This week, M31, the company which produces the FC Edmonton broadcasts which air live on TEAM 1260 and CBC.ca, confirmed that it has finalized a deal with GolTV Canada which would see all remaining 2012 FCE home broadcasts air on the national soccer specialty channel.

In fact, it’s like fate has taken its revenge on the Eddies. FC Edmonton won its first-ever NASL match at Lockhart Stadium; but, since that win, the Eddies’ performances in Fort Lauderdale have been some of the young franchise’s worst.

Now the plan to allow Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group to redevelop Frank Clair stadium can go ahead — so the new facility can be used in time for the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the expansion NASL franchise and, oh yeah, the CFL team, too.

In an NASL campaign which has seen FCE flirt with the bottom of the table, an against-all-odds win might be the thing the team needed to help it bond — the kind of win that could turn around a season.

The “trialist” tag was removed from Gardner Wednesday, as FC Edmonton announced the right back has been inked to a one-year deal with an added option year.

But, making his third start in a row after spending almost a year out rehabbing from the breaks (and a subsequent fractured foot), Parker put his stamp on a 1-0 win over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. So much of a mark, in fact, that he was named the NASL’s Defensive Player of the Week.

But thanks to some inspired goalkeeping from Lance Parker — which included a penalty save — and a lovely second-half combination play that led to Michael Cox’s goal, the Eddies broke a two-game home winless streak with a gritty 1-0 decision over the Fort Lauderdale Strikers Sunday.

“By the attention that I am getting, I know I am doing something right,” said Saiko on Thursday. “But I have to find a way to fight through it, to still find a way to produce. And, if they (opponents) are around me, that means space opens up for other people to step up.”

This season, the team will honour the 1980 edition of the team, with a bright orange kit that’s very close to the one worn by the Drillers 32 years ago.

The Eddies played in front of their biggest crowd at Clarke Stadium so far this season, with 2,521 fans shoehorned into the bleachers and standing around the sidelines. But the crowd went home disappointed as the Eddies slumped to a 2-1 defeat to the previously undefeated Silverbacks.