Seattle, the Oilers and Monday's Leftovers

It was looking like a quiet day in the Lounge yesterday, what with no junior games on the schedule and the KHL action pretty much done by 2 pm Eastern.

But then, wouldn't you know it, here comes an owner who makes an implied threat of moving an NHL team to the United States from, wait for it, Canada.

Yes, Seattle is the bargaining chip, however much of a ruse it might be in this story, as Daryl Katz contemplates the best way to take public money from the city of Edmonton so that his Oilers, a private company, can have a new place to play hockey.

The best part of this silly game of dare, with the phony prospect of this team becoming the Seattle Snake Oilers, is that this move takes the beautiful world that some fans in Canada see regarding the NHL -- and the teams they believe deserve a spot in, say, Quebec City, Hamilton, suburban Toronto, etc., rather than in the United States -- and it shakes the whole thing like a snow globe.

Now, Mr. Katz, one of their own, not some smarmy American, is threatening to take his team south of the border. OK, not so much a threat, but the message is clear. Anyway, take a look at some of the comments at the bottom of TSN's post on the situation.

As you can see, this story was a punch right between the eyes. Public money as corporate welfare and the illusion of created jobs and revenue, meaning more low-paying seasonal jobs and the construction of a building that will most certainly be described as outdated before the next decade begins.

Then comes the remodel, the renegotiation and the reneging on the lease because, guess what, the amount of public funding is not enough to make the owner happy. But look at all the legal fees and construction overrun or late fees generated.

Beautiful story really. And who still thinks the owners have the fans' best interests at heart?

And now, time to put the soapbox away. On with the leftovers.



KONTINENTAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Amur 3, Vityaz 2
At Metallurg Nizhnekamsk 5, Dinamo Minsk 4
At Sibir 3, Severstal 0
Traktor 4, at Salavat Yulaev 1 (video above)
Metallurg Magnitogorsk 7, at Neftekhimik 2
At Ak Bars 6, Avtomobilist 1
At CSKA 1, Avangard 0
At Slovan 4, Barys 2
At Lev 4, Yugra 0
Summaries are here.
Standings are here.

The QMJHL, OHL and WHL were dark.