From: allan@cs.UAlberta.CA (Allan Sullivan)
Subject: Re: Brain-dead Edmonton Fans(Was Re: Fickle Edmonton Fans)
Organization: University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada
Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1992 02:54:33 GMT


I'm new to the Edmonton region, so although I'm living here and can see
what is happening, I'm not really an Edmontonian. Never the less, I could
make a few comments:

gerry@skatter.usask.ca writes:

>From article <1992Sep10.192047.29674@bnr.ca>, by Cory Houston:
>> 
>> 
>> If this stubble jumper from Toon-town new anything about what was going on in
>> Edmonton, he would realize that the people are not boycotting the Oilers, but
>> rather their selfish, egotistical owner Peter Pocklington. He lost a lot of
>> popularity when he traded away Gretzky(it all started when he traded away Paul
>> Coffey, but the ignorant fans blamed Coffey), but in the last few years the
>>problem has compounded by letting other players go because he is too *cheap* to
>> pay their salaries.Trading Messier for a whiner in Nicholls was the final
>> straw, and now the Oiler dressing room is starting to sound like the Leafs
>> (with one exception: they still win!!!)

>Well Gerald O. it looks like you were right, Edmontonians are still whining
>about something that happened over 4 years ago. When will these guys get their
>heads out of their butts and see that THE TRADE was the best thing for
>Edmonton to have done to stay competitive. Hey Cory tell me how many SCs 
>Gretzky has since leaving the Oilers.Now compare that to the number the Oilers
>have won, which one is greater. I'll give you a hint, as a fan you have 
>nothing to complain about(as far as the Oilers' success goes).

Personally, I didn't mind the fact that they traded Gretz; I think it's the
way Pocklington went about it... First of all, Edmonton was paid a lot of
money for Gretz ($18 million, if I remember correctly.) How much of that
went to the Oilers organization? None. How much went in to Puck's pockets?
The rest. Then he turns around, and complains about loosing money on the team.

>Well I just called my older brother(the only real Oiler fan) and he gave
>me the low down on the Nicholls situation. It turns out Nicholls' wife
>has had difficulty with pregnancies in the past(my brother wasn't sure
>if it was miscarriages or simply difficulty getting pregnant). So when
>she went into hospital he wanted to be there until he was sure that her
>and the babies(yes two, twins apparently) were out of trouble. Furthermore
>after Nicholls did eventually report my brother tells me he dropped his
>demand to be traded and even asked Sather to negotiate a long term deal.

You're right... At the beginning of the season, people seemed to think
it was because Nicholls didn't want to come here (ie. they misunderstood
the situation.) Now, Nicholls is happy, and I think the fans are happy
with him.

While I'm on the subject, I should say that I AM disappointed in
the low attendance last season (even in the playoffs). But then,
with Pocklington at the helm (and his great pay-per-view plans,
and all the other greedy things he does) I can see people getting
the idea that the Oilers aren't Edmonton's team, they are Pocklington's
team. 

Oh well, I'm really a Leafs and Flames fan at heart anyways...

Cheers.
Allan

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