The New York Red Bulls have already provided five reasons to go to this game - and we won't spoil them: they are here. But Once A Metro has five more for you to consider.
1. Tickets are still available
A Wednesday night isn't the most popular time for a game. A Wednesday night in mid-February is even less appetizing for fans. And that means there are still plenty of seats available.
The sad truth for RBNY is that the most important game it is guaranteed to play this season won't be anything close to a sell-out. The good news for you, last-minute ticket-buyer, is you'll get all the usual benefits of a half-empty stadium: easier commute in and out of the stadium; fewer issues with concessions; maybe that weird quiet which means the players and coaches are clearly audible; certainly, something approaching the feeling of having a professional game of soccer staged just for you.
A sold-out stadium has its own appeal, but it also comes with a lot of headaches - particularly at Red Bull Arena, which has never really got comfortable with servicing a full house. A half-empty stadium has a different sort of charm: the feeling this whole thing is happening just for you and a few thousand friends.
Also, a game is usually ignored because it is largely unimportant. This one is historic: the team's first-ever CCL quarterfinal. You won't just be enjoying the particular charm of a quiet night at the Arena, you'll be enjoying a quiet historic night at the Arena.
2. It won't be (outrageously) cold
One thing that seemed very clear when this game was announced: it was going to be a brutal, cold-weather match of the sort everyone would be smart to watch on TV. But now the game is almost here and the forecast is for...not exactly a warm day - it is February - but not a freezing test of endurance either.
The current suggestion is day-time temperatures in the area could crack 60 degrees. By the time this match kicks off, it should be closer to 40 degrees: not freezing, not raining, not even particularly windy. If you are ever going to watch an outdoor event in late February, this is a good one to pick.
The forecast can change, of course - so don't make milder-than-expected weather the only reason to go. But is one of the reasons to think about it.
3. 8:00 pm kick off means 8:00 pm kick off
It's a school night, time is important, and it's always a bit of a drag to have to factor in another 20 minutes or so for MLS kick-offs that tend to merely approximate their advertised times. CONCACAF gets a lot of deserved criticism for many things, but it knows what a kick-off time means: when CONCACAF says kick off is 8:00 pm, kick off will be at 8:00 pm.
The match should be wrapped up before 10:00 pm, give or take unexpected amounts of stoppage time. And a small crowd means a quicker exit from the Arena and its notoriously easily-clogged car parks and PATH station.
4. Alphonso Davies
The big news out of Vancouver is four star names who play on the attacking side of the field are not fit to play: splashy signing Fredy Montero, versatile Nicolas Mezquida, experienced Christian Bolanos, and former Salzburg man Yordy Reyna. The Caps still have options, and emerging USA international Kekuta Manneh is perhaps foremost among them. But with so many injuries to attacking players in the squad, it is difficult to see how head coach Carl Robinson can leave 16-year-old Alphonso Davies off the match-day roster.
Davies is tipped to be a very big deal indeed, and less than his full potential would still make him likely a superior player in MLS. He might well be used sparingly in Vancouver this season - but he'll get chances to play for the first team and if makes the most of them, it will be hard to keep him out of the spotlight.
The very first competitive game of the year is probably a little early to expect a lot of Davies. He was a November baby: his highlight reel is things he did when he was 15.
But Vancouver needs someone to play in CCL - and Davies has the ability to torture tired legs in the closing minutes of a game. The Alphonso Davies hype train hasn't really left the station just yet - but it's getting ready to move. And you might catch a glimpse of what all the fuss will be about on February 22.
5. Gonzalo Veron
The Red Bulls have young stars of their own, of course. But it is the more mature Veron who will be most closely watched at the start of the season. The team paid a hefty fee for his transfer and he is among the best paid players on the squad. Despite that incentive, RBNY has been strangely hesitant to deploy their big signing. Since joining the team in mid-2015, he's made 48 appearances - which isn't bad - but only 14 starts.
He's totaled 1573 competitive minutes since he landed at RBNY: less than Sean Davis played in 2016 alone, and one of the reasons given for Dax McCarty's trade to Chicago was Davis was ready for minutes. Veron was not brought in at great expense to play less than an under-used Homegrown starlet. This season is different from last season in one very important way: Veron is fit to play from the start.
As happened in 2016, preseason has seen the Red Bulls groom Veron to be an important part of their preferred formation. Unlike 2016, Veron has not suffered an injury in the last game of preseason that will keep him sidelined until the team has found its rhythm without him. Indeed, on the evidence of the only preseason game in which we have seen a truly first-choice RBNY attack deployed - the 2-0 win over NYCFC - Veron has the potential to be the rhythm of this team.
The Red Bulls were often apparently at a loss as to how to make best use of a man with some of the higher levels of energy, intelligence and technique in the squad. But they seem not to have abandoned the hope that they can unlock the ability they paid so much (by their current standards) to acquire. February 22 will be the first chance to see how Veron gets on as the centerpiece of a team he has for so long watched from the sidelines.
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