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Major League Soccer is approaching the business end of the schedule. It is now into its eighth full month of regular-season play and the teams are entering the final laps to see who will be in a playoff spot when the checkered flag comes down on Oct. 26. It has been another thoroughly entertaining season but the league is far from perfect. With just over two weeks left here are the three things I would change if I became MLS commissioner for a day. -- 1. SCHEDULE CHANGES FOR FINAL DAY OF SEASON Toronto FC end their season in New England on a Saturday night while Columbus finish their campaign the next day. The two are currently locked in a fascinating race for a wild-card spot but on that weekend the Crew will know exactly what they need heading into their match, which might be simply a draw, something they wouldna€?t necessarily know if they were unaware of the Toronto FC result. Similarly, Vancouver and Portland are currently going head-to-head in a race for the fifth spot in the Western Conference. On the final day of the season Portland kick off at 8:30pm et/5:30pm pt, while the Whitecaps start their game at 10pm et/7pm pt when the Timbers will have around 15 minutes left in their game. Neither of these scenarios is fair. The World Cup found out the hard way with a€?the disgrace of Gijona€? between Austria and West Germany in 1982 and every major European league now plays all of their games at the same time for a reason. MLS needs to act on this immediately because right now they are opening themselves up to a situation that could see two teams playing each other while knowing exactly what they need to do based solely on the start time of their games. CHANGES TO BE MADE: I understand there are stadium conflicts, television deals and many other factors that go into organizing kick off times. However, none of them are a good enough reason as to why the league should not start every match on the final day of the season at the same time. If they ever had a Gijon moment, it would be more than just a disgrace considering the world is showing them just how it should be done. POTENTIAL ISSUE: What if it is not logistically possible to play in those stadiums on the final day of the last weekend? SOLUTION: Ideally, you play them all on a Saturday away from the NFL and find a time that works for all time zones. It should be done. Not only would this bring more attention to dramatic playoff races but it is also the only fair thing to do for the teams and their players. For that reason alone the league needs to find the time and date that works. If finding ten available stadiums on a Saturday in October proves to be more of a challenge than it sounds then find a different time. 8pm et/5pm pt on a Friday? Even Sunday? It doesna€?t matter. It has to happen. -- 2. IMPROVE THE WAY GAMES LOOK ON TV I have really enjoyed commentating on some great games in MLS this season for TSN and a lot of people behind the scenes work very hard to put together an excellent product that thousands of people enjoy watching every weekend. However, it can get better. CHANGES TO BE MADE: MLS wants to become one of the worlda€?s leading leagues by 2022 and one of the ways they can do that is by pushing the boundaries with technology. Never have more eyeballs been placed on this sport and if you show the world a different lens to view it through then people will react. I would have them place more cameras in the stadiums including a high tactics view above each goal that people can watch solely with their MLS Live accounts. More importantly, I would work out an agreement with the Professional Referee Organization (PRO) to have the referees wear portable GoPro Cameras on top of their heads, with an open line being sent to the home and away broadcast trucks. POTENTIAL ISSUE: What about some difficult scenes and conversations going out live that shouldna€?t be shown? SOLUTION: Due to the abuse referees receive from players the agreement would have to stipulate that it could not be shown live during a stoppage of play but some of the replay images you would see would be fascinating. It is already working in other sports, including rugby league in England where the referee moves around the field just as much as they do in soccer. Thankfully, in that sport they dona€?t let their players berate the officials with a tirade of abuse but perhaps this camera could help solve that as well. Possibly. For now, though, for the day I am in charge, I would do whatever it takes to have referees wear them for every game going forward. -- 3. PLAYOFF SEEDING CHANGES FOR 2015 Next season New York City FC and Orlando City will be joining the Eastern Conference. The expected two year hiatus, and rebranding, of Chivas USA leaves 12 teams in the East and eight in the West. It is expected that Sporting KC and Houston Dynamo will join the West next season, turning the already superior conference into an absolute powerhouse. Remember the NFCa€?s dominance over the AFC in the NFL during the late 80s and 90s? Well, this could be the same. Forcing teams in the West to play more games against each other is one thing (clearly some kind of balanced schedule needs also to be resolved in years to come with expansion) but should one of those teams really miss out on the playoffs if they were still able to get more points than a fifth placed Eastern Conference side that played weaker teams more often? Absolutely not. CHANGES TO BE MADE: There is no need for a revolutionary new playoff format that will be difficult to understand for fans. MLS should again reward the top three teams in each conference with a playoff spot but the next four a€?wild carda€? spots should simply go to the teams with the next four best point totals, regardless of what conference they are in. This, much like Major League Baseball, would turn everyonea€?s attention to the wild card standings and the top four in this would be ranked in that manner and still play in the one game playoff matches (1 vs 4, 2 vs 3) that currently exist. POTENTIAL ISSUE: How does MLS avoid the nonsense, similarly to what took place in 2010, where teams can win a playoff game and then get moved into a different conference, which they could subsequently become champions of, having played the entire regular season in the opposite one? SOLUTION: Conferences by region are a nice idea for regular season but are meaningless in playoff format. They have no history and having teams swap back and forth between them further strengthens the argument at just how irrelevant they are. Why should a league be restricted from common sense based on geography? Take the top six teams and rank them in order of points. The two wild card winners then take spots seven and eight and then you have two knockout rounds for the quarters and semis before the final based around a 1 vs 8 format. This also eliminates the problem that the NFL had when, so often, their best two teams were in the same conference and were unable to meet in the final. This solution also means a team can finish seventh in the West and get in, which they should if they were able to get more points than the team who finished fourth in the East, for example. -- Now if we can just get the regular season wrapped up before the international break in October and the MLS Cup awarded before the international break in November we wouldna€?t have to see players leave their clubs at crucial moments of the season. Somehow I think that may take me more than one day to change. Glenn Sparkman Jersey . "Well over 50 (per cent)," coach Claude Noel said Tuesday after practice, where the Jets were looking at ways to cut down the scoring chances theyve been giving away. Ryan OHearn Jersey . 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Vancouver (13-9-5) came in having lost seven of its past eight games, but a solid effort finally put an end to their recent struggles. That was of more interest to Sedin than his own stats. "When youre in the middle of the season you dont think too much about it, but Im sure after the season or looking back it will be different," said Sedin. "It was nice to help the team (win), thats for sure." With the Canucks playing the first of a four-game road trip, Sedin said picking up the win was instrumental in setting the tone for the next three. "This is a big road trip for us and to start with a win is going to give us a lot of confidence moving forward," said Sedin. "As a team we played pretty good. The (penalty kill) did a good job and the power play got one, too, so overall it was a good game." David Booth, Jason Garrison, Dale Weise and Mike Santorelli also scored for the Canucks. Roberto Luongo finished with 37 saves. Clarke MacArthur and Mika Zibanejad scored for the Senators (10-12-4). Craig Anderson allowed four goals on 15 shots before being replaced by Robin Lehner, who allowed one goal on 13 shots. With the loss the Senators, who beat the Washington Capitals 6-4 on Wednesday, are now 0-4-1 when playing back-to-back nights. Senators coach Paul MacLean said his team deserved the loss. "We got what we earned," said MacLean. "(Wednesday) night we got what we earned and 26 times a year so far weve gotten what weve earned whether that was wins or losses. Every night weve earned it and (Thursday) we earned it again." MacLean added the Sens continue to make too many mistakes. "We dont play hard enough on the forecheck. We dont play hard enough coming back. We dont play hard enough defensively. Our goaltenders arent playing hard enough. Were just not playing hard enough for long enough to have an opportunity to win." The difference in this one was the second period when the Canucks scored four goals as 17,931 at the Canadian Tire Centre looked on. "Quite honestly I thought weve played better games than (Thursdays) game," said Vancouver coach John Tortorella. "Its good to get a win for us. No complaints here. Weve lost some games we should have won and I thought we played well enough to win, but we still have a lot of thingss to work on.ddddddddddddquot; Daniel Sedin tied the game 1-1 just 31 seconds into the second period as he beat Anderson far side. Just 45 seconds later the Canucks took the lead on Booths second goal of the season as he beat Anderson cleanly. Booth has had his share of struggles and admitted its nice to contribute offensively. "I felt good on my skates so thats the biggest thing," said Booth. "But its over now and youve got to start gearing up for Saturday in New York." The Canucks then went on to make it 3-1 with a power-play goal as Garrison was left all alone in front. Ottawa has allowed at least one power-play goal in each of the last seven games. Midway through the period Weise picked up a Garrison rebound and beat a sprawled Anderson. Weise was one of the Canucks better players and if the team hopes to have any long-term success they are going to need secondary scoring. "This is what you need for good teams to win," said Weise. "We cant rely on the (Sedin) twins every night. Our secondary scoring has to pitch in and it has to be consistent." Less than 20 seconds after Weises goal Andersons night came to an end. The Senators managed to cut the lead in half as Zibanejad made it 4-2 with just over one minute remaining in the period. The Canucks made it 5-2 early in the third as Santorelli took advantage of a Jason Spezza giveaway behind the Ottawa net. Santorelli grabbed the puck, shot and then picked up his own rebound to beat Lehner between the legs. Strangely enough Ottawa got off to the start it wanted as MacArthur picked up his 100th career goal midway through the first to give the home team a 1-0 lead, but it was never able to capitalize on the momentum. "Its frustrating," said Ottawas Kyle Turris. "That lapse we had in the start of the second and then we played pretty well the last half of the second and the third. Weve got to execute coming out of our zone and weve got to be more crisp with the puck." With the win Vancouver continues to dominate the Senators. Vancouver has won six straight and 10 of the past 11 meetings between the clubs. Ottawa has lost three in a row and six of its last seven home meetings against the Canucks. Notes: D Patrick Wiercioch, D Jared Cowen and LW Matt Kassian were healthy scratches for the Senators. a The Canucks were without C Jordan Schroeder who is expected to miss another month with a sprained ankle. C Jeremy Welsh, C Zac Dalpe and D Andrew Alberts were healthy scratches. ' ' '