The Oilers have made the playoffs just one time since Owner Daryl Katz bought the team in '08GETTY IMAGES
Oilers Owner Daryl Katz has a "major problem on his hands" as his team could miss the playoffs for the 12th time in the past 13 seasons, according to Terry Jones of the EDMONTON SUN. It has been "hard to determine to what degree the blame lay" with Katz for his ownership of the team "on the ice and in the standings other than to simply point out" that the team has made the playoffs once since he bought them in '08. For a team to "miss the playoffs all those years with all of those first round and No. 1 draft choices," Katz has to be "eligible for the blame" Jones: "Yet I've never heard Katz accept any of it. He needs to do that." Katz' "crisis" is that a "significant number of suites and all season tickets are up for renewal next season." Oilers Entertainment Group has the "first batch of the 2,000 premium ticket accounts involving suites, club seating and loge seating from the staggered three-year, five-year and seven-year plan that are up for renewal." The "big concern" is the 15,000 season tickets, as compared to many markets, the "number held by 'real fans' compared to corporations is exceptionally high in this great sports city." It would "go a long way for the reclusive Katz to go public and perhaps confess a few sins and follow up with some acts that deliver a message that maybe he gets it" (EDMONTON SUN, 3/2).
