Update on the possible new arena

Paula Simons
The Edmonton Journal

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

A new downtown hockey arena. That's the blue-sky proposal that's been quietly floating around the city, sponsored by some discreet local business interests.

Right now, it's just an artist's conception, an intriguing daydream.

Still, it's a great jumping-off point for a larger debate on the future of the downtown and the future of the Edmonton Oilers.

The proposal is to replace the aging downtown post office with a grand new arena and entertainment centre.

The plan's backers, who wish to remain anonymous, even hired an architect to create a design that tops the rink with a dramatic glass pyramid, a quotation of the Muttart Conservatory and City Hall.

Such a development could kick-start the development of the largely vacant railway land north of City Hall, behind the CN Tower, filling the barren strip between 101st Street and 97th Street, with hotels, condos, offices and shops.

It would be great to see sports fans flooding into the downtown, spending money in downtown restaurants, bars and hotels, celebrating in Churchill Square, bringing life to the city core.

A state-of-the-art arena could also be a fine concert site, a fit neighbour for the Winspear Centre, the Citadel Theatre, and the Art Gallery of Alberta.

It could be good news for public transit, too. When the city first built the LRT, it roughed in a "future station" in the area, which never got built. A downtown arena could spur construction of that station -- and of a western LRT line, down 105th Avenue.

But attractive though this proposal is, it's no open-net goal.

For starters, Canada Post isn't selling, not now.

Although it moved its main letter-sorting facility to the west end about six years ago, it still uses the downtown site for administrative offices and customer mail services. Canada Post says it has no plans to move.

Then there's the issue of whether an arena really does revitalize a downtown. Much of the time, a hockey arena is closed and dark, especially in the daytime. Arenas aren't such pedestrian-friendly buildings. At their worst, they're fortresses, surrounded by parking lots.

You need only look around Rexall Place and Commonwealth Stadium to see that sports complexes don't always attract upscale bars, restaurants or hotels.

Finally, there's the question of when, where and whether the Oilers want to move. Rexall Place, which opened in 1974, is still a functional facility. But it's the third-oldest arena in the NHL, and one of the smallest. Nor does it have the kind of VIP amenities new arenas offer their corporate customers.

Still, the Oilers have more than seven years remaining on their existing lease with Northlands. And they are Rexall Place's anchor tenant. Cal Nichols chairs the Edmonton Investors Group, the local business people who collectively own the Oilers. Proponents of the downtown arena have already met with him.

"Of course, I've seen all the plans. But it's mostly doodling right now," he says.

Nichols isn't opposed to a downtown arena. Most new sports facilities across North America, he says, are right downtown, often connected to hotels, convention centres or office towers. And yes, he sees a need for a new arena.

"We're playing in the big leagues and we have to provide what customers expect of a big-league team," he says.

But a new arena on Northlands property would be another option. Nor does Nichols rule out a massive upgrade to the existing rink. There are certainly pluses to a Northlands site, not least of which are the existing LRT station, the room for parking and Northlands' own proximity to downtown. Nichols wants a thorough public discussion about any new arena, one that takes into account the interests of all of Edmonton.

"This is bigger than the Oilers," he says. "It's about the entire community and its needs. We have to do, not what's right for the Oilers or Northlands or the downtown, but for the city."

"Big ideas like this, you don't get too many shots at them," adds Oilers CEO Patrick LaForge. "You need to get a lot of people around the city to talk about something like this. It's not about a building, it's about a city. That's what makes it a challenging debate."

And perhaps that's the greatest value in this downtown arena proposal -- the debate it provokes. We may not need a new arena right now. But now is the time to start planning.

How do we keep a beloved small-market sports team economically competitive, while leveraging that team as an engine for smart urban development?

If we do want a new arena downtown, how do we site and design it, so it promotes vibrant street life?

And how do we pay for any new arena? The Oilers had a great financial year thanks to the new league salary structure and the Stanley Cup run. Last week, Forbes Magazine reported the team had an operating income of $10.7 million US last year, the fourth-highest in the league. Forbes estimates the team's value has gone up 40 per cent in the last two years; the magazine says the Oilers now have the fifth-best debt-to-value ratio in the NHL. Still, compared to big-city teams with big-city revenues, the frugal Oilers are in no position to build the kind of top-of-the-line arena that might come with a $250-million or $300-million price tag. How do we get the right mix of private investment and government support to make such a dream a reality? LaForge is so right. A city doesn't get many opportunities for urban renewal like this. Let's start talking now about how to make the most of it. Thirty-six years ago, Edmontonians debated and rejected the idea of a similar downtown facility called the Omniplex. Is it time to resurrect a little Omniplex spirit? Only Edmontonians can say.

psimons@thejournal.canwest.com

The Esks a disgrace to the City of Edmonton

It was bad enough the Esks got greedy, and sold the team for the high price tag. Never mind community ownership [City of Moose Jaw and Prince Albert refused to sell their team to the Oilers in the WHL despite being offered 5M - plenty of goodwill coming from the Oilers]

Of course the Esks used some of that money to support high salaries of guys like Ricky Ray, Davis Sanchez, Kelly Wiltshire, Joe Montford, and other guys they acquired during that off-season. '

"PCL may have not liked the situation, but they could not legally force the Trappers to move. Travel was not as huge as people made it to be. There are plenty of teams along the pacific coast the Trappers played against. Meanwhile, nobody in New Orleans is complaining about their PCL team's traveling.

The Esks are fully to blame why Edmonton has a lower class ball league team right now. How have the Crackercats done anyways? Did they get any press?

But now?

http://www.edmontonsun.com/Sports/Es...65356-sun.html

Plans to replace the natural grass with field turf.

Since when has Commonwealth been owned by the Eskimos?

Now they can punt away annual rugby touraments, as well as
jeopordizing Edmonton's chances to ever host international soccer matches and tournaments
(Team Canada men's and women's, Women's 2011 World Cup, annual international friendlies, u19, women's, World cup qualifying matches) again. FIFA approves field turf, but they don't encourage it. I doubt Edmonton lands soccer games here if they convert to field turf. But yeah, let's spend 6-7M on changing the seat colours. Great management

Taken from another board:
"FIFA (and I'm sure the IRU has a similar rule for rugby) has a rule that no official matches can be played on a field with markings for other sports, or something like that. If we were to get FieldTurf, the football markings would be stitched in - thus preventing Edmonton from hosting ANY of these games (wouldn't be worth the hassle to unstitch everything just for one game or one day)."

The Lowe down

It's never to early to think about the future. The future being, July 2007.

Sykora's contract ends. So does Smyth's. Ditto for Tjarnqvist and Staios

Fact: We're not going to be able to sign all these guys.

Unload one of the larger salaries if possible (Pisani, Moreau), and re-sign Sykora for a slight raise 3.3-3.5M for a 3-4 year deal.

I like Pisani and all, but I cannot emphasize enough what a stupid contract that was. He's simply not a 2.5M player. Worse thing, is it's a 4 years in length.

People will argue that we would not have made the cup if not for Pisani, so re-signing him at 1.1M in January would have been a mistake, as he would lost the motivation.

My response: If a guy can only get motivated by money, then you don't keep him on the team, or you try to find other ways to motivate him....and what exactly is Pisani's motivation right now?

If that were the case,shouldn't the Oilers be signing everyone to 1 year deals?

I stand by my opinion that it was a brutal contract that will hurt chances to sign other guys, unless traded.

Hey, one bad contract isn't the end of the world. Multiple bad contracts collectively hurts a team financially.

Moreau's contract was pretty bad as well, although not to the same extent as you know he's a tough as nails type of guy who will take any pain to help the team win hockey games.

Hopefully Lowe doesn't get strike 3 with Staios. Rumours are going on a 3 or 4 year deal is in the works.

Nothing more than 2 years IMO is appropriate at 2.5M. There won't be teams lining up to sign him at 3.0M so it makes little sense for paying him a premium at this point.

Why should the Oilers give in for Staios's wants?

Lowe should do what is in the best interests of the organization.

Or let him test UFA. Just because he gets there,doesn't mean he will get the 2.5-3.0M.

Guys like Samsanov, Dvorak, Peca didn't get as much as they anticipated (and short term deals as well).

There is a cap in the new NHL. Teams just won't be able to throw money (see JP Dumont). It's a zero sum game. If someone wants to take on a bad contract on Staios, let them.

I'd really want Lowe to show some guts this time around. He has yet to go to arbitration with a player, and not let a player he wanted back (other than Spacek) to test UFA markets...the premium paid for signing a player prior to July 1 can be excessive.

Lowe missed the boat with poor contracts in the past (Cross, Conklin, Cleary, etc.) Let's hope it's not the same old song this time around.

You have to have a good balance. You should not always give in to the players wants, especially if these said guys can be replaced for much less. Guys like Dean McCammond, Radek Dvorak, etc are all solid bottom 6 players that can be signed for dirt cheap on the UFA market.

Guys like Sykora, Smyth, cannot.

Potential UFA's will go. In our case, we'd lose our leading point scorer on the team because of the poor contracts given to guys like Pisani, Moreau, and possibly Staios.

Or worse, we'll lose the heart of the team in Ryan Smyth.

Then again, who am I to complain about giving 32 year old's 3 or 4 year deals, with decent prospects (Gilbert, Chorney, Peckham, etc) coming up.

Mind you, Lowe should be given some well deserved credit.

The Pronger deal was robbery. Spacek deal was decent.

Peca deal was a gamble, but paid off in the playoffs.

Roloson trade was solid.

The rental deals were probably only to make the playoffs, as this team was just fighting to make the playoffs. Missing the playoffs last year would hurt the team's bottom line in the future (missing playoffs for 2 years in a row). The Cup was not expected, but Lowe did his job in making the playoffs.

I'm just not willing to call him a genius that some people seem to think he is. The objective view is that this team barely made the playoffs last year, until the 81st game. Missed them 2 out of the 3 previous years. Lowe has made a couple of poor moves IMO that will hurt us next summer. So is it wrong to show concern if he's about to make another likely poor move giving Staios the rumoured 3-4 year deal? at over 2.5M?

Game 4 thoughts: Colorado

4-3 win.

1) Tjarnqvist has been a great surprise. 27:36 ice time, +2, excellent on the PK.

2) http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreport...7/ES020070.HTM

The third line has to step it up.

Moreau, Stoll both -2 (although Moreau played well).

When's Reasoner going to be promoted?

3) Brad Winchester tracker: 1:58 ice time. I really hope Mikhnov breaks in the lineup soon

4) One extra save per game? A little more than that tonight. Give me more of these, "over the hill, 37 year old career backups" anyday.

5) Hemsky was probably the best offensive player out there. Really liked the way he drove to the net in the first period, going one on one. Didn't score, but good to know he didn't circle at the perimeter. Nice assist on Sykora's goal

6) Smid is playing well. MacT trusted him in the final 5 minutes on the ice. Finished with 15 minutes, and an E rating

7) When does Markannen draw in? Hopefully Monday. I'm going to the Tuesday game.

Add your own thoughts/assertions

Post game thoughts: Game 3, San Jose

The team really loves to tease their fans, don't they? 6-4 win.

Let's roll:

1) The team didn't play all that bad in the first two periods. Shots explain it all.

2) Thornton = MVP. What a difference he has been to the San Jose sharks. Conversely, Nabakov has always been an overrated goalie who can't put it together.

3) Pisani should step up his play. He'll come around, he always starts slow

4) I'd like to see Reasoner take the 3rd line center spot. He played on the 3rd line a few shifts, and I'd just feel more comfortable 5 on 5 (hence, a true shutdown line) with him there with Moreau and Pisani. Of course that means Stoll drops down to the 4th line - but what can you do? The goal is to win hockey games, not design roster spots based on salary. He was also the only guy to finish with a minus rating

5) Defence played well, but were running around too much. Smith needs to step it up. Greene is developing soundly (+2 today). Smid played nearly 15 minutes, while going +2.

6) Disclipine. Correct it MacT.

7) Hemsky - drive to the net you pansy. Had a semi-breakaway, and always circles at the perimeter. Heck of a player though. The type of guy that still ends up on the scoresheet, and a plus 2 rating despite somewhat of a poor game

8) Winchester - baby steps. 3:01 ice time today, +1

9) shift chart

http://www.nhl.com/scores/htmlreport...7/ES020053.HTM

10) Example of inferiority complex

http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showthread.php?t=31448

11) Does anything really be need to said re: Smyth?

Heartland of hockey

37 Edmonton and metro area players currently play in the NHL. Take off Shawn Belle, S. Neidermayer, and Rene Borque off that list, leaves with a respectable 34.

Hockey mad city indeed

Current Edmonton's metro area players

NIEDERMAYER, SCOTT (D) (although raised in BC)

GEOFF SANDERSON (LW) (born in NWT, raised in Edmonton)

SHAWN BELLE (D)

FERENCE, ANDREW (D)

IGINLA, JAROME (R)

LANGKOW, DAYMOND (C)

LUNDMARK, JAMIE (C)

MCLENNAN, JAMIE (G)

PHANEUF, DION (D)

COMMODORE, MIKE (D)

WARD, CAM (G) (born in Saskatoon, raised in Edmonton)

WHITNEY, RAY (L)

BOURQUE, RENE (L) - born, but raised in La La Biche, Alberta

KEITH, MATT (R)

CHIMERA, JASON (L)

GOERTZEN, STEVEN (R)

SYDOR, DARRYL (D)

BARNES, STU (C)

LUPUL, JOFFREY (R)

PISANI, FERNANDO (R)

BOUWMEESTER, JAY (D)

SOURAY, SHELDON (D)

FIDDLER, VERNON (C)

NICHOL, SCOTT (C)

MATVICHUK, RICHARD (D)

BETTS, BLAIR (C)

COMRIE, MIKE (C)

MORRIS, DEREK (D)

NASH, TYSON (L)

REINPRECHT, STEVEN (C)

CHRISTENSEN, ERIK (C)

SMITH, MARK (C)

STEVENSON, GRANT (C)

ONDRUS, BENJAMIN (R)

SMITH, NATHAN (C)

PETTINGER, MATT (L)

SUTHERBY, BRIAN (C)

Game 1: Edmonton 3, Calgary 1

1) Our "37 year old career backup" seems to still have it....

2) Hemsky - seems to have matured this year

3) Sykora - Liked this signing from the get-go. I retract my comments on calling out Lowe for not signing a more expensive Samsanov.

4) I think the defence will be fine. MAB looked great out there. I was most pleased with Matt Greene - solid passing, hard working, error-free hockey. Smid had a nice NHL debut. Staios broke up a few nice plays.

5) I love the fact our PP changed to 4 and 5 forwards

6) Smyth had a quiet night. He'll rebound. That's the luxery of having 4 solid lines - if a line can't get it going, there's depth

7) Was Stoll playing the tough minutes today? That line fared pretty well.

8) Thorenson is a great story - working his way on to the team. He had a solid debut.

9) On the other hand, Kiprusoft kept it from being a 5-1 game.

10) A 2 game mini-series would shut up some of the clowns at Calgarypuck. Good grief, read some of those comments and excuses in their game thread.

Random thoughts/predictions for 2006-2007 season

Smyth will hit 30 goals again

Horcoff will achieve similar numbers

Schremp will not have more than a cup of coffee

Mikhnov will look lazy, but his name will be often read on the scoresheet.

Hemsky will not get the 100 points as some are optimistically predicting

Sykora will be a force on the PP and ES

Pouliot will turn out to be a disappointment.

Thoreson will follow that paths of Dominic Pittis, Brian Swanson, Jani Rita, amoung others.

The Oilers will split the season series against Calgary

The Canucks will miss out on the playoffs.

The Avalanche will remain competitive

The Wild will improve and contend for the final playoff spot.

The Oilers will be .500 at the end of October.

The World Curling Championships and Canadian Finals rodeo may cause some problems.

DET/NSH/CGY/SJ/ANA will be locks for the playoffs. The Oilers will have a chance to finish ahead of the latter 2 teams.

The Oilers will sell out all but 2 games

Likely a first or 2nd round exit in the playoffs. Don't worry, Calgary will choke in the first round.

The Oilers will provide Edmonton with another year of great entertainment - which is why we watch these games.

Surprise, Surprise - Smyth family giving back to the community

Letter in the Edmonton Sun yesterday

"WE WOULD like to publicly acknowledge an act of kindness by Ryan Smyth and his wife. Our eight-year-old grandson was at the Stollery Hospital visiting his very sick newborn sister. Kaleb was told that Ryan was visiting at the pediatric ICU and was asked if he would like to go see Ryan. After thinking a few seconds he replied that no, he wanted to stay and hold his sister. After about a half an hour Ryan and his wife came especially to see Kaleb. He stayed and talked with Kaleb, signed autographs and had pictures taken with Kaleb and Maya. Do you think Ryan has a new fan? You bet he does, and many more as well.Thank you Ryan, on behalf of the Strandberg and Moroz families. You made a little boy's day!

Donna Strandberg

(A great story. Thanks!)

Hemsky

Passing Drills

Schremp shooting. BBO's Wet Dream ;)

Schremp shooting

MAB

MAB warming up

Another Mikhnov shot

Big guy

Mikhnov is the one without the puck

Mikhnov is the one without the puck

Clare Drake arena camp

Who is this goalie?

Edmonton's Image a mere product of Local Media and Citizens

Why does the City of Edmonton get a poor reputation around the league? You've heard it all. It's dull. It's boring. It's cold. It's basically an undesirable place to live, only ahead of Siberia.

The biggest cause of these false, completely ridiculous perceptions stems from the local media and the citizens of Edmonton itself. There strongly needs to be a change in the mentality of some Edmontonians dragging down the image of the city of Edmonton.

Hey, I'm not advocating we go to Calgarian's "rah rah rah, Calgary is the best...everybody that moves here wants to be here" that is quite prevalent in their media. Not at all. However, the city certainly can use some civic pride and appreciation of this very beautiful, very underrated city.

In hockey terms, this means Edmontonians should not resort to hysteria or question the city every time a player leaves via UFA.

This is the new NHL. There is a new CBA which allows players to jump to another ship at a much earlier age. More player movement is/was expected due to this CBA!

I'll start with some examples. First being, Doug Weight. His agent was quoted as saying, "If all other things being equal, I think Doug Weight would have been very happy to finish his career as an Oiler." Read between the lines. It's clear he is talking about the 40M/5 year deal Weight got from St. Louis. Personally, I never understood the grudge Oiler fans have had over Weight departing, many of them claiming Weight was a sell out. I don't think anyone with a right mind would choose a different path if they were put in Weight's shoes, and the guy after booed consistently over the past few years, and on the receiving end of a cheap shot by Patrick Laforge who compared him to a wimp, still has good things to say about Edmonton. An American - that loved it here.

So Weight left for more money - just like most NHL players. The rare time you'll find a guy like Ryan. Smyth that will take less than face value and has every desire to finish his career with his favourite team growing up as a kid. Anyways, money is one big reason players jump from one team to another. That doesn't mean they don't like the city they played in.

Money has landed cities like Columbus (Foote, Marchant), Pittsburgh (Recchi, Palffy,Leclair) , St. Louis (Weight, Ruchinsky, Guerin, Hinote, Legace, Mckee), Calgary (Amonte, Hamerlik), Carolina (Whitney, Oleg Tverdosky, Stillman) free agents. It doesn't mean these said cities have any more to offer than Edmonton...it's just a simple fact that money wins free agents, regardless of whether the team will be competitive in the near future or not. So don't feel bad Edmonton. Weight, Guerin, Marchant, Joseph, Richardson, Niinimaa, Samsonov, Spacek were all players that loved Edmonton and playing here - they just left because of money and personal reasons.

Personal reasons. They also have an effect on free agents jumping ship. Like it or not, players are human. They have families, they purchase groceries, they love going out.

I'll start out with an example involving my cousins. My cousin (female, Masters dgeree at the U of A) married a man from California 6 years ago (P.hD Biochem). She moved there, and lived in a small town called Vacaville, a wealthy suburb of San Francisco for 7 years. Her parents live in Edmonton, and her desire of wanting her 2 sons to start school in Canada, the family of 4 moved to Edmonton this summer. Her husband is happy here, and it takes him 5 minutes to drive to work. The husband took a paycut, but he's enjoying it here as it took him over an hour to get to work in the Bay area. Just because they moved here, doesn't mean they didn't like the Bay area. In fact, they loved it.

Point being, like normal people, hockey players can have situations just like these. Just because Mrs. Pronger felt more comfortable in the States (read between the lines, it was her that promoted the move) doesn't neccessarily mean Edmonton is a undesirable city we are lead to believe by the Eastern media. Michael Peca is another guy who had good things to say about Edmonton, but preferred it out East. Why? In January, he claimed his wife had family back in the East, and the family was more comfortable there. He signed in Toronto, close to his home in Buffalo. Again, that doesn't mean the city of Edmonton is undesirable.
Nedved had to look for his wife's concern about being a model. Personally, he loved it here. Again, different situations for different people.

So why does the Edmonton media go hysteric when a player leaves? Hey, I'm not suggesting Edmonton is comparable to NY, LA, Phoenix, Miami in terms of what the city offers. I just don't see the need for the media to cry, "Nobody wants to play here." Let's take a look at the Vancouver Canucks. In the past 2 years, they have lost Anson Carter, Baumgartner, Malik, and Jovonovski. Money talks, Bullsh*t walks. Yet, I don't see a single article from the Vancouver media crying about players wanting out, or that the Canucks should focus more on developing their own players.

Perception/attitude by the local media have their share to blame. I don't understand they local media has to question recent free agent signing, Petr Sykora, on whether he really likes Edmonton or not. As Petr said, "Why wouldn't I like Edmonton?"

There is a long track record of players who have wore an Oiler uniform that love Edmonton. It's not the city for everyone, but which city is?

In Calgary, you hear the recent Flames fans propoganda: Every new player is happy, and loves the city, and are saying all the right things. These same fans compare to the situation of Edmonton, and arrive at a false conclusion that nobody wants to play in Edmonton. Um, not quite. Winning certainly helps the mood, but money is the ultimate factor UFA's leave. Just take a look at Craig Conroy. Speaking of Conroy, his wife was quoted in the Calgary Sun as "Some of the players wives don't like it in Calgary, particularily the American ones."

*Gasp* I thought it was only Edmonton that wasn't a fit for everyone. Difference is, the Edmonton media would make a big deal out similar comments if an Oiler wive said that, while those comments were discarded pretty quicky by the Calgary media. The Calgary situation is much different than ours. They haven't had any big name UFA's (other than Conroy) that they had to re-sign. Wait in 2 years, and we'll see whether all of Iginla, Kiprosoff, and Regehr who are bound to be UFA's, will say. Funny thing - when the team was missing the playoffs for 7 consecutive years, rarely was anyone in the dressing room "saying all the right things" about the city and the organization. I'd like to know when did Calgary become a tropical paradise after 2004, and how did I miss the shift?

With regards to the Edmonton media, stop creating a Armageddon every time a player leaves.

Doesn't opinions of players like Smyth, Stoll, Torres, Horcoff, Dvorak, Smith, Staios, Moreau, Pisani, Roloson, Reasoner, Sykora count for something? Or do we have to focus on the players that left for more money or found a city that is a better fit for them on a personal level?

As for the citizens of Edmonton that are complaining there is nothing to do here. These complainers are the ones sitting infront of their computer on summer day with beautiful weather, instead of going to world class festivals and places such as the Heritage days, Fringe Festival, Folk Festival, Capital Ex, Whyte Ave, International Street performers, Taste of Edmonton, etc. etc.

The image/perception of the city can be changed - by each and everyone of you

Edmonton Fringe Festival

...starts August 17 and runs to the 27th.

Great event for the whole family. Lots of laughs, jaw-dropping, and cool acts.

Don't be a cheapskate. Drop a toonie when the tip hat is being passed around.

Funny lines the last time I went:

"Oooohh, 10 cents..would you like some change for that?" - performer referring to a small tip

"The more money you give me......the more money I'll have" - performer easing things up before passing an empty tip hat.

"Anyone here from Calgary?" *2 hands shoot up* "Damn, this means I'll have to go slower"

"5 ball juggling" (while having 3 balls in the air while rotating his hips)

Brian Leetch possibly Edmonton bound?

According to Darren Dreger from TSN Edmonton is a possibility.

Initial thought: Guess it's retirement on Edmonton for him.

The guy has had a poor plus/minus and has had some trouble staying healthy in the last 3 years (61, 72, 51 games respectively) and is a shadow of his past offensive acheivements. His 130 shots on goal was the lowest shots per game (SPG) average he's ever had in his career.

He is definitely on his last legs, and hasn't been able to find an interested party in the East coast - which begs the question, why should the Oilers be interested in him? This is the same guy that rejected the Oilers a year ago.

Preliminary rumblings suggest he's asking a 2 Million. Worth it? There is a good chance he will not play more than 50-60 games, and the 2M spent will almost definitely ensure that there will little room in the Oilers budget to address needs in mid-season/trade deadline.

Perhaps it's just Oiler fans getting a taste of unrestricted free agents signing in Edmonton (Pisani, Roloson, Sykora, Reasoner, Tjarnqvist) and restricted free agents signing long term deals (Horcoff, Hemsky) that gives them the urge to sign more.

Hey, I'm not shooting down the entire idea of Leetch signing here. It does help out the Powerplay, and he can play 22-23 minutes a night. That being said, Leetch has limited options, and I don't particularily believe he will bring 2M in value to the Oilers. I could live with a 1.3-1.5M/1 year deal with bonuses.

Don't discount the loyalty factor though. Perhaps Lowe might just get Leetch a pen - they were good friends and teammates in 1993-1994

18 years ago - A trade that shook a nation

I've never been a big fan of trading quality for lots of quantity.

Gretzky put up 90 points in his final years as a near 40 year old.

He took the Kings to the cup finals in 1993.

Would Edmonton have won another cup if Gretzky wasn't traded? Most likely.

So no, I can't say buy low, sell high works in this case. Thing is, IMO Janet Jones played a huge role in persuing Gretzky to go South.

Regarding Pocklington, I have a problem with money being used for his own investments. The fans can be seen as shareholders, and Pocklington did not act on behalf of the interests of the shareholders.