importance of experience: The first round of the battle for the Voyageurs Cup continues this week as the tournament officially kicked off with two matches early in April, with results that saw hardened CanChamp outfits like Cavalry FC and Toronto FC advance past greener opposition in Vancouver FC and Simcoe County Rovers FC.

The 2024 edition of Canada's domestic tournament was Simcoe County's first foray since forming in 2021; for Vancouver FC, a match-up against Cavalry was just their second fixture in the competition, ever.

And, while both had plenty of promise, this is a battleground not easily conceded.

Despite being up a man against Cavalry, Vancouver went on to lose their one-off fixture 1-0, and head coach Afshin Ghotbi lamented after the match, as quoted by Todd Saelhof in the Calgary Herald, that his team "lost" their "concentration," among other concerns about match preparation. Meanwhile, Barrie-based Simcoe County Rovers FC were welcomed to the TELUS Canadian Championship with a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Toronto.

"Toronto FC is a bigger beast than we can imagine," Rovers coach Zico Mahrady conceded after the game. "The experience Toronto FC has, and the tempo they were able to play with, is a good learning experience for us."

Strangely, Toronto FC head coach John Herdman was not so impressed as you might expect, having come out of this match as winners.

"We missed our target tonight which was to break the goals record for the club, so [I'm] a little bit disappointed," Herdman said, as quoted by Waking the Red.

He'll have plenty of more important goals to outline and achieve if a Voyageurs Cup return to Toronto is on the cards; last year's finalists, CF Montreal and the defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps – each having received byes to the quarter-finals – will have something to say about that. You can be sure both these MLS teams will be looking to teach Toronto a lesson in humility, too.

But before this competition's giants inevitably square off, this week's fixtures have a more local flavour: Burnaby's TSS Rovers – yes, those Rovers, the ones who became Canada's first semi-professional team to progress in the tournament with a 3-1 demolition of the Canadian Premier League’s Valour FC – return to the competition and get another shot at their provincial adversaries Pacific FC on Wednesday. They'll hope to gleam something from their previous meeting last year, and with a new coach in tow: Newly promoted Brendan Teeling will take charge for the first time in Langford.

"For me, it’s a massive game, a massive moment for me in my career as well," Teeling told AFTN’s Michael McColl. "We get to go back into that competition and hopefully challenge Pacific and give them a test on their home turf."

Valour, having found themselves on the wrong side of that underdog story, will need to take their own lessons from 2023 to heart. The Winnipegers sit at the bottom of the CPL table after three tumultuous away bouts, burdened by a -6 goal differential. To add to the early-season trouble, they'll be playing exclusively on the road until June when their new turf is installed at Princess Auto Stadium. If there's anything this team knows full-well now, it's this: The TELUS Canadian Championship can be highly unpredictable.

It's why there's a surprising amount of optimism coming out of Valour as they prepare to take on Atlético Ottawa at TD Place Stadium.

"There’s definitely been improvement," newly-signed Australian forward Jordi Swibel told media before Valour played perhaps their best game against Forge FC at Tim Hortons Field. "Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think it's 15 new players; that takes time, but that’s not an excuse."

And, like Herdman, Valour head coach Phil Dos Santos made his own team goals crystal-clear: "I want to bring an MLS team to this stadium... and I want to be able to see this club lift silverware."

Lofty goals, to be sure. But how much can be reasonably taken from a year ago?

Five hours southwest, the 905 Derby is back on between Forge FC and York United at Tim Hortons Field, and their lessons in history feel much, much fresher.

This is the first time the two Ontario outfits have met in the TELUS Canadian Championship, yes... but it comes just nine days after the defending CPL champions quashed any hope for York enjoying a pleasant start to the season at home; certainly, York United head coach Martin Nash wasn't particularly pleased about his team's 3-0 defeat to the Hammers at York Lions Stadium.

"We didn't pull the trigger quick enough a few times," Nash said, as quoted in Waking the Red. "We didn’t really test them enough."

He'll need his players to take those lessons to heart quickly, as Forge FC head coach Bobby Smyrniotis has every right to be pleased with his club’s perfect start to the season.

"I always say I don't like leaving games to chance and luck," Smyrniotis offered. "We want to be able to create our opportunities from something that we've worked on, or something that we do. In the first games, that's what we have been doing, so that's something very positive."

The home side on this rivalry rematch would surely relish another go at CF Montreal in the quarter-finals, as this particular MLS foe has ousted Forge from the competition in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Fourth time's the charm?

All this leads to Thursday's first-round finale; Ligue1 Quebec champions CS Saint-Laurent may fancy their chances against the winless HFX Wanderers FC – and Halifax would do well to take a page from Valour's book and not underestimate their opponents here, or we may just see another famous day in League1 Canada lore emerge from that underdog cup magic storybook.

With a fully functioning football pyramid intact, these storylines and lessons seem to generate themselves: Can the Vancouver Whitecaps win their third consecutive Voyageurs Cup? How far can a plucky L1C side go? Is this finally a CPL club's year?

Tune in on OneSoccer and find out.