GDT: June 10th Media Availability (Anselmi hired/Nicholson to Chairman)

[RegDunlop]

Hello Mr. Autonomy...or can I just call you Full?

Full of ....sh**?!

 

[Tobias Kahun]

What am I missing? How does this release relate to Katz health. I can't link to the twitter citations and so can't read them as I am not signed up for twitter.

Can anybody post what the connection is?

Nicholson is Chairman now? How many positions can this org invent up top.

Nicholson and Lowe should be flat out fired.

The connection is Nicholson is taking over a spot that Katz was once in.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Easy to run Hockey Canada successfully when you have access to the most elite players for every Olympics.

Not so much this dumpster fire.

You do know there is more to it then building a single roster every 4 years right?

 

[CycloneSweep]

So they will be doing nothing but be public faces.

 

[Shathar]

So they will be doing nothing but be public faces.

I like the way he put that, and I'm fine if that's the way it will be.

 

[CycloneSweep]

I like the way he put that, and I'm fine if that's the way it will be.

Me as well.

 

[PBandJ]

Yes, but fear not. The press release specifically says "Edmonton Oilers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Ken Holland will report to Nicholson and will continue to have full autonomy over all aspects of Edmonton Oilers hockey operations."

Holland has full autonomy. I repeat, like the Oilers org over and over, he has full autonomy!

Full autonomy.

Sincerely,
-Full Autonomy

They have to keep repeating it because no one believes them.

As for this, shuffling of deck chairs and not much more.

 

[Pointteen]

You do know there is more to it then building a single roster every 4 years right?

Of course.
And how much of it do you think Nicholson was really involved in? My guess is not as much as we were led to believe.

 

[MaxR11]

Organizational culture change continues. Probably more to come in the next few months. This feels like a "pushing aside" of the likes of Lowe and Gretzky. They didn't want to fire them but kind of quarantining them from more and more of the organizational functions and giving them less opportunity to impact on the culture of things maybe.

 

[edmoil3]

“We want to be a global leader in sports and entertainment“

I just want a Stanley cup. I don’t even want 15 years of playoffs. I want a cup. Just one.

 

[5 Mins 4 Ftg]

They have to keep repeating it because no one believes them.

As for this, shuffling of deck chairs and not much more.

Sorry but you couldn't be more wrong.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Of course.
And how much of it do you think Nicholson was really involved in? My guess is not as much as we were led to believe.

He was involved heavily restructuring the business side of things. When he took over they were still using a 1970s business strategy.

 

[edmoil3]

I think it’s obvious that bob was in over his head.

 

[edmoil3]

Makes sense. Have a business guy run the business side and have Nicholson focus on hockey

I think Holland can handle the hockey side.

 

[edmoil3]

Didn’t they say in the PC that Lowe and Gretzky were staying?

Regardless, other than the vindictive part of me that wants Lowe to walk the plank, I’ve drank enough of the Kool-Aid to believe Lowe doesn’t make any Hockey Ops decisions.

Meanwhile his son is captain of the farm team getting a big raise next season.

 

[MaxR11]

They have to keep repeating it because no one believes them.

As for this, shuffling of deck chairs and not much more.

Hard to say. There might be a bit of that (shuffling the deck chairs... or just a shell game to fool us lol... who knows which cup the ball is under) but i have a feeling this has been an attempt (in the last month or so) to really change the culture and change who has the say in things that matter. kind of a pushing aside of the old guard. optically, it still seems questionable because they don't have the gonads to outright fire gretzky and lowe etc but who knows... in time they might be pushed completely out of any real status or title. it seems to be trending that way.

also it might be smart to not rip it all off like a bandaid. there could still be a bunch of logistical reasons why some of the old guard are still around... for the time being....

it's like any company or organization, it takes time to completely overturn the employees and management.

 

[Faelko]

Meanwhile his son is captain of the farm team getting a big raise next season.

Define “big raise”...he’ll get a league minimum 2 way contract. And from all reports he’s a great leader down there. I have zero issue with Keegan.

 

[Pointteen]

He was involved heavily restructuring the business side of things. When he took over they were still using a 1970s business strategy.

Cool, I appear to be totally schooled! Hahaha
Hopefully he can stick to that side of things now.

 

[Todd from Leduc]

Why is he sheltering Kevin Lowe? Does Lowe have a picture of Bobby Nicks with Velcro gloves, knee pads and a sheep or something?

 

[McDNicks17]

Define “big raise”...he’ll get a league minimum 2 way contract. And from all reports he’s a great leader down there. I have zero issue with Keegan.

Lowe is set to make a whopping $50k more this coming season than he did last.

 

[Aceboogie]

Meh, just swapping out the old old boys club for some new ones in my opinion. Much ado about nothing. Not a bad move, but not a move that seems to bring in a competitive advantage after reading this guys resume

 

[smokersarejokers]

Meanwhile his son is captain of the farm team getting a big raise next season.

Yeah, that farm team that did pretty well last year.

There are plenty of reason to rip on Kevin Lowe, but Keegan is warrior and a solid leader on the Condors.

 

[Ritchie Valens]

I loved Anselmi's candidness and sense of humour.

He mentioned something about 80% on season ticket renewals and he looks at Bob and said something along the lines of "I shouldn't have probably said that. I might have screwed that up, oh well."

And then he talked about hiring people, nurturing them and trusting them to have autonomy to do their jobs and one day "the guys like Bob and I won't be needed anymore and we will be ushered out the side door."

Can he have Bob's job too? Such a good, down to earth guy to hear speak.

 

[Former Referee 68]

Yes, but fear not. The press release specifically says "Edmonton Oilers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Ken Holland will report to Nicholson and will continue to have full autonomy over all aspects of Edmonton Oilers hockey operations."

Holland has full autonomy. I repeat, like the Oilers org over and over, he has full autonomy!

Full autonomy.

Sincerely,
-Full Autonomy

So does Holland have full autonomy

 

[oobga]

All joking aside, this overall probably is good news for paying customers. Katz is obviously feeling the heat with the excitement around his team waning. He brings in a guy that actually understands marketing sports entertainment, rather than leaving everything to Bobby Burgers (that burger is still his greatest achievement since he joined the org 4 years ago. Bet it wasn't even his idea either, lol).

So, happy for paying customers that maybe there will be some better effort put in to entertain you, even when the team is crapping the bed.