Jeff Cunningham has rediscovered his socring touch in Dallas. (Dallas Morning News/Associated Press/Mark M. Hancock)

But for Jeff Cunningham's bungled and ham-fisted attempt to score into an empty net, Toronto FC — and not the Montreal Impact — might now be turning heads in the CONCACAF Champions League.

Cast your mind back to July 22 and the final game of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. Toronto and Montreal are tied 1-1 in a tight game at BMO Field. The clock is ticking down and Toronto needs another goal to earn a victory that would allow them to not only win the tournament, but advance to the CONCACAF Champions League as Canada's sole representative.

With two minutes left in regulation, Toronto midfielder Amado Guevara sent a dangerous free kick into the box that rookie teammate Julius James headed off the post. A mad scramble ensued, and the ball fell perfectly for Cunningham who somehow couldn't score from inside the six-yard box with a wide open net staring him in the face.

Montreal held on for the draw, won the tournament, and has since gone on to turn heads in the CONCACAF Champions League.

After the game, Toronto coach John Carver was seething and didn't hide his disbelief over Cunningham's lack of finishing ability in front of the net.

"Seeing that, it makes me wonder how he's scored 99 goals in this league," Carver said.

A little over two weeks later, Toronto traded Cunningham, the fourth-leading scorer in MLS history with 104 goals, to FC Dallas for a third-round pick in next year's draft.

Cunningham's departure from Toronto was a long time in coming, as the Jamaican-born striker had only scored three times in 17 games for the Canadian club this season prior to the trade.

Hardly anybody, neither Toronto fans nor Carver, was sad to see him go: His lack of productivity was a constant source of frustration for the club. In fact, Toronto fans often joked that they would have been glad to see the team trade him for a bag of balls, just so long as he left town.

Cunningham on a roll

But it's Cunningham who is having the last laugh now — the veteran striker has been on fire ever since heading to Texas, scoring five goals and setting up two others in just eight games for Dallas.

So, does Carver now have any regrets about trading Cunningham?

"Absolutely not," the Toronto coach answered when CBCSports.ca posed the question earlier this week.

Trading Cunningham had more to do with his character off the field than the quality of his performance on it, Carver said. Stopping short of calling him a locker-room cancer, Carver said Cunningham simply had to go because of his poor attitude and suspect work ethic.

"It's not just about what goes on the field, it's about what goes on behind the scenes as well," Carver said. "In my opinion, he wasn't good for the locker-room. He wasn't a player that I wanted to be a part of what I was trying to build here, so it was best for both parties that he was out of our locker-room and he get a fresh start somewhere else."

As for his vastly improved scoring productivity since the trade, Carver thinks Cunningham has benefited from playing with Dallas striker Kenny Cooper, the second-leading scorer in the league this season with 16 goals.

"There is not as much pressure on him, because he's playing alongside [Cooper] who takes a lot of the pressure and scores a lot of goals. Sometimes that's good for a striker," Carver said.

"When he was here he was our main striker, he was the one who had to produce the goals as well as the hold-up play, and that might not have suited his game."

No trace of poisonous attitude

Cunningham's goals have allowed Dallas to claw their way back into the playoff picture with three games left in the season when just a few short weeks ago a post-season berth looked like a pipe dream for the Texas club.

And what's more, Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman said, there has been no trace of the poisonous attitude that Carver claimed he had in Toronto.

"He has been great," Hyndman told the team's official website. "There's been a reputation with Jeff all across the league. I don't think anyone doesn't get a reputation when they're in the league for 10 years. We felt that this was a good move for us, to get another striker, somebody that's an established scorer."

As for Carver, he bears no grudge against Cunningham.

"I'm delighted for him that he's done well, because he's a footballer and he's got to earn a living, and his living is putting the ball in the back of the net and he's doing that for Dallas," Carver said.

Whether Carver will make it a point to shake Cunningham's hand after Toronto's road game against Dallas Saturday night remains to be seen.