Oilers owner(s)...says they will be gone without a cap

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transplant99

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"This isn't sabre-rattling. It's the truth," Nichols said. "I have no desire to keep doing what I'm doing and I would recommend that we suspend the franchise and look at our options, or at moving it."

"I know what's trying to be done. I agree with everything the league and the commissioner are doing. I think Gary Bettman has got it right," he said. "All we can be here is be supportive, because if we don't get this, we don't exist any more."

Without a salary cap, Nichols said, "I don't see Edmonton in the cards."

You will need to subscribe to read the whole thing, but this is as harsh a stance as i have heard from any members of ownership.

Link
 

Motown Beatdown

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So they can barely afford a 30 million dollar payroll, but somehow they'll be fine if there is a cap with a payroll floor of 34 million dollars? Some things dont add up. And i know the response i'll get about revenue sharing from the pro owner crowd "if it doesn't matter to them why should it matter to you"
 

transplant99

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Huh?

"suspend", "moving it", "don't exist anymore"...all key words. But nice attempt to spin things.

Anyway you slice it...all the above scenarios means that the Oilers aren't playing anymore.

Dont look at that angle though...that would mean having to actually take a look at this thing from the league's perspective.
 

MarkZackKarl

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Yeah, the Oilers are barely scrapping by now, but by raising their lowest possible payroll to 35 million, they'll somehow be better off? Or because of the great revenue sharing that the NHL wants to 'implement' (read next to nothing) that probably wont even generate the same amount as the NHLPA's (revised) tax would!

There is a reason that the Oilers are always crying poor, its because their fans allow them to.
 

Briannj1970

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And to think that they spent all of that cash on the Fanboni no less...

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3117075

You’ve seen the latest craze in television – shows like ‘Monster Garage’ and ‘Overhaulin’. Now you can see firsthand the craftsmanship that exists within our own city, as the Edmonton Oilers unveil their new community events cruiser - the Fanboni.

During the off-season, the Edmonton Oilers set out to design a community events cruiser that epitomized “hockey†and the passion for the game that exists within our community. And only in the Heartland of Hockey would you find a vehicle as unique as the new Fanboni. Rather than simply sticking a logo on a vehicle, the Oilers went one step further and acquired a second-hand Zamboni. Then the call went out to Edmonton’s most talented auto body mechanics, painters and craftsmen to bring the vision to life.

The result is the Edmonton Oilers Fanboni, a completely overhauled Zamboni that features seating for 8, a plasma screen television, a Playstation 2 with 8 game controllers, a monster stereo system, and more whistles than the entire NHL referee corps. It’s also ready to take to the streets of Edmonton and area.

“We were looking to create a community events cruiser unlike any other,†said Patrick LaForge, President & CEO of the Edmonton Oilers. “And thanks to some of Edmonton’s most talented designers and painters, we now have a vehicle that will help the Oilers provide assistance to the community in a lot of creative ways.â€

The Fanboni is the Oilers gift to the community, and will be available to local non-profit charities to assist with their fundraising efforts, as well as to local businesses and individuals for special events.

The Fanboni was first conceptualized by local designer Ray Fowler, and then given to Ron Hodgson, a member of the Oilers ownership group, to turn into reality. After months of strenuous labor from the staff of Milron, who did all of the metal fabrication, and weeks of extensive custom painting and bodywork by Joey Steckler of Joey’s Place, the Fanboni is ready to take Edmonton by storm.

The Edmonton Oilers Fanboni will be unveiled on Monday, January 17th, at 11:00 AM, at center ice of Rexall Place.
 

me2

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transplant99 said:
Huh?

"suspend", "moving it", "don't exist anymore"...all key words. But nice attempt to spin things.

Anyway you slice it...all the above scenarios means that the Oilers aren't playing anymore.

"Suspend" means it can come back, "don't exist anymore" and "moving it" mean its gone for good.



If it relocates then the NHLPA jobs are still there, just in a new location. No loss for the NHLPA.

If it is folded, then the NHLPA loses jobs which they won't like. If the jobs are gone they are gone, nothing the players can do to pressure the NHLPA to get them back. Folding teams is pretty drastic and most owners would rather sell/relocate, so folding isn't really like to be a big effect on the NHLPA.

However, the NHLPA REALLY won't like suspending the team. If its suspended then there are 25 ex-NHLers lobbying the NHLPA to do whatever to get their jobs back. What would scare the NHLPA is the thought that if one NHL team can mothball itself, more can. The last thing they want is 7 or 8 teams just taking a year or two off. That creates a massive surplus of players which drives down market value.

Dont look at that angle though...that would mean having to actually take a look at this thing from the league's perspective.
:huh:
 

transplant99

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Exactly where would a team "relocate" too?

More to the point, who would buy a team right now? Only to see it lose money from the get go?

I understand the PA side of things in that they don't believe a word coming from the league. That's their perogative, but they have shown absolutely no proof that it's happening this time.

This interview is about as strong a statement of the situation that i have seen. Do you think he is bluffing? I don't...and you would be hard pressed to find many people within the hockey community who would disagree with him.


So when you have a team that has had almost 100% attendance the last few years, saying they can't afford to play any longer under the assumption that anything less than a fixed cost scenario would provide, then what does that mean? Edmonton isn't worthy of an NHL team? If they aren't...what about Florida, TBay, Nashville, Carolina, Atlanta, Anaheim, Calgary, Ottawa, Minnesota, and the like? See, its a pretty slippery slope to be getting onto when you say things like that.

If the PA wants to see the league get back to 20-24 teams and a loss of 200 jobs or so, then by all means keep sticking to its guns is the strategy. No need to be partners in a 2 billion dollar business when you really dont care what happens to 6-10 branches of the company who employ the workers. Afterall, they must be brilliant businessmen who see long term how things will shake out.

This is all on the players at this point. They can choose to continue making the most money they can in hockey, or they can play elsewhere in capped leagues making 30% of what they could here, and forcing some franchises out of business. That's what this is boiling down too.

I know where I would place my support if I was a player.
 

Oilhitch

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scaredsensfan said:
There is a reason that the Oilers are always crying poor, its because their fans allow them to.


This is easily the most ridiculous thing I have ever read on these boards :shakehead

What is the basis of this comment?
 

amazingcrwns

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JWI19 said:
So they can barely afford a 30 million dollar payroll, but somehow they'll be fine if there is a cap with a payroll floor of 34 million dollars? Some things dont add up. And i know the response i'll get about revenue sharing from the pro owner crowd "if it doesn't matter to them why should it matter to you"


They won't lose all their talented players to free agency if big market teams can't throw millions of dollars at them. And if the high market teams decide to spend millions on a player the Oilers have developed then a player from that large market team would have to be let go. What a cap does is prevent the league from turning into MLB where once you become a free agent, if you're good you go to the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Angels, etc. If there's a cap then teams can only spend so much on players, leaving some free agents for the smaller markets. The problem with the oilers might not be that they keep losing money so much as them losing good players who want more money. If other team's can't offer more than the Oilers then the players aren't going to leave as much.
 

oil slick

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scaredsensfan said:
There is a reason that the Oilers are always crying poor, its because their fans allow them to.

Yeah - I let them. The owners group have lost 14 million CDN over the last 5 years. They have personally been asked to pony up additional millions for debt relief for a franchise that I would doubt is worth anything close to the 90+ million they've invested. These are not super rich people, so this money matters to them. If they want to cry about it, so be it. It's their money, and I certainly don't expect them to loose money on my behalf.
 

shnagle

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transplant99 said:
Exactly where would a team "relocate" too?

More to the point, who would buy a team right now? Only to see it lose money from the get go?

I understand the PA side of things in that they don't believe a word coming from the league. That's their perogative, but they have shown absolutely no proof that it's happening this time.

This interview is about as strong a statement of the situation that i have seen. Do you think he is bluffing? I don't...and you would be hard pressed to find many people within the hockey community who would disagree with him.


So when you have a team that has had almost 100% attendance the last few years, saying they can't afford to play any longer under the assumption that anything less than a fixed cost scenario would provide, then what does that mean? Edmonton isn't worthy of an NHL team? If they aren't...what about Florida, TBay, Nashville, Carolina, Atlanta, Anaheim, Calgary, Ottawa, Minnesota, and the like? See, its a pretty slippery slope to be getting onto when you say things like that.

If the PA wants to see the league get back to 20-24 teams and a loss of 200 jobs or so, then by all means keep sticking to its guns is the strategy. No need to be partners in a 2 billion dollar business when you really dont care what happens to 6-10 branches of the company who employ the workers. Afterall, they must be brilliant businessmen who see long term how things will shake out.

This is all on the players at this point. They can choose to continue making the most money they can in hockey, or they can play elsewhere in capped leagues making 30% of what they could here, and forcing some franchises out of business. That's what this is boiling down too.

I know where I would place my support if I was a player.
I think you make some valid points about the Edmonton market and small market/revenue teams in general. However, it all comes down to money and if Edmonton is losing money with a 30 million dollar payroll how are they possibly going to afford a 34 million dollar salary floor. This salary floor goes against everything the NHL has said it has needed about cost certainty for its franchises. All it does is raise the costs of small market/revenue teams. For a more detailed explanation of this position see post #47 at this link:
http://www.hfboards.com/showthread.php?t=125638&page=4&pp=15
 

GirardIsStupid

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they may ask for a suspension but they won't get it. eventually the league will just have to buy'em out if there's no CBA that helps the Oilers significantly.
 

Cole Caulifield

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Apr 22, 2004
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JWI19 said:
So they can barely afford a 30 million dollar payroll, but somehow they'll be fine if there is a cap with a payroll floor of 34 million dollars? Some things dont add up. And i know the response i'll get about revenue sharing from the pro owner crowd "if it doesn't matter to them why should it matter to you"

I'll explain it to you.

It is much harder for dumb/rich owners/markets to inflate salaries. If every teams is on the same level, than the oilers have it easier.

There's really nothing magical about a salary cap. It's not ohhh salary cap, wow, all is well in paradise. But it's necessary if you want to stop the inflation.
 

Mr Sakich

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scaredsensfan said:
Yeah, the Oilers are barely scrapping by now, but by raising their lowest possible payroll to 35 million, they'll somehow be better off? Or because of the great revenue sharing that the NHL wants to 'implement' (read next to nothing) that probably wont even generate the same amount as the NHLPA's (revised) tax would!

There is a reason that the Oilers are always crying poor, its because their fans allow them to.

good point sens fan. Maybe the oiler owners should copy the sens succesfull business plan and screw a bunch of pensioners out of their life savings. Then they could borrow a bunch of money from the gov't and walk away from their contractual agreement to repay it.

Sens fans are the last people who should be offering advice on how to run an small market team.
 

GirardIsStupid

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Mr Sakich said:
good point sens fan. Maybe the oiler owners should copy the sens succesfull business plan and screw a bunch of pensioners out of their life savings. Then they could borrow a bunch of money from the gov't and walk away from their contractual agreement to repay it.

Sens fans are the last people who should be offering advice on how to run an small market team.

its not like the oilers weren't willing to do the same. the sens just took the initiative.
 

Go Flames Go*

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We don't need em, if a deal today means a soft cap and no Edmonton Oilers I say lets sign that peice of paper right away.
 

Egil

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When did the Sens borrow a bunch of money from the government? The only government loan the Sens recieved was to build a freeway interchange (which is now being used by other businesses in the area).
 

se7en*

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Go Flames Go said:
We don't need em, if a deal today means a soft cap and no Edmonton Oilers I say lets sign that peice of paper right away.

And your Flamers would follow soon after.
 

Mr Sakich

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Go Flames Go said:
We don't need em, if a deal today means a soft cap and no Edmonton Oilers I say lets sign that peice of paper right away.

you are aware that yor flames have lost money 7 years in a row before turning a SMALL profit last year? You are aware that Flames owners have said the exact same thing, albeit in softer terms? You are aware that if the oilers leave, it is considered pretty much a done deal that the flames will soon follow?

Still think they should sign the paper right away?
 

Lanny MacDonald*

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jericholic19 said:
its not like the oilers weren't willing to do the same. the sens just took the initiative.

No, the Oilers would actually never do something like that. There is something in the west called "ethics" and the business owners out there know that if they screw the local population you are done in them thar parts. The Oilers community ownership would never consider somethin like that, or they would screw themselves out of all of the businesses at the same time.
 

BLONG7

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The Oilers have perhaps lost out on more stars than any other team(not mentioning #99) so it is understandable that the owners,and the entire organization are tired of operating on life support... Hopefully the new CBA will help these guys out in some form, because without a doubt the city is a Hockey market everybit as much as the other Canadian cities, and it would be a shame to see another Canadian franchise move south of the boarder ala Winnipeg...
 
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