The Portland Timbers played their second pre-season exhibition on February 10, facing the Montreal Impact, a former rival from the Timbers' previous days in lower division soccer that now joined them in MLS. While the action was brisk at points, neither side could muster a goal as the teams played to a scoreless draw.

Catching up on the various Timbers news all up and down the West Coast, from the team securing their first victory of the 2012 season in their initial pre-season match versus Los Angeles to the status of Jose Adolfo Valencia's surgery to giving fans the chance to secure tickets to any of the 2012 Portland Timbers home matches

The Portland Timbers announced one change to their 2012 schedule because of a scheduling conflict at Vancouver, Canada's B.C. Place. To accomodate a CFL game for the B.C. Lions, the Timbers - Whitecaps match originally scheduled for Saturday, October 20 has been moved to Sunday, October 21.

Interested in helping out a wonderful community project and possibly rub elbows with Timbers legends Mick Hoban or Scot Thompson? The Friends of Trees are holding their annual tree planting on Saturday, February 11, and is inviting Timbers fans and community volunteers to join in the fun. Timber Joey will be there, but he's helping put trees in the ground, not cutting them down to celebrate goals.

The Portland Timbers began their training camp in California on February 5, but the front office announced two separate trades involving allocation money, international roster spots and draft picks. The Timbers will now have nine official international spots for the 2012 season after both announced deals.

The Portland Timbers completed their last scheduled practice in Portland before heading to California on February 5 for 12 days of training and four scrimmages. While the mood was soured a bit by the news of Jose Adolfo Valencia's knee surgery, the team remains upbeat about their prospects for the 2012 season.

The Portland Timbers were finally able to talk about the long term status of their young Colombian forward, Jose Adolfo Valencia. After discovering some scarring in his left knee during a pre-season medical exam that could lead to troubles down the line, the Timbers worked with Valencia's former club in Colombia to adjust the transfer agreement, allowing Valencia to undergo surgery in Portland this year.

Behind the Axe looks at some of the finances behind the most recent signings for the Portland Timbers. While the contract terms and numbers aren't released, the rules of MLS contracts did provide the Timbers some financial benefits that potentially helped them in the signing of Kris Boyd, a striker from Scotland.

The Portland Timbers announced another player signing on January 30, but they didn't follow their recent trend of signing Colombian players. They added the all time leading scorer in the Scottish Premier League history, forward Kris Boyd, to a designated player contract. Boyd will join the team as soon as the team receives his international paperwork and medical clearance.

I got my first look at the 2012 Portland Timbers during practice on January 27, and I was very impressed at the team's overall fitness level. The team also appears to have improved on their overall team speed, which I didn't think was possible, but they appear to be faster. The Timbers will need some of their bigger players to show their strength and smarts for the team to make the playoffs, but they've certainly got a lot of talent to work with.

The Portland Timbers reached back into their USL history for their latest assistant coach hire after Trevor James left the team in December. Cameron Knowles, a defender for the USL/USSF D2 Timbers between 2007 and 2010, will join Coach John Spencer's staff effective immediately.

The Portland Timbers announced an expanded pre-season with four more matches while they are training in California, including facing an old rival from the USL/USSF days for the first time since they both are part of MLS. The Timbers are also optimistic to be using their new training facility later this year, while selected members of the Timbers academy program show promise participating in a tournament in Arizona.

Major League Soccer gets another boost in their profile as another organization reconfigures their tournament to aid their members. CONCACAF, the soccer sanctioning body for the North and Central American soccer playing clubs and nations in conjuction with FIFA, has dramatically altered the format of their Champions League tourney starting with the 2012 - 2013 edition.

The Timbers Army in conjuction with fellow supporters in Seattle and Vancouver have agreed upon the rules for the 2012 Cascadia Cup, whereby all matches will count equally in the three team competition. Despite the imbalance within the 2012 MLS league schedule, the groups decided this would be the easiest way to ensure fairness while making the process to determine the winner as easy as possible

The Timbers begin training camp this week in Portland at JELD-WEN Field in preparation for the 2012 season. Optimism is in high supply, as many players showed up to camp in excellent fitness for training. The Timbers just missed out on the playoffs in 2011, and have aspirations to be one of the five participants from the MLS Western Conference in 2012.