The city of Montreal is no stranger to the phrase “goalie controversy”. However it usually involves the NHL team, the Montreal Canadiens. This time though it is happening further east at Stade Saputo between Troy Perkins and Evan Bush. Last Saturday Evan Bush started his 5th game of the MLS regular season. Bush who has only started two MLS games over the last two seasons, is finally getting a chance to prove himself and knock Perkins out of his starting role.
Tale of Two Keepers:
Since coming to Montreal in August 2012, via Portland, in a trade which saw Donovan Ricketts go the other way; Troy Perkins has been the unquestioned starting keeper for the Montreal Impact. The 33-year-old Ohio native has started 61 MLS regular season games for the Impact since the trade, and has been one of the core leaders in Montreal. However, poor defending this season has left Perkins exposed allowing 33 goals in 19 starts. Over the last few months the poor team defending has led to a festering lack of confidence within the team. The sure footed keeper has been constantly struggling with clearances and goal kicks over the last few months, opening the door for Evan Bush to start a few games.
Enter Evan Bush. Bush is one of the few holdovers from the Impact team that played in the NASL and has served as the backup keeper for the Impact since the team entered in the MLS in 2012. Until this season Bush had been the go to keeper for cup games, including the Canadian Championship and the CONCACAF Champions League. Over the last two seasons he has carried himself extremely well in the cup games leading the Impact to back-to-back Canadian Championships.With Perkins struggling this season it has allowed Bush the opportunity to start 5 MLS games, including the most recent loss to the New York Red Bulls on Saturday night, 4-2.
Expansion Draft:
With the expansion draft on the horizon there are doubts that the Impact will protect Perkins, opening the door for Evan Bush to grab the starting job. Perkins has one of the higher salaries on the team, and with a partial rebuild underway in Montreal the extra salary could used in other ways (including upgrading the defence). Although size maybe a drawback for Bush, his ability as a keeper is strong as witnessed in 2011 when he received the Golden Glove award which is given to the keeper in the NASL with the best goals against average. However the MLS is not the NASL and the learning curve will be steep for the Ohio native.
The Future:
Although the Impact may chose to go with Bush next season there are still a lot of question marks as to whether he can carry the team for the entirety of an MLS season. Montreal’s third string keeper is Maxime Crépeau, a product of the Montreal Impact Youth Academy, is another option that the Impact could explore looking forward to next season. Crépeau has been with the team since he was signed in 2013 from the Academy. If the Impact do decide to go with Bush next season, there is a good chance that Crépeau would take over Bush’s spot playing cup matches. If the former Academy player started to see some playing time in the next 12 months with the first team it would be another boon for the Impact Academy.
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