“It was a lot harder to come back than I thought,” admitted Hamilton, who had 30 orange-clad family and friends at Clarke Stadium cheering him on. “There was a lot of emotion at the start of the game. I didn’t think I played very well.”

Mirabelli wasn’t the only Eddie who needed medical attention after the game. Captain and central defender Albert Watson also needed emergency dental work after his two front teeth were knocked out (more on that later). The Eddies dressing room may have resembled an NHL team's.

FC Edmonton has a new coach and an almost entirely new starting XI. But Saturday’s 2-0 loss on the Metrodome turf to Minnesota United FC felt a lot like the 2012 season.

On Saturday, it was another two goalposts off of clear scoring chances, and FCE and its supporters can only wonder what could have been, as the Carolina RailHawks opened their renovated new home park with a 2-1 win over the Eddies.

After leaving Ekenas IF, which plays in the lower divisions of the Finnish soccer pyramid, Mirabelli — a former Canadian U-20 player — came to Edmonton for November’s pro combine. At the combine, 30 free agents performed for FCE’s coaching staff, just hoping to get invited to training camp proper in February.

FC Edmonton will not confirm — and won’t even comment on this — but there have been reports out of Vancouver that the Eddies were close to securing Whitecaps’ defender Carlyle Mitchell on loan, adding to what has become a crowded back line.

FC Edmonton chopped five players from the roster Saturday, including veterans Chris Kooy and Kenny Caceros. As well, while 2012 NASL Best XI defender Paul Hamilton was not part of the cuts, he is also not signed, either.

The former Vancouver Whitecap and San Antonip Scorpion has just been signed by FC Edmonton for the 2013 season.

There’s no doubt about it. Canada’s soccer capital is... Brampton, Ont. Flowertown —the place that gave Canada Rick Nash, Scott Thompson from the Kids in the Hall, Michael Cera, Alan Thicke, Russell Peters, Rohinton Mistry and, ahem, this writer, is unquestionably the place to be if you want to raise a child who is going to be a soccer prodigy.