TORONTO - David Beckham jogged around the turf, smiling and laughing with his teammates during a brief practice at BMO Field on Tuesday in preparation for Thursday's Major League all-star game.

But while soccer's biggest star was there, a pair of Canadian all-stars were noticeably not.

Dwayne De Rosario and Pat Onstad of the Houston Dynamo were in Washington, D.C., waiting to play a league game that has been twice postponed, significantly cutting into their all-star celebrations, and perhaps their playing time Thursday, when the MLS All-Stars face English squad West Ham United.

"It's just the fact they're going to be playing for 90 minutes the night before, which physically is tough to do and they're also going to have to travel," said all-star coach Steve Nicol of the New England Revolution. "The one thing I can promise the Canadians is that they'll see the field at some stage."

Toronto FC defender Jim Brennan, the third Canadian on the all-star squad, also didn't practice Tuesday as Toronto played the Montreal Impact in a Canadian championship game later that night.

De Rosario is an attacking midfielder who scored the game-winning goal in the MLS all-stars' victory over Chelsea in 2006, while the veteran Onstad, a two-time MLS goalkeeper of the year, is one of two 'keepers named to the all-star squad.

Power outages in the Washington, D.C., area, including RFK Stadium, forced Houston's match to be rescheduled to Wednesday. The original match against D.C. United on June 4 was started and then cancelled due to storms in the area.

There will be plenty of pride on the line when Beckham and Co. take the pitch Thursday (7 p.m. ET). The MLS all-star squads have gone undefeated since the league changed the game's format to selecting a club team as the opponent. The all-stars have beaten Celtic, Chelsea, Fulham and Guadalajara.

"We're excited to showcase what the MLS is all about, and these last three years we've done it, Chelsea, Celtic, Fulham, those are all good clubs, and to be able to go out there and compete, we take it very seriously," said Jimmy Conrad of the Kansas City Wizards. "The fans should expect just a good game, and I hope I'm on the end of one of Beckham's crosses on a set piece and hopefully we'll celebrate in that corner where all the fans sit."

The all-star game is an opportunity, several players pointed out, to step onto BMO Field without fear of being pelted by streamers or ambushed with insults from the rowdy Toronto crowd.

"It would be nice to score a goal and celebrate with Toronto fans who have said a lot of nasty things about my mom," Conrad said. "To actually come out and be cheered will be a new feeling, all the other all-star games I've been a part of the fans have been great, so hopefully it will be the same here."

Conrad said he doesn't mind the streamers jettisoned from the stands when an opponent is taking a corner kick, what's become a trademark of Toronto's end-zone crowd.

"I don't take corners, I kind of stand in the middle and wait for the good stuff, but it's kind of fun," Conrad said. "I actually have no problem with the streamers, I think it's a good addition to the league."

Even L.A. Galaxy star Landon Donovan, who Toronto FC fans particularly love to hate, said he can't wait to get on the field here. When L.A. played here, Toronto fans hurled pink streamers at the Galaxy striker.

"I hope it's awesome. They're always loud when we're here. So I hope they bring that same passion, except for us," Donovan said. "We'll find out. It's the same when the national team plays and you play in different venues. You hope that when your club teams comes, they boo you. But when there's a team like this together, then they're for us."

Donovan is excited to finally see some significant playing time after sitting out the all-star game two years ago with an injury, and playing just 15 minutes last year.

"They've had the opportunity to play against two good teams the last two years and I was kind of bummed out watching," Donovan said. "So now it's my chance."

For the MLS All-Stars, the game comes midway through their season, while West Ham comes in at the beginning of their exhibition season. The all-star game is part of a North American tour for West Ham, which defeated the Crew at Columbus 3-1 in a friendly on Sunday, a game marred by a scuffle between West Ham and Crew fans.

Nicol put his players through a light practice Tuesday, saying he would focus more on the tactical side of the game Wednesday.

"It's fun, your guard comes down a little bit, it's more friendly, you're trying to gel in a short time to beat a team that's been together for a few years," said Conrad. "The way to do that is to have some fun and do some light-hearted games and stuff that gets people laughing."

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