Could the Oilers leave Edmonton?

[dash]

For Quebec City?!? I'm no fan of the Oilers, but Calgary needs Edmonton in the league (and vice-versa). Sounds like Katz is holding a gun to Edmonton City Council regarding more funds for a new arena.

This issue is alive because the Oilers will be restricted free agents in 2014, able to move on if the city and the Oilers aren’t effectively working together to keep the team here. For the NHL and the Oilers, that means a new downtown arena must be built here with some amount of public subsidy from the city and the provincial government.

Oilers owner Daryl Katz made just such an implied threat last July, when he said the Oilers would not be playing in Rexall Place after 2014.

How serious is the (implied) threat of the Oilers leaving? | Edmonton Journal

 

[Ties5o11]

You are in full off-season mode Dash! Talken about the future of the league, team relocation's, etc. The only team that I think should be moved is the Islanders- and I think they should be moved to Wisconsin. From there, if the Panthers, Yotes, and Thrashers situations don't improve in a few years, then they should be on the table. I hope the Oilers stay, they have been a great franchise.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

this is where Bettman should get involved and encourage the Oilers to build their new arena in a great location for Edmonton fans ... maybe Fort McMurray

 

[Slimpikins]

Edmonton can't leave. I fully support Quebec getting a team but they shouldn't take the Oilers. Take one of Florida, Atlanta, or Phoenix.

Hell take the Ducks, I hate them anyway...

 

[puckhead]

The Oilers' fanbase would hunt Katz down if he ever moved the team.
Say what you will about that city, but the fans are beyond loyal.

I agree with your assessment dash - Katz is generally being an asshole (no surprise there)
to extort as much as he can from the city.

 

[beantownmaniac]

Thanks for the link dash. It's a great article to read.

 

[IPostedWhat]

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[sabresfaninthesouth]

I can understand the push for a new arena (only MSG and Nassau are older, right?), but I can't see them actually moving out of Edmonton.

Something tells me Katz is bluffing Mario Lemieux style.

 

[Nasty_Magician]

Sounds like a North Stars/Supersonics scenario. Good fanbases getting screwed out of a team for reasons they can't control.

 

[Bizzle McDizzle]

They would need to leave swiftly and silently, under the cover of night.

Baltimore Colts style

 

[Jimmy_the_Tongue]

If the Oilers were allowed to leave....wow....what would that say about the league? But then again, the NFL allowed the Cleveland Browns, one of the most storied franchises in the NFL to leave....so I guess anything is possible...

 

[Jimmy_the_Tongue]

See Biz's post... My bad

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

You are in full off-season mode Dash! Talken about the future of the league, team relocation's, etc. The only team that I think should be moved is the Islanders- and I think they should be moved to Wisconsin. From there, if the Panthers, Yotes, and Thrashers situations don't improve in a few years, then they should be on the table. I hope the Oilers stay, they have been a great franchise.

The situation with the Islanders is this. Their lease doesn't run out until 2015. They have an owner who isn't happy with losing money, however he is a BILLIONAIRE. Chuck has a couple of options. A new arena is going to be built in Brooklyn for the Nets. Brooklyn is a definate possibility. The Local government in Queens has made it clear they would welcome the Islanders. I don't expect the Islanders to stay exactly where they are, but Chuck has put too much into the Islanders to let them go at this point. He's said if he knew then what he knows now he would never have bought the team. However, he lives in L.I. & he isn't going to give up on keeping them their without exhausting every possible avenue.

One thing Bettman said a year or two ago about teams like the Islanders is very true. As long as an owner is willing to lose money the team isn't going anywhere. Wang knows he needs a new arena. He also knows the fanbase is their to support his team in L.I.. We've been beaten down by horrible management decisions, some by Wang himself. Let me put it this way. If the Coyotes were in L.I.. they'd sell out almost every game.

 

[Bizzle McDizzle]

See Biz's post... My bad

Never apologize for spitting truths

 

[Bizzle McDizzle]

If the Coyotes were in L.I.. they'd sell out almost every game.

I was with you up to here, then I got confused.

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

I was with you up to here, then I got confused.

It's very simple if the Islanders were a team that contended for the playoffs they'd sellout most of their games. The fanbase is their waiting for it to happen.

I know the NHL was pissed off with what happened between the Penguins & Islanders. I can honestly say Islanders fans were very proud of their team for sticking up for one another. All Wang has to do is give us a reason to believe the team can win.

 

[Comeds]

Is Evgeni Nabakov behind this?

"Let me ask you, would you want to play for the Edmonton Oilers, for example?"

 

[DaBoltsNIsles]

Is Evgeni Nabakov behind this?

"Let me ask you, would you want to play for the Edmonton Oilers, for example?"

I think players care where they play to a certain point. In the end money talks. Dustin Penner & Tomas Vanek signed offersheets from the Oilers. So obviously they were willing to play in Edmonton.

 

[beantownmaniac]

See Biz's post... My bad

Your post is spot on, no need to apologize.

 

[Comeds]

I think players care where they play to a certain point. In the end money talks. Dustin Penner & Tomas Vanek signed offersheets from the Oilers. So obviously they were willing to play in Edmonton.

I was just joking. I just think the quote is funny, more funny at Nabby than Edmonton.