Such an embarrassment of riches is FC Edmonton's depth at the goalkeeper position that the team can afford to part with the 2014 NASL Golden Glove winner for a week and a half to allow the goalie a golden opportunity.

After defeating the Fort Lauderdale Strikes 3-2 at Clarke Stadium on Sunday, the Eddies announced that John Smits will join the Montreal Impact on loan for the MLS side's two CONCACAF champions' league final matches against Club America.

Smits will join the Impact on Monday as serve as their backup goalkeeper in Mexico's legendary Azteca Stadium for the first leg on Wednesday and will remain with the club for the second leg at Olympic Stadium in Montreal on April 29.

“He's over the moon about it and we are over the moon that we can support him,” Eddies coach Colin Miller said.

The recipient of the NASL's top goalkeeper trophy last season, which is awarded based on goals against average, Smits is currently serving as backup to Matt VanOekel on the Eddies, who also have promising third-stringer Tyson Farago and 18-year-old rookie Christian Kaiswatum as goalkeepers on their roster. Smits will miss a pair of matches for FCE, who play Ottawa Fury FC in the first round of the Amway Canadian Championship in the nation's capital on Wednesday and at Clarke Stadium on April 29.

“Just as importantly is the faith that we have in Tyson Farago, who is our No. 3 and has done incredibly well and is pushing John Smits all the way here,” continued Miller. “We have a great goalkeeping situation here and that's why I'm prepared to let John go, so that Tyson can now experience what it's like in the Amway games against Ottawa and so John Smits can realize the level of what it's like to play against one pf the best club teams in the world in Club America.”

The Impact are the first Canadian team to reach the CONCACAF champions' league final, and would become the first MLS team to win. Smits previously joined the Impact on short-term loan at the beginning of the month and backup Evan Bush during the second leg of the Champions League semifinal against Alajuelense in Costa Rica.

“I can expect the same hostile environment as in Costa Rica, so I won't have to imagine what it will be like,” the 26-year-old Mississauga native said looking ahead to playing in Mexico's national stadium, which boasts a capacity over 105,000.

“Now I'll just look back to what it was like in Costa Rica and say, 'Ok, this is what to expect'. I've had it before and I can just focus more on the soccer part, not all the fans trying to get in my head,.

Ironically, Smits played goal for the Eddies against Montreal in the Amway Championship semi-final stage last May, when FCE stunned the Impact with a 2-1 win in Edmonton before losing 4-2 on the road and being eliminated on aggregate.

“As much as it hurts in the end, because we would have loved to get past Montreal and succeeded with Edmonton as a club in the Amway, the only way I can look at it now moving forward is it's a Canadian club in the biggest tournament in North and Central America and we want success for our Canadian team and I’ll do everything I can do be a part of that.”

Miller would not say whether VanOekel or Farago would start in Ottawa on Wednesday.