From: golchowy@alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (Gerald Olchowy)
Subject: Re: Fickle Edmonton Fans(Was Re: Damphouse)
Organization: University of Toronto Chemistry Department
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 10:48:50 GMT

In article <1992Aug30.012100.29625@access.usask.ca> gerry@skatter.usask.ca writes:
>> The fans are still in post-Gretzky-trauma syndrome...however there is a method
>> to Sather's "madness"...he's not going to make the mistakes Bill Torrey
>> made...the Oilers are still in transition to the post-Gretzky era and
>> this is aggravated by the financial re-ordering of the league.
>
>Post-Gretzky-Trauma Syndrome? Is that a polite name for Fickle-Fan-Anemia?
>

I don't condone it...but I sort of understand it...there is a withdrawal
from the transition for a team filled with superstars to a team filled
with just hard-working very good players...and made more difficult when
there are major changes in personnel every year.  The Gretzky era was
sort of like a drug to a lot of fans who had and still somewhat have
the foolish notion that the Gretzky era would never end.

>Still in transition? The Oiler's are going into their *fifth* year
>without Gretzky, exactly how long is this "transition" supposed to take and
>what is the expected result? As you said, the Oiler's have won one SC in 3
>years and been in the final four the past 3 years. I don't call that a 
>transition I call it carrying on a tradition.

The Oilers have been moving at least one major player every year...
Gretzky, the Carson deal and Ranford emerging as a co-#1, Kurri, 
Messier-Smith-Fuhr, and now Damphousse.  In each case, a significant
change involving the top two or three players of the team has been
involved...that is a lot of change on a year to year basis.  It will
slow down.  Maybe transition isn't the proper word...maybe Gretzky-era
aftershocks...which are still only beginning to dampen down.
  
The Gretzky era team had a nucleus of 7 or 8 players all within an
age range of one or two years, and for the Oilers remain competitive
and not collapse because the team grew old together, 
Sather had to progressively stage their departures,
some of them like Coffey and Gretzky, prematurely, to ensure a
non-catastrosphic transition.  

>
>Gerald your comments about Sather are well spoken, I have no complaints with
>them. But your attempts at letting Edmontonians off the hook simply don't
>cut it. If the recession has hurt the Oilers(attendance) why hasn't it hurt
>the Flames? Both cities have pretty similar demographics(i.e. the majority of
>their economy is generated from Oil). My older brother(a big Oiler fan) and I
>drove from Saskatoon to catch the last game of the Oiler vs. Kings series last
>year. Now I would have thought it should be hard to get tickets. Yeah right!
>It wasn't difficult at all and the most disgusting part was that the game
>wasn't sold out.
>

Not really...Calgary and Edmonton are rather different places...Calgary
is a white-collar town with significantly more corporate head office
season ticket money...Edmonton is a blue collar working peoples town...
Edmonton is a much nicer city to live in...the only advantage Calgary
having is that it is close to Banff.  There is a good reason why it
took Edmontonians and Winnipeggers to bring NHL hockey to the
prairies, and not Calgarians who were forced to play catch up.
(Flame shields on!)

>By biggest reason for disliking the Oiler franchise(rather than the players or
>team) is the fickleness of their fans. It really grinds on me that a city with
>so many people can't get 17000 (~7-10% of the *adult* pop.) out to their
>games. If fans in Edmonton don't want a team that only occasionnally wins a
>SC but plays well enough to always be in the hunt, well that's fine by me
>they can just send it East about 4 hours, Saskatoon will show them what fan
>support means. 
>
>Edmontonians have shown their fickleness with the Eskimos and now its coming
>out with the Oilers. It isn't surprising at all to me that their attendance
>is down, I expected it to happen once the team became only good rather than
>great.
>
>City of Champions == City of Chumps.

It is disappointing that some fans are spoiled, but they'll be back because
Sather has been doing his job...the Oilers are still going to be one
of the more exciting and competitive teams in the league...and the
people will eventually come to appreciate the new no-name Oilers.
Edmonton did endure and sustain a rather pathetic WHA team to see it
into the NHL.

Gerald
Newsgroups: rec.sport.hockey