“We know what we have to do — we have to go for it. We need three goals. It doesn’t matter if Edmonton scores a goal or they don’t score a goal, we need three. We can give up one, because it doesn’t change our job. Of course, if we give up a second, that’s a problem, because we’d need to score four. And I don’t think anyone has ever come here (Clarke Stadium) and scored four goals. But, for Edmonton, they don’t know how to handle it. They will be asking themselves: Do we defend? Do we play to win? Do we try and stay halfway?”

"We're investigating the possibility of offering additional games via TSN GO, but at this point it is unclear which ones or how many."

Both scored goals in last Wednesday’s 3-1 triumph in Ottawa, the first leg of the preliminary round of the Amway Canadian Championship. But for both of the forwards, they have had to prove themselves after finding themselves on the bench to start the season.

Icelandic club KR Reykjavik and midfielder Oskar Hauksson cut their losses Friday; the one-year loan deal that had sent the winger to FC Edmonton was terminated before the NASL season was a month old. The Eddies say they came to an "amicable" agreement with both the player and Reykjavik.

We saw this script again on Wednesday; the Eddies scored three goals in just over 11 minutes to transform a game that they were trailing to the Ottawa Fury 1-0 for the better part of 80 minutes. Instead, the Eddies will head home to Clarke Stadium for the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship first-round series with a commanding 3-1 lead.

Sometimes, dammit, don’t you just love this game? How it could turn enemies into strange bedfellows? How Smits’s agony of defeat against the Impact a little more than a year ago could end up having the chance to be part of the greatest victory thrill in Canadian club soccer history?

Smits admitted he's received plenty of tweets and messages from friends and family wondering how he can bury the hatchet with Montreal, considering how many still feel sour about the way Montreal beat Edmonton last year.

Sunday’s battle between the Fort Lauderdale Strikers and FC Edmonton was one of these how-do-I-squeeze it all in matches. The Eddies fought back from a 2-1 second-half deficit and hung on for a 3-2 win. This game had so much to offer; two teams playing contrasting, attacking styles; lights-out goalkeeping from the Strikers’ David Meves, who deserves to be on the NASL team of the week despite giving up three; a penalty save; an assistant coach tossed from the game (Fort Lauderdale’s Ricardo Lopes felt that referee Robert Schaap should have given FCE striker Frank Jonke a harsh punishment for a challenge that bloodied the nose of defender Daniel Navarro); and what turned out to be a series of brilliant substitution decisions from FCE coach Colin Miller which changed the game.

FC Edmonton coach Colin Miller knows that he doesn’t have to repeat the same messages. He doesn’t have to get angry during training.

“It was as poor a half as I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” FCE Coach Colin Miller said of the Eddies’ first 45 minutes against the RailHawks.