Questions for Quinn: New year, new… owner?

Ok, so let’s pretend the feature image above isn’t me and my brother Devin accepting a photo on behalf of my dad of the Media Wall of Honour members at Rogers Place – instead, it’s me being presented the keys to the team.

Yeah, ok, I’m an idiot and that’s a stretch, but finding a photo for this article took me longer than it did to write it and I’m frustrated. PLAY ALONG, OK?!?!

So, for starters, did you see the Forbes report on the Oilers’ worth? $1.1 billion. Tell me, if you’re me, do you hold on to the team or look for a buyer? Ok, just kidding, who would buy the team? Can you think of anyone that would have an interest in the Oilers and buy the team for that price? I can’t even think of anyone that could do it, but that said I don’t keep an updated list of very, very rich people in Edmonton and Alberta. So instead, I’ll think about how much money that team would make me, what I’d do with that money and what I’d do with the team.

Starting with the team: I’m going royal blue jerseys at home. Sure, people are going to be very mad at me after years of buying those orange jerseys; I’d keep them as a third so that it still makes sense for people to have them, but as I’ve discussed before in this segment before, those blues are it for me! And hey, I’m going to have an Oprah moment… ‘you get a jersey and you get a jersey.’ Ticket holders for the season opener all get a blue jersey!

Can I actually do this? Can I lower ticket prices? Maybe I’d have kid prices so that families have more options to take their little ones. I grew up at the rink and had so much fun, everyone deserves that kind of chance and should be able to see their hockey heroes in real life… and not from the top row, but instead get a chance at some lower bowl seats. Honestly, even two rows a night that are heavily discounted for lower-income families who can be identified by specific organizations… yeah, I like that one! I really struggle with the disparity in our society and I’m going to do anything I can to support those who don’t get the experiences I do.

Inside the building, I’d pick one bar and make it the ‘it’ spot during the games. There would be a DJ there to play during intermissions and after the game, and everyone in the building could access it so it would be the hottest meeting spot in the city. I think that would have the ability to make gamedays that much more fun for the people inside the building.

I’m not here to talk about the personnel in the organization, I leave that to others… so let’s move on.

The really fun part: How am I spending some of the money outside of the organization? There’s no doubt in my mind I’m buying property at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic. I went there for a golf vacation in November and the people, the place, the food, the golf, were all incredible and I’d love to be able to take friends there frequently. And speaking of golf, I’m getting lessons from the world’s best and playing more often so I can actually improve. Farewell double-digit handicap. Hello getting the chance to play with my favourites: Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas.

This really is a fantasy world article.

Other than that, I’m going to Europe most summers. I’m absolutely in love with that continent, its culture, and history and I’m going back there as often as I can to see as much as I can.

As the owner of the Oilers, I demand that you answer the questions I’ve posed in this article, and you provide me with more questions for future articles.