Thursday April 8, 2004
Today, Slam! Sports has an article posted discussing the fate of the Oilers with a prolonged labor lockout or a CBA that doesnt address the league's issues.
The fate of the Edmonton Oilers is in the hands of NHL and players' association officials preparing to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement, says Oilers governor Cal Nichols.
Nichols, who speaks for 38 entrepreneurs who purchased the Oilers six years ago from Peter Pocklington, said the Edmonton Oilers Ownership Group is only committed to operating the team if a deal can be reached to level the playing field between small- and big-market clubs.
"If we don't get the kind of an agreement that provides a long-term business platform and stability, I don't think there is a future," he told The Canadian Press in an interview Tuesday. "I think it is very shaky at best."
The owners are seeking a salary cap and the players have said they won't accept one.
But Nichols said the club's future is dim if that doesn't happen.
"Our group has said all along that under the current format we have no interest in carrying on because it is just too risky."
For more on this, click on the link above.
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