But he spent most of the NASL spring season on the sidelines, appearing in just seven games. Two months into the season, his calf began to hurt, and the medical personnel couldn’t find the root cause. It was one of those nagging, week-to-week injuries that end up claiming a significant portion of an athlete’s season.

But, the Eddies kept creating scoring chances in the second half. And, a funny thing happened. The ball started going in. Dustin Corea’s brace bookended Albert Watson’s barely-crossed-the-line effort, and the Eddies got a 3-1 win.

So, to kick off the fall season Sunday and welcome back all-time FCE leading scorer Daryl Fordyce into the fold, Eddies coach Colin Miller instructed his team to play in a 4-1-3-2 formation, bringing numbers to the front and hoping to coax more goals out of an offence that finished dead last in scoring in the spring season.

McKendry played in one game for the Whitecaps this season but has played a lot for the WFC2 team in USL. He led all Canadian players on WFC2 in terms of minutes played. But, even though USL and NASL are both recognized as Division-2 leagues, he sees the move from WFC2 to FCE as a step up.

FC Edmonton signed Canadian national-teamer Adam Straith to a spring-season contract in 2017 and coach Colin Miller made it clear he hoped that he and Straith could extend the deal to last through the fall campaign. But, that wasn't to be; so, like De Jong last year, Straith's NASL stint will last just a half-season.

And the Eddies bid goodbye to two international players in the past week. Dean Shiels's departure was confirmed earlier in the week and, on Sunday, the Eddies announced that Norwegian midfielder Sabri Khattab was going to return home. 

FC Edmonton’s roster was depleted; the team had just a keeper and 12 outfield players healthy enough to play. Thanks to omissions, injuries and Gold Cup call-ups, the New York Cosmos brought a squad to Edmonton that looked nothing like the kind of team we see in NASL week in, week out. Thanks to a 79th-minute goal from Eric Calvillo …

“I felt in preseason that I was doing really well,” Fisk said. “And then I kind of fell out of the team a bit. Now that I have gotten myself back in, I feel that it’s taken a few games to kind of find my feet, to find my full 90-minute fitness. I think in the last couple of games, I’ve done a lot better, and I think Carolina was one of my better games so far. Hopefully I can build off of that.”

Would Miller entertain the thought of a Fordyce return? Judging from the coach’s comments, the door is open.

Dean Shiels tenure as an Eddie lasted a little less than half an NASL season.