FC Edmonton owner Tom Fath said he is confident that the Canadian Soccer Association’s temporary moratorium on domestic franchises entering U.S.-based leagues won’t affect NASL’s bold expansion plans.

FC Edmonton has a new coach in place, just days after Dwight Lodeweges and his assistant, Hans Schrijver, used out clauses in their contracts to take more lucrative positions in the second division of Japanese football. The team introduced another Dutch boss, Harry Sinkgraven, to the media Monday at a downtown hotel. “Harry is someone equal or better” to the outgoing staff, said general manager Mel Kowalchuk.

While we are months away from finalizing the format for the 2011 Nutrilite Canadian Championship, we know this much; the chance of the Canadian Soccer Association going with a four-team full round-robin is nil. Under that system, each of the four clubs would need to play six games. There’s no time in either the MLS or NASL schedule to make that happen. Remember that a winner needs to be crowned before the summer, when CONCACAF needs the entrant for Champions League qualifying-round play. So, what is the likely course — and that is what is on the table at the moment — is a simple knockout Cup tourney. The four teams would be seeded; TFC would get the No. 1 slot, and would play the newbies, FC Edmonton. Vancouver and Montreal would play in the other series. The winners would face off in a true Cup final.