With Tuesday’s announcement that Vancouver will be hosting Montreal on March 10 for MLS First Kick, Toronto avoids one hurdle in what could have been a very difficult and emotional start to the season.

TSN (and RDS for Francophone viewers) will be carrying Vancouver-Montreal on Saturday, March 10 at 6 p.m. ET. This is one of the four nationally broadcast First Kick matches that have been revealed by MLS. The others are Dallas hosting New York, Chivas home to Houston and Portland opening against Philadelphia.

That eliminates four potential matchups for Toronto in the first weekend of MLS 2012. With the Reds in a Champions League series against Los Angeles (March 7 & 14), chances of the March 10 match being against the Galaxy in Carson are also slim (though it could happen).

Aside from the unlikely threat of three on the trot versus LA, Toronto’s potential March 10 opponents have now been narrowed down to 2010 MLS Cup champion Colorado, the always lively Seattle, fellow 2011 strugglers San Jose and the most mouth watering tie against D.C. United.

With two of D.C.’s geographic rivals New York and Philadelphia already engaged, Toronto could be a fit for the U.S. capital. It would be easier for Reds’ traveling supporters to make their way to RFK Stadium than the Rockies, California or the Pacific Northwest. Last time Toronto met D.C. the two sides played to an exciting 3-3 draw, but defensive errors robbed the Reds of three points with former captain Dwayne De Rosario taking advantage with a hat-trick.

Potential match-ups aside the best thing for Toronto – with a March 14 return date in the Champions League against Los Angeles – would be to have the weekend off. With a 19-team league and an unbalanced schedule, a bye week is not entirely out of the question, though it would understandably raise a few well groomed eyebrows in Carson.