
The probability is that the Oilers are not going anywhere.

Pocklington has chosen this moment to make his "last" stand is
because he is at the moment of maximum advantage...the provincial
government is months away from a provincial election...it is
the moment when he has maximum power to convince Northlands
to give him a better arena deal or a better purchase price...
and it is before the NHL's new collective agreement with
the players which might involve some enhanced revenue-sharing.

Pocklington is many things...stupid is not one of them.

He can dictate terms...because other cities will pay his
price if Edmonton doesn't.

Edmonton has already fucked up its international airport, and
surrendered supremacy to Calgary, and over the next few years
Edmonton is going to take a hard hit from government cutbacks.
It will screw itself beyond recogniton if it manages to find
a way to lose its hockey team too...because Northlands wants
to continue to use the Oilers to subsidize horse racing.

However, in this case, about the long-term financial
viability of the Oilers, the fact is that Pocklington is basically 
right, regardless of who owns the team, and it is right to provoke
the crisis now, before the team accumulates millions of dollars
in losses, or becomes habitually uncompetitive because of lack
of money.

Sather has done his job...the Oilers are poised to be competitive
again very soon (Al Strachan, one of the most knowledgeble hockey
writers in Canada in a post-mortem of the Oilers season in
the Globe and Mail recently agrees with me.)