“We had two training sessions and this team was put together on a bit of a shoestring,” said Drillers’ coach Kevin Poissant. “We sort of flew by the seat of our pants. But that’s OK.”

No, it’s not too much to call Hoilett a “star.” The fact is, Hoilett has played so well for Blackburn this season, he’s proven he’s national-team worthy, no matter the passport. He has now scored seven times in the world’s best league (I will get to that later, for you La Liga fans), after Saturday’s wonder strike against Norwich City.

With less than a week to go before Sunday’s home opener, it’s confirmed that the broadcast feed, called by Gareth Hampshire and, ahem, yours truly, will not only be carried on the league-mandate Ustream channel, but on the CBC Edmonton website.

The case with Lensky won’t be the paperwork or a question of loyalty. Over the next few weeks, we will see if he has managed to rediscover his passion for the game, and if he has truly shed the demons of his past.

FC Edmonton’s scoreless streak to start the NASL season went past the 270-minute mark, but the Eddies will take a point out of Wednesday’s visit to Puerto Rico.

Adding Liverpool to the schedule means a stretch of six games in 17 days. That would be ridiculous.

NASL Commissioner David Downs made himself available to be interviewed by The 11 on Tuesday. The commissioner, now in his second year with the league, talked about the Ottawa situation, Edmonton's new stadium plans and further expansion into Canada, the U.S. and the Caribbean.

Canadian striker Olivier Occean and his SpVgg Greuther Furth teammates didn’t play on Monday, but they and their fans had cause for celebration.

While the Clarke Stadium field is artificial turf and can deal with the wet weather, the grounds surrounding it are not. The large amounts of rain and snow Edmonton has seen over the last week have turned the area into a quagmire, and have caused severe construction delays.While the Clarke Stadium field is artificial turf and can deal with the wet weather, the grounds surrounding it are not. The large amounts of rain and snow Edmonton has seen over the last week have turned the area into a quagmire, and have caused severe construction delays.

Kennedy stood up to several point-blank chances — and TFC striker Danny Koevermans is likely still talking to himself after the Chivas keeper robbed him not once, but twice.