One day soon, there will be more than two Canadian clubs in the North American Soccer League.

Probably.

Maybe.

It remains difficult to see where the five-year-old league is heading when it comes to north-of-the-border expansion. There's no doubt the NASL wants to grow in Canada, but it hasn't seemed like a priority.

Credit to NASL Commissioner Bill Peterson, he seems to know that the league hasn't been giving the same attention to Canadian expansion possibilities as it has in the United States. Granted, the dollar isn't exactly making people run to their nearest NASL franchise recruiter, but still, more needs to be done and Peterson is promising to do just that.

"As for Canada, I think we have to do a better job there," Peterson said during a lengthy conference call with reporters Wednesday. "We spoke with the (Canadian Soccer Association) back in August/September ... I think they're supportive of our efforts to expand, but I'm not happy with the progress we've made."

Peterson wasn't getting into rumoured destinations for Canadian NASL expansion -- Hamilton and Calgary have been tossed around -- but said the league planned to form a task force with Ottawa Fury FC and FC Edmonton ownership to figure out where and how to drum up new interest.

"I believe we can probably, at least, have two more teams in Canada as part of the 20," Peterson said, referring to the target number of teams the league hopes to expand to.

As for expansion in general, the Jacksonville Armada will kickoff their first season this year with others on the way, though Peterson wasn't getting into specifics.

"I have no doubt we're going to have more teams playing next year than we do this year and when those are ready we'll make the announcements," he said. "But we're going to avoid having any timelines that we can't control."

PLEASED WITH FURY

Peterson had nothing but good things to say about Fury FC's coming off the club's first year in the league. In praising some of the marquee signings made by clubs throughout the league in the off-season, Peterson listed Ottawa's recent signing of Canadian Men's National Team captain Julian de Guzman second after New York's signing of Raul.

"Last year I thought they did an incredible job of getting the team off the ground," said the commissioner. "I know they're still focusing on growing the team and making it even more competitive; they're putting the resources in there for the team to find players like de Guzman and fill out a winning roster.

It's not all good news for Ottawa though. Peterson said Wednesday it appears likely Jacksonville will break Fury's NASL attendance record when they open their inaugural season. Fury brought in a crowd of 14,593 for its first-ever game at TD Place to set the new record, one that apparently will be short-lived with Jacksonville expecting an opening-day crowd somewhere in the 17,000s.

"We're quite certain, based on some calls I had (Tuesday) night, that they will surpass our current attendance record," Peterson confirmed.

SO LONG, MINNESOTA

Peterson said there's no bitterness related to Minnesota United's jump to Major League Soccer in 2018, but he's hardly jumping for joy.

But that's the way it is in a North American system where there is no promotion or relegation, the commissioner said when asked if he was concerned MLS was "cherry-picking" some of the NASL's best teams.

"I'd say we're not concerned at all," he said. "This is the state of the professional game right now in this part of the world.

"Without competition determining who's at the top and who's not, it's about your desire to be in one league versus another and your ability to pay the entry fee " That's why we're spending so much time right now on the expansion process. If somebody changes their mind along the way then we'll wish them well and off they go."

INTERNATIONAL LIMIT? PFFT

You have to think if Peterson had a bit more power, one thing he'd do away with is the limit on international players NASL teams can have on their rosters.

As it sits now, NASL teams can have a maximum of seven non-North American players, a decision Peterson said is made by US Soccer as a way to improve development of American players.

"We would probably like it removed, but that's a US Soccer decision," Peterson said. "We're at odds with them on that and we're not sure it actually accomplishes what they're hoping it accomplishes.

"We're a professional league, we're trying to play at the highest level possible. To have any sort of controls placed over that process we're generally opposed to."

Twitter: @chrishofley