mr gib said:
the interesting thing in alberta is - and maybe some fans out there can pipe up - where's the oil money? -
I went in depth into this back on the Oilers board a few months ago, so I'll give a short summary.
First off, when you think "oil money" your talking Calgary, not Edmonton. Edmonton has their 31 some odd owners where none of them really stick out as big businessman - its surprising to see that many Edmonton Oiler players make more then their boss's, a rarety in any industyr.
With Calgary, you have 6 (formerly 7) wealthy owners who have ownership over Oil and Gas industries, Oil Sands and other various projects, pharmacy ect. However, dispite that fact that almost any one of these owners could make the Toronto Maple Leafs squeel like a little girl, they remain fisically responsible as they have little interest of loosign a boatload of money (in general, I believe they lose 6-7 million a season besides last year where they made a little money becasue of the playoff run and the red mile). So ownership income is not a problem - revenue, on the other hand, is another thing.
(To try and keep this short, let's stick to coperate sponsership and not things like TV contract et al, which the Leafs are loaded with.)
I'm sure many already know what kind of city Calgary is. Its wealth, fastest growing city in Canada, big oil and gas companies ect... outside of small towns like Rocky Mountain House, possibly the richest city per person in Canada. I can't remember the magazine (Times?) but I believe Calgary lead the country in the richest 100 men of the country, and 3 in the top 10 - 2 of which own the Flames.
"Coperate Calgary" could probably do one of the best jobs any NHL city in North America could do. However, the general conception is that former President and CEO of the Flames Ron Bremner pissed off alot of fans and companies with his poor business dealings (kind of like Pocklington with the Oilers), coupled with the unpopular move from the Correl to the Saddledome. This drove alot of fans away from the NHL and companies off from doing business with the Flames. In 2001 (I believe, if someone wants to check) the Flames made the first step and replaced Ron Bremner with Ken King, a popular man among the Calgary community, a man with a strong resume and a long time member of the "friends of the Flames" club. When he first came into the Flames organization, King realized the situations and recongized that he had to go back to these companies and plead for them back. This wasn't easily, considering the (eventual) 7 year drought. With piss poor quality, a city torn apart from their team (thanks to Ron Bremner) this wasn't easily. However, the first step may have come in the 2004 playoffs, when it seemed like for the first time, the city was embrassing the Flames. It was evident that the fans were coming back, so its my assumption that with the Flames recent success and a man like Ken King working the Flames, the city of Calgary, its fans and corperate Calgary just might be willing to embrace the Flames once again.
Lets hope the lockout didn't kick the Flames in the balls too hard...