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Toronto FC enter their busiest month of the Major League Soccer season sitting in a great position. With 20 points from their first 12 matches they are fourth in the Eastern Conference. They are within striking distance of the summit, with multiple games in hand on the teams above them as they head to the Windy City to face the Chicago Fire on Wednesday night, live on TSN and TSN Radio 1050. The Reds conceded a late goal to drop a couple of points in New York on Friday in their first game back from the World Cup break, but the 2-2 draw at Red Bull Arena extended their unbeaten run to five matches, their longest run without a defeat in almost two years. It is six years since the only other time Toronto FC managed to take 20 points from their first 12 matches. Last year it took until their 22nd match to reach that mark. So there is much to be positive about as the Reds look to climb the standings during a hectic month ahead. The Form: During their five match unbeaten run, Toronto FC have won three home games and drawn twice away from home. Both of their ties on the road came against teams that are expected to be challenging for the playoffs come the end of the season. First, they showed resilience to fight back late in the game despite being a man down at defending champions Sporting Kansas City, and then last Friday the late goal went against them as they drew 2-2 in New York. For far too many seasons in Major League Soccer, Toronto FC have traveled away and shown very little ability to collect points. But things have changed. Yes there have been a couple of dismal days this season like the defeat at Real Salt Lake, but there have also been wins at Seattle and Columbus as well as the recent draws. This is a team that now has the quality and belief to go anywhere in MLS and get a positive result. The Big Question: Will Jermain Defoe keep scoring? Defoe now has eight goals in nine MLS appearances and theres no reason to believe his goal-scoring touch will disappear anytime soon. Toronto FC paid mega bucks to sign him from Tottenham Hotspur in January, and so far Defoe has been worth every cent. His movement and instinct in-front of goal is as good as any other player in Major League Soccer. He took his goal superbly against New York Red Bulls and has now scored in each of his last three matches. He has five goals in his last five MLS games. With Defoe on the pitch, Toronto FC are in every game. The Lineup: With Gilberto struggling with a hip flexor injury, it could be an unchanged lineup for Ryan Nelsens men. The Brazilian seems to be the only injury concern for Nelsen right now, and until Michael Bradley returns from the World Cup, the eleven against New York is pretty much as strong as it gets for Toronto. Dominic Oduro made his first start for the club against the Red Bulls following his move from Columbus and is likely to start against his former team. Oduro looked lively for the Reds and set up Defoe for TFCs first goal. With Collen Warner, Jonathan Osorio and Jackson completing the midfield, there is plenty of MLS experience. The mid-season additions of Warner and Oduro have really strengthened the Reds midfield. With Gilberto expected to miss out, Defoe and Moore should once again start as the pairing up front. The Opposition: Under new head coach Frank Yallop, it has been a slow start to the season for Chicago Fire. The former Canadian international joined the Fire at the end of last season but his side has found it tough to win games in the opening quarter of the year. They havent lost many, but they head into Wednesdays game sitting bottom of the Eastern Conference. The Fire have secured 14 points from 14 matches, with just two wins, but they have drawn eight times. They lost their final match before the World Cup break 3-2 at home to Seattle Sounders, and will now be without defender Jon Kennedy Hurtado who was sent off in that match. Chicago are without a win in their last four matches since securing impressive victories at New York (5-4) and home to Sporting KC (2-1). Former Toronto FC forward Quincy Amarikwa is having a good season and is the Fires joint leading scorer along with rookie Harry Ship, who scored both goals in the loss to Seattle. Yallops team can also call upon Major League Soccers reigning MVP Mike Magee. The Odds: The history books are on Chicagos side. Toronto FC are without a win in their last eight matches against the Fire dating back to May 2010, and the Reds have never won in Chicago on their seven previous visits. In fact, in 16 all-time meetings, TFC have won just three times. But if there was ever a time for Toronto to put things right in Chicago, it is now. Torontos road form is much improved over past seasons and the Fire have been inconsistent so far this season. However, the wise money would be on a scoring draw. Where To Watch: Join me with Jason de Vos and Kara Lang for Chicago Fire against Toronto FC live on TSN on Wednesday at 8:30pm ET, 5:30pm PT. Will Butcher Devils Jersey .C. -- Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith has been ruled out for Sundays game against the Atlanta Falcons. Blake Coleman Devils Jersey . Blatter, a 75-year-old Swiss executive who has been in office since 1998, was handed a final four-year term as head of footballs governing body in a vote at FIFAs congress. He won 186 votes out of 203 ballots. http://www.devilssale.com/authentic-jesper-bratt-devils-jersey/ . -- Dee Ford prefers to keep things simple: Play hard and fast, and let others worry about his NFL draft stock. Jamie Langenbrunner Jersey . The Broncos quarterback earned the offensive award Wednesday after passing for 374 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-21 win over the Raiders Monday night. Manning completed 32-of-37 passes and had a passer rating of 135. Scott Stevens Devils Jersey .Y. - Rob Manfred was promoted Monday to Major League Baseballs chief operating officer, which may make him a candidate to succeed Bud Selig as commissioner.From John Ferguson Jr. to Cliff Fletcher (part II) to Brian Burke to Dave Nonis, the annual free agent frenzy has been nothing short of a recurring nightmare for Maple Leaf general managers (recent) past and present. Each and every July 1st signing has brought with it excitement and all too large expectations only to fizzle into one pricey disappointment after another. Now helming another rebuild in Calgary, Burke often described the day in disastrous terms for the NHLs management community, decrying the slew of exorbitant contracts with "unrealistic values and unrealistic term…that bite you right in the butt at some point". Value, all too important under the confines of a cap system and best found in homegrown products, is never harder to find than on July 1st – a day that sees the contracts get larger and sillier with each passing year. It began in earnest for the Leafs shortly after the outset of the cap era in the summer of 2006. John Ferguson Jr., fighting for a job that would soon run its course, plugged two holes on the Toronto defence that July with a pair of expensive free agent additions. Formerly a member of Tampas Cup winning squad in 2004, Pavel Kubina was inked for four years and $20 million and Hal Gill, once a towering defender in Boston but far less effective under the free-flowing rules of the league post-lockout, raked in more than $6 million for three years. Both were overpaid from the outset – especially in the case of Kubina, one of many to struggle under the weight of an onerous contract – and both were eventually traded. 2007 Jason Blake came next. Scoring more frequently as an Islander in 2006 than at any other point in a 13-year career, Blake – age 33 – signed with the Leafs for five years and $20 million in the last significant move of the Ferguson Jr. era. Blake, predictably, could not live up to the expectations of such a large contract, never coming close to 40 goals again; he was dealt to Anaheim alongside Vesa Toskala for J.S. Giguere in 2010. 2008 Mostly forgotten now, but of considerable damage to the organization during a brief 10-month tenure, Fletcher continued the free agent plight in 2008. Maybe even more stunning now than it was then, Fletcher handed former Avalanche defender Jeff Finger, he of 94 games of NHL experience, four years and $14 million. Finger played 62 forgettable games in a Leaf uniform, was eventually buried in the minors, never to be heard from again. Joining Finger in the free agent trot that day was Niklas Hagman, a Finnish winger who scored 27 goals the year prior in Dallas. Hagman also cashed in under Fletcher, lured for four years at a bloated $12 million. Though he scored 42 goals in two seasons with the Leafs, Hagman was consistently inconsistent, soon to be dealt to Calgary in the famed Dion Phaneuf trade. 2009 Still months from pulling the trigger on the noisiest (and most controversial) move of his busy Toronto tenure – the hotly debated Phil Kessel trade – Burke sought a big and ultimately failed splash in his first summer as the Leafs front man. It was all about truculence then and truculence he got. There were the four years and $4 million pitched to former Rangers heavyweight, Colton Orr; five long years and $22.5 million to Mike Komisarek; three years at just over $11 million for Francois Beauchemin. Orr lingereed as a mostly unused tough guy for Ron Wilson before being briefly banished to the minors (he eventually returned to the NHL).dddddddddddd. Komisarek, a step or two slow for the speedier new game, tumbled quickly under the burden of a deal he could never live up to and was bought out by the organization last summer. Beauchemin eventually found his game, but not in Toronto. He returned to the Ducks in the Jake Gardiner-Joffrey Lupul swap, finishing fourth in the 2013 Norris Trophy voting. 2010 Still trying to fill various holes through free agency, Burke added the veteran grinder Colby Armstrong from Pittsburgh the following summer (three years, $9 million). Armstrong never found much health as a Leaf though and preceded fellow free agent signee, Komisarek, on the buyout line. 2011 Tim Connolly recorded just 42 points in his final go-around in Buffalo, but still landed $9 million for two years in the summer of 2011. Connolly never hit the desired mark of No. 1 centre for the Leafs (he had 36 points in 70 games), was demoted to the Marlies after a year and is now out of the NHL. 2013 And then last summer there was David Clarkson, the first signee of Nonis as Leafs GM. In perhaps the worst deal of the aforementioned bunch, Clarkson landed in his hometown for seven years and more than $36 million on July 1st, 2013. Year 1 was an all-out nightmare and while theres every chance of a bounce-back of some kind in Year 2, his talents are unlikely to ever match the value of an incredibly burdensome contract. Clarkson was just the latest in a line of July 1st blunders. The fundamental flaw in continually swinging big in free agency is the lacking value the process ensures – players are almost always overvalued on Day 1 of the contract. As demonstrated yet again by the L.A. Kings earlier this summer, team building (and sustained success) is best accomplished through successful draft and development, not pricey spending on a mistake-laden day. And so while impending UFAs like Paul Statsny may appear to solve long-standing needs, Nonis (and Brendan Shanahan) would be wise to approach with caution. The answer, especially in Toronto, is almost never found on July 1st. Player Contract End Result Pavel Kubina 4 years, $20M Traded Hal Gill 3 years, $6.25M Traded Jason Blake 5 years, $20M Traded Jeff Finger 4 years, $14M Demoted Niklas Hagman 4 years, $12M Traded Colton Orr 4 years, $4M Demoted * Mike Komisarek 5 years, $22.5M Bought Out Francois Beauchemin 3 years, $11.4M Traded Colby Armstrong 3 years, $9M Bought Out Tim Connolly 2 years, $9M Demoted David Clarkson 7 years, $36.75M N/A ' ' '