To be honest I see Kevin Hartman starting real quickly here in Dallas over Dario Sala. You don’t bring in a keeper like Hartman to just be a backup now do you? Still Hartman is saying all the right things so far. This will certainly be an interesting keeper battle this spring.

Well that was quick.

I mentioned earlier that Kevin Hartman could be on his way to Dallas and that appears to be the case. Buzz Carrick is now reporting that Hartman has come to terms on a deal with Dallas.

The terms of the deal aren’t confirmed yet but a good bet it will be some form of allocation and maybe a SuperDraft pick. Hartman was never waived by KC so Dallas has to give up something to gain his player rights under the current, yet expired CBA.

Look for this to be a very interesting keeper battle between Dario Sala and Hartman. Dallas manager Schellas Hyndman has said all winter long that he was pleased with Sala but keep down I think he knows he needs someone else in goal to make this club a true contender.

Dallas is also looking to send backup keeper Josh Lambo out on loan, likely to a USSF Division II club this season (most likely a USL club, not a NASL one).

I’ll update this with more information as I get it.

Update: Just got a press release with the details on this deal. KC gets a second round pick in the 2012 SuperDraft. Guess KC really wanted to be free of this dude.

Hmm..just a little note from Steve Goff.

Former Kansas City goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, whose club-less situation has been at the center of the CBA storm, is close to being acquired by an MLS team, the Insider has learned. Where is he headed? Dallas?

Dallas has been in the market for a second keeper all winter long so a possible move for Hartman makes total sense, one I would honestly love to see. Dallas may have an extra international roster slot for trading (some reason KC is after a bunch of them right now). I still think New York is another destination for Hartman as the Red Bulls still currently lack a quality number one (come on, Bouna Coundoul is no number one folks).

I’ll try to do some digging here in Dallas to see if anything is close to happening here for Hartman.

Kevin Hartman is looking for a new home. (Getty Images)

Kevin Hartman’s time in Kansas City looks to be over. The Kansas City Star this morning has quotes from Peter Vermes that suggest the Wizards are looking to move on saying that Hartman is no longer in the teams plans.

It does appear the club did offer Hartman a new contract so they will retain his player rights for two years unless the new CBA has any sort of free agency in it. If that happens it will allow Hartman to move freely in MLS, if it doesn’t however a team will once again have to work out a deal with the Wizards to get his rights.

From this news it appears the signing of Danish goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen are indeed true. From the report Nielsen is on the books for one year with the Wizards.

So where could Hartman end up in MLS? A couple places come to mind right away include New York. I could see him take on a backup role in places like New England, San Jose, Chivas, or even LA for a year and then catch on with an expansion team in 2011 when Portland and Vancouver join the mix. We could easily see Hartman go to USSF Div II like Steve Ralston did, I can’t imagine too many clubs in that league passing on Hartman here, especially AC St. Louis since they are still building a team from scratch.

I had a feeling going into this winter that we’d see a change in goal for Kansas City. The Wizards were looking for a change to shake some things up and this is one that I expected to happen. Hartman is still a quality keeper so let’s not make this out to be something that it isn’t where Hartman is done and worthless here. No, he’s still got a few years left in the tank. But the Wizards needed to retool in some way to get into the playoffs this year. Sadly enough for those who like Hartman this was something that probably needed to happen.

Expect a big night out of KC's Josh Wolff. (Brian Stevens, WVH Photo Correspondent)

Unlike last week where I totally goofed on the date of the game, there is a Thursday night clash this week. That I promise you. This week we get an eastern conference clash between two up and coming teams as New York travels to Kansas City.

New York finally found the net in their last game in the win over RSL, while KC came from behind on the road against Chicago.

As always feel free to leave your score prediction below.

1. Can New York consistently keep up what they started last week at Giants Stadium?

Honestly that is a big question of this club. A year ago they were largely one the worst road clubs in the league, and when you fast forward to this season not much has changed in two road games (two losses and four goals against). But a lot has been said about how this club bounced back last week at home and actually played good soccer for once this season.

Consistent play will be key tonight for New York on the shorter field at CAB in Kansas City. Not to mention the fact that this club hasn’t won a game in KC since 2005. Also double the fact that this starts a big stretch of games for the energy drink club. New York will play the first of four matches in a 10-day stretch tonight, with games against DC on Sunday, at San Jose the following Wednesday in the USOC, and at LA next Saturday.

Getting off to a bad start on a stretch like that can really set a club back.

2. What does KC have to do to keep up their production offensively?

Keep Josh Wolff as a striker. It is as simple as that, when Wolff is free to float around the penalty box he is as dangerous if not more dangerous than most players in this league. I know the Wizards have a long list of guys who’s lead position on the pitch is at striker but Wolff is best when positioned there. Not on the wing. We saw that against Chicago last week, when Wolff was on the wings the Wizards’ offense was stagnent and nearly non-existent. One quick change to move him up top lead to two goals.

3. Player to keep an eye out for.

For New York be be successful in the midfield tonight they need a big game out of Seth Stammler and Jorge Rojas. If either of those two fails to keep possession in New York’s favor it will be a long night on a New York defense that is still a bit shaky. Plus keeping the possession means more chances on Kevin Hartman’s goal for Juan Pablo Angel and Mac Kandji.

Quick Thoughts:

The Wizards are either hot or at least luke warm depending on who you talk to right now. Their offense is clicking like it should and their defense is playing some decent soccer as well. But truth be told their midfield is really been stepping up and Curt Onalfo has been making some big time subs in the second half in recent games.

New York needs this win to keep rolling here but I don’t like their chances on the road. For me its one of those things, if they can prove to me that they can consistently put it together for a full 90 on the road then I will feel better about picking them in games like this. But they haven’t done so yet. I like KC in this one due to another strong performance out of the big four of Hartman, Jimmy Conrad, Claudio Lopez and Josh Wolff.

WVH Prediction: KC 2, NY 1

Guillermo Barros Schelotto PK wasn't enough to beat TFC. (Getty Images)

Week number two is finally in the books here. We saw six games come and go with only a few goals this week to even mention. Loads of draws across the land early on Saturday, but the night came with the goals as the Seattle-RSL game and Houston-San Jose game saw more action than the first couple in the day.

So just what did week two bring us? A new saves leader in Kevin Hartman, an expansion club at the top of the standings, and a young Columbian leading all in goals scored (talk about a goal too!).

I try to be quick in my recaps here this year, since I don’t see every game it should be a bit easier to do so.

Columbus Crew 1 – 1 Toronto FC:

Say what you will about the result, you have to give it up to Toronto for getting four points out of their first two road games. I don’t believe last year’s squad would have come close to that. Their home opener next week will really give us a strong indication of how good they really are I think. Continue Reading…

I think week 11 was one of the more memorably weekends in the 2008 season. It was a long and stretched out week with games every night from Wednesday all the way to Sunday. Thought that Wednesday night game was washed out in DC, it showed us something that this was going to be one wild weekend. I mean, when was the last time we had a MLS game postponed due to rain?!

Anyways, as far as the interconference battles went this weekend. The west is showing they can back up their play against the east. The two sides split their five matches going 2-2-1 on the weekend. The one match that would have fixed the split was that washed out match on Wednesday night.

Let’s start out with some points from around the league before diving into each match:

• Yes, I know the Crew fans went against league policy on the streamers. Please spare me the fact that they ignored it and what not. I know they did but it was only on one occasion and all it did was slow down the game. Pay more attention to this when Toronto has their next home game.
• By the way, those Crew fans were well behaved other than the one streamer throw.
• Something that needs to stop more than the streamers is this random fans that decide to run out on the field during the game. We’ve seen it in Toronto a couple times but now in LA. Folks that has to stop, more so than the streamers. Let’s see now if MLS Rumors attacks those LA fans like they have with Toronto and Columbus fans. Yeah, I doubt they will too.
• Funny to see Beckham laugh it off and Chris Klein tackle the dude though.
• The officiating was very questionable for the most part this weekend. One thing this league has problem with is sub-par officiating. Too many times they dictate the play, that has to change.
• Attendance was a typical so-so here. DC would have had solid number if the rain hadn’t come. New England will boost the numbers with the Brazil friendly. Other than those two the week was a typical so-so. But I say that with LA and Chicago posting near sellouts. That is a so-so in the form of its typical and highly expected of those two clubs.
• Three clubs still undefeated at home right now. We all talk about Toronto and Salt Lake, mainly because of the turf but look at Houston. They sit at 3-0-2 on the year at Robertson Stadium. That place is a great venue, too bad it isn’t their own.
• The west still has one club above .500 (LA), while the east has five (NE, Columbus, Chicago, Toronto, and NY).
• Still no draws for Colorado. I don’t think I’ve ever see a club go 11 games into the season without a single draw. Remarkable and sadly impressive on the fact that they are so inconsistent.

Now on to the weekend’s games. Continue Reading…