At this time last year (MLS Week 8/NASL Week 4), 26 Canadians had seen the field for their MLS or NASL clubs. This year, 32 Canadians have played in MLS or NASL games so far this season.

So, when asked after the game if Scarlett would be making more appearances in pre-game ceremonies to come, Watson answered with an emphatic yes. Maybe the little girl has replaced the rabbit as the Eddies’ good-luck charm.

This past weekend, the Edmonton teenager made his pro debut, playing 80 minutes in FC Edmonton’s 1-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rowdies.

“The first thing is that if you sign for a club, you want to do well for that club,” Keegan said. “I’m not looking too far ahead at this point, but I’d be lying if I said the reason I came over wasn’t to hopefully play in MLS one day. That’s kind of been a goal of mine… You want players to do well for your club, but you don’t want players who are satisfied with what they are doing. You want players with high ambitions.”

With NASL having a shorter schedule than MLS, this was basically a catch-up week for the second division, which gives us a better idea on how NASL teams rank against the MLS sides when it comes to giving first-team minutes to Canadian players. And, we see Toronto FC’s Jonathan Osorio fall out of top spot in the Canadian minutes-played ranks. Atlanta’s Kyle Porter retakes the lead.

The Eddies host the spring-season champion and overall NASL leaders New York Cosmos Sunday. The team said that there are only about 200 or so tickets left for that match. Then, the Eddies go on the road to face the fall-season leaders Ottawa Fury and then the Cosmos, again. With the Eddies just two points out of the NASL’s final post-season spot, this three-game swing could very well be the defining stretch of their season.

Even though teams lost Canadians to international duty, the fact that so many other international players were also away opened up opportunities for our domestic players who usually ride the pine. The Impact started two Canadians in its 4-3 win over Chicago — and Wandrille Lefevre got a goal. The Eddies gave more than 300 minutes to Canadian players in their 1-1 draw with Minnesota United. Toronto FC gave starts to both Jonathan Osorio and Ashtone Morgan.

“The defending was a calamity,” said FCE coach Colin Miller after the match. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance.”

Coach Colin Miller said that Ameobi is officially listed as day-to-day, and is undergoing a scan to assess the severity of the injury to his foot.

FC Edmonton's brass decided to rotate the squad for Sunday's match against the San Antonio Scorpions. And, with so many younger prospects given the chance to play, a whopping total of 421 minutes were given to Canadian players.