WILL "SECRET" GROUP BE ENOUGH TO KEEP OILERS IN EDMONTON?

          A "number of affluent city dwellers are quietly
     stickhandling promises of financial aid should local buyers
     looking to snap up the Edmonton Oilers need deeper pockets,"
     according to Pilon & Findlay of the EDMONTON SUN.  While the
     number of people in the group is unknown, a "well-placed
     source" said, "If extra support could sway (a local bid) in
     the right direction, that's the straw this group hopes to
     offer."  Word of the group's existence "took [Oilers Owner
     Peter] Pocklington by surprise," who called the news
     "wonderful" (EDMONTON SUN, 8/14).