The Books
Jonathan Willis
August 26 2010 07:22PM
One of the key arguments behind Daryl Katz’s drive to get a new arena built in downtown Edmonton is that the Oilers are losing money and aren’t economically viable in their current facility. Given that those around the team have stressed this point repeatedly, I wonder if there was any face-palming when Oilers V.P. of communication and broadcast, Allan Watt, started talking about the Oilers’ revenue flow with the local media.
Discussing the hiring of play-by-play man Jack Michaels, Watt included the following gem:
“We have a $3-billion industry (NHL), we’re a $120-million business and there are no borders in our business.
Andrew Cogliano & What Have You Done For Me Lately
Jonathan Willis
August 24 2010 05:59PM
One of the second-tier issues the Oilers face this summer (behind Khabibulin and Souray) is what to do with Andrew Cogliano, fresh off the worst season of his NHL career.
The Forwards
Jonathan Willis
August 21 2010 01:44PM
Over at his other place, Lowetide has been spending the last few weeks going through the Oilers’ forwards and establishing benchmarks for the performance of each of them. He does it every summer, and then reviews those projections throughout the year. Because his estimates are conservative, as a rule they get argued with when they’re made and then start looking better and better as the season goes on.
His final list of the Oilers forwards went up today, and it’s a roster that screams one thing: this is another rebuilding year.
That Troublesome Third Line
Jonathan Willis
August 19 2010 06:50PM
With the departure of Fernando Pisani to Chicago – a departure well covered by Lowetide here and Ben Massey here – the Oilers have one fewer option to plug one of their holes on the third line.
In my opinion, it’s just as well; a Pisani signing would have been more a nod to sentiment than pragmatism. As much as Pisani is a player I loved to see in an Oilers’ uniform, if Steve Tambellini is going to bolster his team’s bottom six, he really ought to be looking at players who could be useful a few years down the road.
Who, exactly?
The Dubnyk Selection
Jonathan Willis
August 16 2010 01:48PM
Devan Dubnyk wasn’t the first player on the radar for the Oilers at the 2004 NHL Draft. He wasn’t the second or third player, either. And it’s easy to forget now, but at the time the Oilers were criticized in a few different places for the selection – because Dubnyk wasn’t considered the best goaltender available at 14th overall.
