Out of 34 games, and involving 21 opponents, it is a touch tricky to tie oneself down to just five encounters to look forward to, but I have done my best to select a mere handful, and with my reasons for doing so. Let me know your top five in the comments section below, as we look forward to another fine season.
April 1: home to FC Dallas
It is difficult to argue against FC Dallas being a greater rival than others closer to home. Certainly the history stretches back a little further, to when the Texas team were known as Dallas Burn and were the first MLS visitors to Colorado, back in 1996. In more recent times, the Rapids got the better of Dallas in the 2010 MLS Cup, while only last season the two were slugging it out for the Supporters’ Shield up until the very last weekend. In their two most recent tussles, Dallas snatched a late equalizer at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in the first meeting of 2016, before Dominique Badji’s goal ensured the Rapids were the only visiting side to leave Frisco with a victory when the pair went at it again in September.
And, of course, who can forget the mauling Colorado gave Dallas at Toyota Stadium in 2015, an early season beacon of hope that would ultimately flicker and fade. This will be the first of three meetings between the top two in all of MLS last season, and should offer both the expected needle, and an early indicator as to how the teams may fare in 2017.
May 31: away to LA Galaxy
Though these sides meet at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on June 21, I’m sure there will be keen eyes on this one as well, seeing as though it brings together so many strands. LA failed to crack the Colorado code in 2016, managing just two goals in five contests. Two of those games came in the playoffs, with the sides clashing in the Western Conference Semifinals. The Rapids would win 3-1 on penalties, after the two-legged series ended 1-1 on aggregate. LA are a team in transition. Gone are Steven Gerrard, Mike Magee, Alan Gordon, Robbie Keane, Landon Donovan (again) and head coach Bruce Arena. They do still boast talent such as Gyasi Zardes, Giovani dos Santos and the wall that is Jelle van Damme. They may also include Jermaine Jones among their numbers, following his departure from Colorado. Twice the Rapids went to StubHub Center during the regular season in 2016, and twice they emerged with a point. The Galaxy will be determined to regain the initiative in this series, with players on both sides eager to win points, and prove some also.
June 24: away to Atlanta United FC
Do not go looking for any previous form, far-reach history, or too many personal battles to make this one stand out, though there are some former Rapids among the roster. One of two newbies to MLS, I have chosen this one purely for the fact that, with all due respect to fellow-newcomers Minnesota United, the Eastern Conference’s freshest face appears unwilling to ease into the North American top flight. If their build-up is anything to go by, then they will land with a thump. They've certainly landed a notable head coach in Gerardo 'Tata' Martino, who has previously been in charge of the national sides of Argentina and Paraguay, as well as Spanish giants Barcelona. The roster has some familiar faces also, with MLS veterans Jeff Larentowicz, Jacob Peterson, Michael Parkhurst and Zach Loyd, plus Ireland international Chris McCann and Kenwyne Jones, a Trinidad and Tobago forward who has played at Southampton, Stoke City and Sunderland. Unfortunately, this game arrives too soon for it to be staged at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which opens to MLS on July 30. Instead, this encounter will be played at Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium.
July 4: home to Seattle Sounders FC
Confirm your seats early for this one. No, seriously. The soccer aside, everything surrounding this day at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park is sensational. It’s the Fourth of July, so there will be fireworks after the game, which just happens to be against the defending champions, and which just happens to be against the very side that denied the Rapids the chance to host the 2016 MLS Cup. Seattle were the whipping boys in the West during the first half of last season. The Rapids won 3-1 at home and triumphed 1-0 at CenturyLink Field. It didn’t help that Obafemi Martins had chased the Chinese fortune cookies before the season had even started. But then Brian Schmetzer happened, soon followed by Nicolas Lodeiro. Even the loss - due to an irregular heartbeat - of Clint Dempsey down the stretch could not halt the Seattle express, as they proved once again that the dangerous teams are those which make the playoffs and have momentum; that Seattle certainly had, and enough to take them to Toronto, where they would lift their first MLS Cup. As LA will not quickly forget their postseason demise at the hands of the Rapids, the same can be said for many in the Colorado locker room, eager for a little payback themselves.
October 15: home to Real Salt Lake
How could I offer up my five games of note without inserting at least one against Rocky Mountain rivals Real Salt Lake? This match is the last home game of the 2017 regular season. It is also the penultimate game of the forthcoming campaign, prior to a season-ending showdown in Seattle. The Rocky Mountain Cup may already have been reclaimed by this stage (the teams also meet in Commerce City on April 15, and at Rio Tinto on August 26 - the same date they met in 2016), and the Rapids may already know their postseason fate. The reverse could also be true with regards my previous statements, which makes this game a potential decider on a number of fronts. RSL won the battle in 2016, yet lost the war, as they finished sixth in the West, 12 points behind the Rapids. And, while Pablo Mastroeni and his charges chase the Supporters’ Shield, MLS Cup and U.S. Open Cup in 2017, they’d not say ‘no’ to seeing the Rocky Mountain Cup back in Colorado come the season end.
