Donovan Ricketts

A broken forearm cost Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts several starts this season. And now it has cost him his job with the Galaxy, as the team traded the Jamaican international player to the expansion Montreal Impact on Monday in exchange for allocation money. Major League Soccer's keeper of the year in 2010 and a two-time MLS All-Star, Ricketts, 34, was limited to 15 games this season, missing two months after breaking his arm against San Jose in late June. Josh Saunders stepped in and played well enough to make Ricketts expendable, notching eight shutouts in 18 starts and posting a 0.93 goals-against average.

Carlo Cudicini has been in Southern California less than six weeks, but he's already mastered the freeways, learned to tailgate in his rented Dodge Avenger and developed a taste for the menu at In-N-Out. "The burger was excellent," he confesses. The Galaxy would love to see his adjustment to life in Major League Soccer go just as smoothly. Because when the team kicks off its MLS schedule Sunday at the Home Depot Center, Cudicini will most likely be the man standing in goal, making him the third goalkeeper to start the opener in as many seasons.

When: 8. Where: Home Depot Center. On the air: TV: Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Deportes; Radio: 1330 (Spanish). Records: Galaxy 8-2-5; D.C. United 4-4-3. Record vs. D.C. United: 0-0-1. Update: The Galaxy, aiming for its fifth victory in a row, will be without Landon Donovan (U.S.) and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts (Jamaica), both playing for their national teams in the Gold Cup. Certainly, the Galaxy has been used to having its marquee players shuttling in and out of the lineup, including the two Donovans this season.

It's been less than three weeks since the Galaxy won its second consecutive Major League Soccer title, but the team's front office has taken little time off to celebrate. Thursday it announced its second deal with a homegrown player in 10 days, signing forward Gyasi Zardes of Hawthorne and Cal State Bakersfield. The team, which has already worked out two trades this offseason, is said to be close to a transfer deal with Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League for goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini.

The last two Gold Cup soccer tournaments both ended the same way: with the U.S. playing Mexico. And very few people figured this month's revival would be any different. Significant among the doubters, though, was U.S. midfielder Landon Donovan, a three-time Gold Cup champion who warned that the rest of the region was catching up to the CONCACAF's two titans. Well, he was half right. Because while Mexico has remained dominant, outscoring its three opponents 14-1 in romping through group play, the U.S. lost to Panama and needed a 1-0 win over Guadeloupe to reach the second round.

Already missing forward Landon Donovan and goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts, the Galaxy had to go without midfielder Juninho against Toronto FC on Saturday night. While Donovan and Ricketts are off competing with their countries in the Gold Cup — the United States and Jamaica, respectively — Juninho will be absent for a different reason: his wedding. "That's what they tell me," Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena said with a smirk. "[He'll] probably [be gone] the rest of his life now. " Actually, the Brazilian should be back with the team next week, Arena said.

The Galaxy doubled the number of fit goalkeepers on its roster from one to two a little more than a week ago when Donovan Ricketts returned from his long spell on the shelf because of a broken arm. Two would be better than one. Ricketts missed more than two months, and the game in which he was injured, on June 25 at San Jose, certainly qualifies as the most memorable for the Galaxy this interesting season. This was because the replacement for Ricketts, Josh Saunders, was red-carded in the 43rd minute.

For six years, Josh Saunders prepared himself every day for a chance he was never sure he'd get. Such is the life of a backup goalkeeper in the MLS. But any thoughts he had that it all might have been a waste of time were dispelled this season when Saunders stepped in for regular goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts and posted seven shutouts and 10 wins in 16 starts, leaving the Galaxy poised to finish with the league's best regular-season record for the...

Landon Donovan's goal in the 82nd minute helped the Galaxy salvage a 1-1 tie with the Rapids in chilly Colorado on Saturday night. Donovan took advantage of a Rapids defensive lapse for the Galaxy (0-1-4), which is still yet to win a game this season. Colin Clark scored Colorado's goal in the 60th minute when he took a pass from Omar Cummings. Clark used his left foot to beat Galaxy defender Todd Dunivant and slot the ball past goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts.

The season was only three months old when Major League Soccer paused for its international break in June. Yet for the defending-champion Galaxy, the season appeared all but over. The team was last in the Western Conference standings, had gone five weeks without a win and played its final match before the break without its starting goalkeeper, its best defender and its top two scoring threats in Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan. But rather than throwing up his hands, Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena rolled up his sleeves.

When: 1 p.m. PDT Where: Olympic Stadium, Montreal. On the air: TV: KDOC, KWHY. Radio: 1150, 1330 Records: Galaxy 3-5-1, Montreal 3-5-2. Record vs. Montreal: First meeting. Update: David Beckham's North American Tour stops in Montreal for the first time Saturday and the expansion Impact is bracing for a record crowd that could reach 60,000. But what kind of soccer will they see? The Galaxy, which has been struggling, played perhaps its worst match of the season last week in a home loss to the depleted New York Red Bulls.

Goalkeeper Josh Saunders will be lost to the Galaxy for an indefinite period after being enrolled in Major League Soccer's substance abuse and behavioral health program. The Galaxy was informed Friday that Saunders would be unavailable to play until he completes a treatment protocol. Team officials insisted Tuesday that Saunders did not fail a league-administered drug test but have been evasive in explaining his absence. Saunders missed Saturday's tie with FC Dallas and is unavailable for Wednesday night's match in Seattle, with Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena saying only that the keeper was missing for "personal reasons.

Goalkeeper Josh Saunders will be lost to the Galaxy for an indefinite period after being enrolled in Major League Soccer's substance abuse treatment program. The Galaxy was informed last Friday that Saunders would be unavailable to play until he completes a treatment protocol. Team officials insisted Tuesday that Saunders did not fail a league-administered drug test but have been evasive in explaining his absence. Saunders missed last Saturday's tie with FC Dallas and is unavailable for Wednesday night's match in Seattle, with Coach Bruce Arena saying only that the keeper was missing for “personal reasons.”   FOR THE RECORD: Galaxy goalkeeper: An earlier version of this story said that New England Revolution player Shalrie Joseph was suspended for six weeks in 2010 for being in a substance abuse program. Although Joseph missed six weeks that season while he was in the program, Major League Soccer said that he was not suspended.

The strange thing about turning points is you don't often know they've taken place until weeks, sometimes months, later. Just don't say that too loudly around the players on the Galaxy, though, because they're trying to convince themselves they've already experienced the moment when their luck began to change for the better. It came last week in Colorado, a minute into stoppage time, when a controversial foul call gave the Rapids' Omar Cummings a chance to extend the Galaxy's winless streak on the road with a penalty kick.

The Galaxy unveiled its 2011 championship banner to considerable fanfare before a sellout crowed Saturday at Home Depot Center. Given the way the team played in the game that followed, it may be a while before it gets a chance to celebrate another title. Sloppy on defense for much of the night, the Galaxy completely unraveled late in the second half, allowing Real Salt Lake to rally from a one-goal deficit to a 3-1 win in the Major League Soccer season opener for both teams. The Galaxy boasted the league's best defense last year, giving up less than a goal a game.

By the time the Galaxy hoisted Major League Soccer's championship cup last November, it was recognized by many as the best team in MLS history. Then it got better. So when the defending champions open the league's new season at the Home Depot Center against Real Salt Lake on Saturday night, the Galaxy will do so knowing that anything short of a second consecutive title will be a failure. "We need to perform like we did last year. If not better," said midfielder David Beckham, whose team had the best record in the regular season (19-5-10)

A broken forearm cost Galaxy goalkeeper Donovan Ricketts several starts this season. And now it has cost him his job with the Galaxy, as the team traded the Jamaican international player to the expansion Montreal Impact on Monday in exchange for allocation money. Major League Soccer's keeper of the year in 2010 and a two-time MLS All-Star, Ricketts, 34, was limited to 15 games this season, missing two months after breaking his arm against San Jose in late June. Josh Saunders stepped in and played well enough to make Ricketts expendable, notching eight shutouts in 18 starts and posting a 0.93 goals-against average.