Oilers fire family Liason to save nickels

[Drivesaitl]

For what many NHL players and their families consider a ****hole city like Edmonton, this was one of the most important jobs in the organisation. We have enough trouble getting players to want to play here or to stay once they're here. At least have staff that can help them adjust and learn to like this city.

Like I mentioned earlier though the Oilers wives have also got together and set up a welcome wagon of sorts. This is showing their own initiative, its grass roots, wives and family helping others, even those that are young, single, coming in here. Maybe the org felt that was more the way to go because it was organic, and what happens on most NHL clubs. Networking potentially facilitates more inclusion than any independent party doing that. just saying. Jill was from what I've read very involved with the Oilers peer wives network and in their activities. Could be the wives taking initiative just spring boarded from there.

Now this other comment has the other side. What happened in Ottawa is also a parable in why teams have to be really careful what familial networks actually look like and how they are communicating. Sometimes its just assumed people will all get along... So the latter is a reason why you want the outsourced Liaison position and not involving the wives.

just offering some point counterpoint because I'm familiar with this area of endeavor.

 

[Dan Kelly]

Meanwhile Coffey makes 500k to be Katz buddy.
This org and every one of their management and mouthpieces is the biggest joke in pro sports

this is why i continue to have no faith that the Oilers will become a competent organization anytime soon! not because they fired someone they think they don't need, but because Katz refuses to do the right thing a clean house, continuing to think we'll win with these OBC former players one way or another!

 

[soothsayer]

 

[soothsayer]

From the little inside access I have to the business side of the NHL, I actually thought this position was standard for every team. I won't question the Oilers management though, because they are smarter than everyone else. Just ask them.

 

[BudBundy]

So has the position itself been cut or just the individual? Has the role been taken over by a committee instead? I’d like to know if this is just a change, or yet another clusterpuck.

My default position on this is that the Oilers management has goofed up again simply because their record does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.

 

[oobga]

Wonder how much Coffey has made per useful strong opinion. I'm guessing infinity dollars.

 

[McFlash97]

Coffey is on the payroll? I thought he was brought in just to give a few pep talks, have a few boxes of wine and peaced out.

To add to this,

Coffey gives 2 shits ..he was on a Toronto radio station last year bragging about how he is the biggest Leaf fan and the Leafs come first.... despite being on the Oilers payroll.

Darryl fn Katz man.

 

[MaxR11]

Is there anything that comes out about this org that isn’t hilariously inept/embarrassing/sad/pathetic?

They’re a joke. Literally nothing else needs to be said. They have no idea what they’re doing and this team serves only to make money for Katz and to keep the OBC employed. They do NOT care about winning. They don’t. You cannot run a team the way they do and say that winning is a priority. It’s simply not. The goal of this team is to keep Oilers from the 80’s hanging out in the tree fort.

ya, it's sick. and it's definitely part of what i mean when i talk about the culture of this organization. how things are run and dealt with. it trickles down and affects the product on the ice. starts at the top.

 

[redgrant]

Oh man when things get here like it was mid 90s wtih 8000 attendance they might have to start consider turfing Bob messier.

 

[ThePhoenixx]

Like said above, is it actually confirmed to be because of budget cuts or is Nielson the only source for that?

They'll tell you whatever you want to know.

 

[Frank the Tank]

This team only became a joke after Katz bought them.
Daryl Alan Katz was the worst thing to happen to Edmonton Oilers Hockey Team.

Pocklington started the team down the joke path towards the end of the dynasty team (e.g., fake diamonds in Cup rings for staff, trying to smear Gretzky after the trade), IEG had their share of idiot moments (e.g., gut the farm system, fire Sather and hire Lowe without an interview over a small money dispute, suggest Pronger should get a divorce), and still Katz has yet to clear the low bar those two ownership groups set the past two decades.

 

[Beerfish]

I kill the oilers over all sorts of things but not sure the big deal over this one We are not going to be active in free agency. There is no reason people cannot actually do thus type of thing themselves. As a hockey play it is not as if you have a 9-5 job and cannot look after other stuff in between.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

suggest Pronger should get a divorce

That I did not hear.

 

[Frank the Tank]

That I did not hear.

Yeah, a low point in the Pronger debacle was Cal Nichols stating that, "Divorce is always an option."

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Yeah, a low point in the Pronger debacle was Cal Nichols stating that, "Divorce is always an option."

Yikes.

 

[alphahelix]

Whether it has any legitimate bearing on reality or not, i find it comforting when the team spends on things outside of hockey ops with the intention of improving player experience in our market and making it more attractive and easier to thrive. I find it discomforting when they discontinue this type of funding. This discretionary spending doesnt count against the cap, so if it has any positive effect it ought to make the fanbase happy.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Yeah, a low point in the Pronger debacle was Cal Nichols stating that, "Divorce is always an option."

He also made a candid suggestion about who was wearing the boots in the Pronger family as opposed to who he thought should be. He also went on length describing how he and Lowe were on a plane trip with the Oilers and they could tell Mrs Pronger was going to be a problem, she was still in love with STL, not adapting to Edmonton etc. It left a real bad image (again) to the NHLPA of what playing in Edmonton was like.

It was really embarrassing just being an Edmontonian at all while Cal Nichols was one of the owners of this club.

Katz doesn't come close to spewing that kind of home grown backwater swill.

edit; This post was wrong and I'll try harder next time... I blame it on being out in the hot sun in the hottub..

 

[Barrsy]

He also made a candid suggestion about who was wearing the boots in the Pronger family as opposed to who he thought should be. He also went on length describing how he and Lowe were on a plane trip with the Oilers and they could tell Mrs Pronger was going to be a problem, she was still in love with STL, not adapting to Edmonton etc. It left a real bad image (again) to the NHLPA of what playing in Edmonton was like.

It was really embarrassing just being an Edmontonian at all while Cal Nichols was one of the owners of this club.

Katz doesn't come close to spewing that kind of home grown backwater swill.

No. Hes worse, making the Oilers the laughingstock of all pro sports.

 

[BudBundy]

He also made a candid suggestion about who was wearing the boots in the Pronger family as opposed to who he thought should be. He also went on length describing how he and Lowe were on a plane trip with the Oilers and they could tell Mrs Pronger was going to be a problem, she was still in love with STL, not adapting to Edmonton etc. It left a real bad image (again) to the NHLPA of what playing in Edmonton was like.

It was really embarrassing just being an Edmontonian at all while Cal Nichols was one of the owners of this club.

Katz doesn't come close to spewing that kind of home grown backwater swill.

Well, I dont recall Cal Nichols trying to lure any aspiring actresses. There’s that.

 

[MikeGrier99]

They’re a joke. Literally nothing else needs to be said.

This. We are entering a new age of Oiler fandom. It's been a bullshit organization for so long that the hope that they're going to get their shit together is dwindling. At the very least the first decade+ of the Katz regime should never be forgotten or forgiven. I feel as soon as we miraculously won Connor a lot of fan anger went away and most people were willing to give the organization another chance. It's official now that this org is nothing but a tire fire and it's going to take massive, massive changes to make this even an average NHL club.

I have lived outside of Edmonton for about 4 years. When I first left I wanted to talk about the Oilers with some semblance of pride to fans of other teams, but nowadays I'm the first one to say that we're the biggest joke in NHL history. The Katz Oilers have been nothing but a total fraud, one of the worst things to happen to the city of Edmonton (we would've been better off building an arena without Katz' modest financial contribution), and 100% the worst thing that ever happened to the Oilers.

Whatever the case, Katz can have all the money in the world, but he'll always be remembered as the guy who ruined the Oilers. Everyone assumes Katz must be a smart guy and all that cause he's rich, but really having a lot of money rarely means you have a lot of integrity. If Katz was a smart man he could have his cake and eat it too. For such a "smart businessman" he seems to put very, very little stock in keeping good public relations with the fanbase. Nintendo and Apple try and please their fanboys as much as possible. The Oilers produce the worst results in league history and try and sell it off as the best entertainment in town. It's to the point where it's beyond insulting. I hate to say it, but the thought of MacT, Lowe, Nicholson, and Katz all high fiving each other after some great playoff success sickens me, not that it looks like that's going to happen anytime soon.

 

[Up the Irons]

meh. small potatoes.

 

[rboomercat90]

He also made a candid suggestion about who was wearing the boots in the Pronger family as opposed to who he thought should be. He also went on length describing how he and Lowe were on a plane trip with the Oilers and they could tell Mrs Pronger was going to be a problem, she was still in love with STL, not adapting to Edmonton etc. It left a real bad image (again) to the NHLPA of what playing in Edmonton was like.

It was really embarrassing just being an Edmontonian at all while Cal Nichols was one of the owners of this club.

Katz doesn't come close to spewing that kind of home grown backwater swill.

He’d have to care about the team to bother saying anything. Your original point in this thread was fair but I feel I’m in Bizarro world reading about you defend Katz and the organization.

 

[BlackDogg]

Well one thing the Oilers Ego Group does is it gets fans to take interest in other teams. Since the Oilers suck so much and probably will for a while, its still nice to be able to watch other teams play good hockey.

 

[9GWG9]

He also made a candid suggestion about who was wearing the boots in the Pronger family as opposed to who he thought should be. He also went on length describing how he and Lowe were on a plane trip with the Oilers and they could tell Mrs Pronger was going to be a problem, she was still in love with STL, not adapting to Edmonton etc. It left a real bad image (again) to the NHLPA of what playing in Edmonton was like.

It was really embarrassing just being an Edmontonian at all while Cal Nichols was one of the owners of this club.

Katz doesn't come close to spewing that kind of home grown backwater swill.

It was not embarrassing to be an Edmontonian while Cal Nichols was part of the local ownership group. We were very fortunate to have people like him step up regardless of economic times to keep the team here.

The Pronger situation was a joke. The Missis may have changed her mind if he wouldn’t have knocked up a local beat reporter within the first year. Boxes weren’t even unpacked.

Having said that based on the teams sucsess with free agents and the city’s reputation around the league they should have a fleet of these “Family Liassons” employed not eliminating the only position to save money. Most likely decided at one of the red wine summits.

 

[Drivesaitl]

He’d have to care about the team to bother saying anything. Your original point in this thread was fair but I feel I’m in Bizarro world reading about you defend Katz and the organization.

meh, if you really looked into the allegations of Katz scandal, the one everybody is referring to, its been well established that the two individuals involved in outing him were an escort/slash actress and her ex con boyfriend who were looking for settlement money. They have since moved onto bigger fish to fry in Mexico and trying to attract Mexican moguls.

At worst Katz was an idiot for having any involvement at all with those two individuals. Not sure if you are talking about something else.

In anycase I take the feedback that it sounds like I was defending Katz. As we all know I have a flair for closing statements, when in reality its not a defensible end statement. So I accept the rebuke, and I'll strive for more accurate reporting next time.