Big news out of Edmonton this afternoon involving the Oilers, if you haven’t heard it local billionaire Daryl Katz has once again made a bid to purchase the Oilers for a reported 188 million dollars the only difference is this time it looks like the Edmonton Investors Group is deciding to sell the club to Mr. Katz. Fairly surprising to me to say the least after the E.I.G rejected the last offer and had said they had no plans to sell the club in the near future, especially with the Oilers finally turning a profit and being (arguably) one of the more profitable teams throughout the league. With Mr. Katz in the picture the future looks bright not only on the ice but in the head office as well.

What does it all mean though? Well for starters and probably most importantly it means the Oilers, baring some kind of freak tragedy, will remain in Edmonton for along time. Not to say the E.I.G had plans to move the club but with Katz sinking capital into the community and being from Edmonton it would honestly be a cold day in hell if he ever moved the franchise.

Secondly, now that Katz is steering the ship Oiler fans and the city can almost bank on a new arena. All signs point to the new complex being built somewhere downtown, most likely in the vicinity of the newly created Stationlands. I’m sure there are lots of fans who would rather keep the tradition of Rexall but let’s face it Oiler fans, Rexall is somewhat of a sty. Last winter I managed to visit the Honda Center and Jobing.com arena and I was perplexed at just how much of a dump Rexall actually is compared to these state of the art facilities. The biggest difference is you actually have room to sit, a cup holder for your beer, and of course you dont have to get up everytime someone besides you needs to get up and take a leak. Oh, the concessions and stores inside are a nice bonus as well. A lot of people are going to complain if it ends up downtown but with the way the city is proposing to rebuild downtown with multiple condos and commerical buildings this is the ideal location and there is no question it will have to stay on the LRT line. I fully expect them to make an announcement on this new building in the next year.

Third: With a billionaire at the helm one can only hope we will be able to build a competitive hockey club that will be able to keep its superstars. In previous years we could only sit and watch as our best players were dealt every other year to clubs who could afford to pay them that big raise, maybe now we have that opportunity to lock up players in long term deals. Still the real test is getting free agents to consider Edmonton a viable market to play in. Yet having one owner simplifies things, instead of 39 people trying to talk to one free agent we can stick with one.

Fourth: Aside from all the huge positives the hockey club is to receive the U of A is planned to benefit from a new state of the art practice facility. While the Oilers will also use the arena it will still be one of a kind for professional and amateur sports alike.

Obviously there is going to be a lot more then the aforementioned examples I’ve laid out. Needless to say it is a very exciting time to be an Oiler fan, a solid mix of sparkling young hockey players and now a rock solid ownership.

Lastly this is for all those who have bashed the Edmonton Investors Group the past couple years for our on ice product, you people should really give your head a shake. If it wasn’t for this group of local investors we wouldn’t be sitting here talking about how excited we are having a local billionaire interested in owning our hockey team. These guys took an all but bankrupt organization and managed to not only keep them in Edmonton but turn them into one of the most marketable teams in the N.H.L. Astonishing to think that had it not been for them we would most likely be talking about how the Houston Rage (or something ridiculous like that) won there ninth shootout of the year and moved within two points of a playoff spot.

With the talented group of rookies and a new arena and ownership on the horizon the future looks bright for not only the Oilers but the city of Edmonton as well. Now if we could only remove that ridiculous Baseball bat from my window view.

Walks
www.hotstickybun.com