Tag: oilers

High Street Lawsuit, Glen Sather Arena, Adult Colouring Book Nights

Here’s the latest entry in my Edmonton Etcetera series, in which I share some thoughts on a few topical items in one post. Less than I’d write in a full post on each, but more than I’d include in Edmonton Notes. Have feedback? Let me know!

High Street going to court over the 102 Avenue Bridge

Springwood Developments, the company that owns High Street, is planning to file suit against the City of Edmonton and Graham Construction over the 102 Avenue Bridge project. They’re seeking damages for all tenants for sales lost between October 1, which is roughly when the bridge was supposed to open, and the date the bridge eventually opens, currently expected to be Fall 2016.

I’m no lawyer, but after looking at the Municipal Government Act (specifically sections 23, 25, 534) and looking through past Council decisions on similar matters, I can’t really see how such a lawsuit could be successful. Municipalities generally cannot be held liable for this sort of thing unless they were extremely negligent, and there’s no evidence to suggest the City of Edmonton was. Furthermore, the “injurious affection” they’re probably going to cite must result in a “permanent reduction” in the value of appraised land in order for a claim to be available.

102 ave bridge girders
Photo by SphinxTerrific

Apparently the City of Edmonton has been receiving $11,500 a day in penalties from the contractor to compensate for not opening on time, and many feel that at least some of those funds should go to the businesses affected. But I agree with Councillor McKeen, who called that “a pandora’s box”. It’s not a precedent the City should be setting.

This isn’t the first time that Council has had to deal with the suggestion either. Back in April 2013, Council denied a request for partial tax cancellation for a convenience store and tailor shop affected by the Central LRT Station renovations. In that case the owner was seeking a 70% tax reduction, which would have only amounted to $742.77, but Council agreed with Administration that granting the request “would create a precedent for future requests.”

I personally think the City is already walking a fine line in supporting the Cash Mob that will take place in the 124 Street area tomorrow. In addition to Mayor Iveson and Councillor McKeen’s attendance, the City is running Park & Ride service from Hawrelak Park and Stadium. It’s great to show support, but at what point does it become perceived as an admission of guilt?

Not to mention that I find the hyperbole around the Cash Mob a bit off-putting. News releases about the event have consistently said that “businesses may not survive the winter” and one even said “this may literally be the last chance to help these businesses stay afloat”. I don’t think that’s helping the situation, and may in fact be feeding growing skepticism about the impact of the bridge on the businesses.

I’m reminded a bit of You’ve Got Mail with Meg Ryan and her character’s independent book store, The Shop Around the Corner. Facing the prospect of closing, a media campaign is launched to “save the shop around the corner!” But it doesn’t work. “Don’t tell me. Not the slightest difference?” exclaims Kathleen Kelly. “How can that be? All this publicity and not one bit of difference?”

To be clear, I think what organizer Tommy Kalita has done with Cash Mobs in Edmonton is fantastic and I have no doubt he’ll continue to have a positive impact on our community in the future. And both Sharon and I are fans of many of the businesses in the area and have and will continue to spend money there. It would indeed be sad to see the independent shops go. But if they do, should all the blame fall to the bridge? No, I don’t think it should.

Glen Sather Day in Edmonton

The architect of the Oilers dynasty, Glen Sather, is being recognized in Edmonton tonight with a banner raising ceremony at Rexall Place before the Oilers take on the New York Rangers. Mayor Don Iveson proclaimed today Glen Sather Day, and Daryl Katz announced a million dollar donation to the community arena which will now be named in Sather’s honor.

“To do this in Glen’s name is fitting and it’ll serve as a lasting tribute to his tremendous legacy in Oil Country,” said Bob Nicholson, the head of the Oilers Entertainment Group.

The money donated by the Oilers Community Foundation and Katz Family will be used to create a fund “to have programs for all the underprivileged kids so that hockey continues to grow in this city,” said Nicholson. “We’ll make sure that kids from all parts of this city get to use this community rink.”

The name “Downtown Community Arena” was given to the rink back at the January meeting of the Edmonton Naming Committee. If that sounds like a placeholder name, that’s because it likely was. With a high profile building like this, it’s not surprising that naming rights would be up for grabs.

The City will own and operate the community arena, and all revenues and costs will go to the City. The originally estimated cost to build the community arena was $23 million, with $14 million to come from the Federal and Provincial governments, $7 million to come from the Downtown CRL, and $2 million to come from MacEwan University. But now the bulk of the cost is going to be covered by the CRL, with $7 million coming from the Federal government.

Adult Colouring Book Nights at EPL

Colouring books for adults are all the rage right now. Walk into nearly any book store or gift shop and you’ll see them. They’re regularly in Amazon’s list of best selling books. I haven’t gotten into the trend myself, maybe because every time I flip through one I get overwhelmed just thinking about colouring the large, complex scenes! But plenty of people enjoy the activity and have even been bringing their own colouring books into the library, which is why EPL decided to host an event for adults to colour together:

“One of our goals is just to create fun program and connect people in our space,” said Stanley Milner associate manager Kate Gibson. “It’s a chance to take a break from the stress of life and relax, and come in and just calm down for a bit.”

For now it’s only happening at Stanley Milner downtown, but it could expand to other branches if it proves popular enough. The next event is slated to take place on December 21 at 7pm in the program room on the main floor.

Sharon pointed out to me that this isn’t the first event for colouring books in Edmonton. Audrey’s has hosted some very popular all-ages colouring parties this year. Who knew?!

Northlands Arena Strategy Committee Final Report Released

Today the Northlands Arena Strategy Committee released its final report which includes recommendations on the future of Rexall Place for the consideration of the Northlands Board of Directors. This brings our six month process to an end and I think provides the Board with some actionable, useful insight and analysis regarding what to do with Rexall Place. This is not the end of the road, but I think it is a major step toward resolving this important challenge for our city.

Rexall Place

You can download the full report in PDF here (warning: it’s large). You can also download the more reasonably sized report highlights in PDF here.

We are making two recommendations. Our primary recommendation is as follows:

“The NASC has highlighted that the current scenario surrounding a conflict oriented and competitive model specific to major sports and entertainment venues within the City of Edmonton has stalled progress; there is a need for a new approach. It is recommended that the Northlands Board of Directors consider a collaborative solution for the Northlands arena (Rexall Place) and define this possibility as two party or three party potential outcomes.”

Basically, if there’s a way to find a collaborative model that works, do so. The two party outcome would be a way for Northlands and the Oilers to work together to use Rexall Place in a way that is complementary to Rogers Place. The three party outcome would be an agreement between Northlands, the City of Edmonton, and the Oilers to find an alternative use for the building.

Fortunately, I think significant progress has been made on building the relationships necessary for a collaborative model to work. Here’s what Committee Chair Andrew Ross wrote in his summary (which you’ll find in the report):

“The NASC worked collaboratively and while we did not always agree we respectfully debated to find the right solutions; this final report has achieved consensus of the group. An unintended outcome developed throughout this process is the significant progress made to repair previously strained relationships between members of the Northlands Board of Directors and key stakeholders at the City of Edmonton and the Oilers Entertainment Group (OEG). Special thanks goes to Tim Reid, President and Chief Executive Officer of Northlands; Bob Nicholson, Vice Chairman of the OEG; Simon Farbrother, City Manager; and Mayor Don Iveson who have been willing to take a forward looking approach in the best interest of our city and the sustainability of the Northlands organization.”

If that collaborative approach does not work out, then we feel that the worst thing we could do is nothing. And so our secondary recommendation is vigorous redevelopment:

“If a redevelopment strategy is implemented the Northlands arena (Rexall Place) should be demolished and the land repurposed in a way that would complement the surrounding neighbourhood, act as a catalyst to stimulate development growth, and support the sustainability of Northlands.”

Though we did look at other models, it became clear to us that most of them are not desirable. Nobody wins in a competitive model, going dark would be highly detrimental to the community, and as mentioned, kicking the can down the road is possibly the worst decision that could be made.

The next step now is for the Northlands Board to decide which direction they want to go. I expect they’ll need some time to digest the report and its findings, and with the AGM and election coming up at the end of the month, it’ll likely be the new board that deals with the decision. Northlands has already been undergoing some strategic review and planning and I expect that work to continue into the fall.

I have really enjoyed my time on the Committee. The timelime we were working with was aggressive, but I think that brought an appropriate level of urgency to the process. I certainly learned a lot over the last six months, and I hope that I have made a meaningful contribution. I have quite a bit to say about Rexall Place and this whole challenge which I will share in the weeks ahead. For now, check out the report and let me know what you think!

Roundup: Edmonton’s downtown arena will be called Rogers Place

This afternoon at Startup Edmonton, Rexall Sports (or should that be the Edmonton Arena Corporation) announced that it has reached a deal with Rogers Communications on the naming rights for Edmonton’s new downtown arena. When it opens in 2016, it’ll be known as Rogers Place.

Rogers Place

Here’s what the folks involved had to say. First, Daryl Katz:

“Today’s announcement helps make the new arena a reality and underscores its potential to make downtown Edmonton a magnet for our community and for new investment by world-class companies like Rogers.”

Here’s what Rogers Communications Executive Vice-President and Chief Marketing Officer John Boynton said:

“Today’s announcement builds on our long-term commitment to the Edmonton Oilers, its hockey fans and our investment in Alberta. Rogers Place will be one of the most technologically enabled stadiums in North America; we look forward to bringing passionate fans a connected game experience powered by the country’s fastest LTE network.”

And here’s what Mayor Don Iveson said:

“This is a great day for Edmonton’s downtown and our city. Rogers Place will become a beacon in our downtown, one that will foster a new sense of energy that will further attract development and investment in the heart of our city.”

Here’s a look at how the arena is envisioned to fit into the new downtown:

The name certainly didn’t inspire everyone, but some were more annoyed by the revenue than the name. Under the terms of the agreement between City Council and Daryl Katz, his Edmonton Arena Corporation (EAC) would receive revenue from the naming rights:

EAC will operate the new arena and pay all operating and maintenance expenses, and will receive all operating revenues, including naming rights and parking revenue.

Of course, no financial terms were disclosed as part of today’s announcement. Rogers said the deal is part of its previously announced investment into Alberta:

Rogers announced on October 1st a $700M commitment over the next four years to further enhance and expand Rogers LTE – Canada’s fastest LTE network, open additional retail locations, fuel business growth and continue to build its presence in sports in Edmonton and across Alberta.

In addition to network enhancements, new retail locations, and new business services, Rogers acquired the official sponsorship and marketing rights for the Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton Oil Kings, and Rexall Place.

Rogers Place

I’m happy that the arena has a name and has moved another step toward becoming a reality, but I do think this is a missed opportunity for Edmonton. Rogers benefits from this deal obviously, but Edmonton doesn’t because “Rogers Place” could be anywhere. This is something we get wrong so often, partly because of our “capital city curse” as I like to call it, but partly because we don’t have a strong brand to hang these sorts of things on. Sure, most arenas and sporting complexes carry a sponsored name, but isn’t that a great opportunity to be different? Instead, it’s all about the money.

David Staples seems to agree with me on this point:

“The first naming of the arena, back in 1974 when it was called the Edmonton Coliseum was the best. That was the right name for our building. It still is.”

Yup. Too bad.

Here’s some other reaction from around the web:

https://twitter.com/OilersNation/status/407971780406435840

https://twitter.com/EricWarnke/status/408089659978571776

https://twitter.com/uncleheth/status/408084022309289985

In a vote on the Cult of Hockey blog, “Rogers Coliseum” seemed to be the favorite choice, ahead of “Some other name entirely” and “Rogers Place” in last. In a poll on Global’s website, more than 60% said they didn’t like the name “Rogers Place”. You can watch an overview of the announcement at CTV Edmonton. Also check out the Huffington Post’s coverage here.

You can learn more about Rogers Place on its new website. You can also follow it on Twitter.

The Edmonton Oilers look to gain an edge with analytics & hackathons

The Edmonton Oilers are mining for gold, and they want you to help them do it.

Last Thursday they launched the Oilers Hackathon 2.0, an analytics competition that hopes to harness the collective intelligence and passion of Oilers fans to surface valuable information that could ultimately help to improve the team.

The Oilers challenge for Oil Country in the newly launched Hackathon 2.0 is to conjure up the proper methodology to solve one of four questions the team’s analytics group has created. Naturally you’ll need the statistical information to back-up your formula and that’s why the Oilers are opening their information vault to anyone with an analytical mind and a love of hockey.

The hackathon is a great opportunity for math-geeks-slash-hockey-fans to engage with the team in a different way. But as Kevin Lowe told me when we discussed the competition, it’s also a recognition that having data is just part of the puzzle. “It’s all find and dandy to have the data, but it’s what you do with it that matters.” The Oilers no doubt have some ideas about what to do with it, but they know others do as well.

oilers hackathon

This idea of tapping into the “wisdom of the crowd” is hardly new, and one of my favorite stories on the topic comes from Don Tapscott’s book Wikinomics. In the first chapter, he tells the story of Goldcorp Inc. and the decision by its CEO Rob McEwan to tap into the expertise outside his organization. McEwan told his head geologist the idea: “I’d like to take all of our geology, all the data we have that goes back to 1948, and put it into a file and share it with the world. Then we’ll ask the world to tell us where we’re going to find the next six million ounces of gold.”

It was a gamble, but with the company struggling McEwan was determined to try something different. The “Goldcorp Challenge” was launched in March 2000 with $575,000 in prize money available. The contest was a big success, as Tapscott explained. “Not only did the contest yield copious quantities of gold, it catapulted his underperforming $100 million company into a $9 billion juggernaut while transforming a backward mining site in Northern Ontario into one of the most innovative and profitable properties in the industry,” he wrote.

The use of statistical analysis in sports is not new either, and thanks to Moneyball many people have at least heard about analytics being applied to baseball. Though he is most often associated with politics these days, New York Times writer Nate Silver actually got his start with baseball. “I have been a fan of baseball – and baseball statistics – for as long as I can remember,” he wrote in his book The Signal and the Noise. He started creating statistics for the game when he was just twelve, and while working at KPMG he created PECOTA, a forecasting system for baseball player performance. There are good reasons that baseball has been at the forefront of analytics, as Silver explains:

“Baseball offers perhaps the world’s richest data set: pretty much everything that has happened on a major-league playing field in the past 140 years has been dutifully and accurately recorded, and hundreds of players play in the big leads every year.”

While baseball is a team sport, it is unlike hockey or basketball or most other team sports in that it proceeds in a linear fashion. You could argue that a batter or pitcher in baseball is more responsible for his or her own performance than a forward is in hockey. It’s therefore a little easier to test empirically a hypothesis in baseball than it is in hockey.

Still, that hasn’t deterred NHL teams from delving into the world of analytics (though there have certainly been ups and downs over the years). David Staples, a guest of the Oilers Analytics Working Group (AWG), wrote about its creation back in March:

Some pro hockey bosses have little time for “Moneypuck,” the notion that NHL teams can use advanced statistics to gain an advantage. Others are more open to this cutting edge work. But there’s no doubt that interest in the field is exploding.

The Oilers formed the AWG a little over a year ago as a result of an advisory group on analytics coordinated by the University of Alberta’s Faculty of Extension. Members of the AWG include Kevin Lowe, Nick Wilson, and a number of other members of the Oilers operations team, Cult of Hockey blogger Bruce McCurdy, University of Alberta professors Corey Wentzell and Bruce Matichuk, AICML’s Randy Goebel, and Daniel Haight of Darkhorse Analytics. The group meets monthly, though someone is looking at the data almost every day. The Oilers have purchased reports and other sources of data in the past, but with the AWG, they’re considering data and analytics more aggressively. They see hackathons as a key way to extract value from all of the data.

The Hackathon 2.0 offers anyone who is interested the chance to delve into more than 1 GB of CSV data going all the way back to 1918. That’s 1 GB of pure text, roughly equivalent to 1000 thick books, and much more than was available during the first hackathon. For a data geek like myself, it’s pretty exciting. Hardcore hockey fans also seem to like the idea. “This is entirely fascinating. I cannot believe it’s really happening,” wrote Justin Bourne on theScore’s blog. Some have even started analyzing the data. Not everyone is as optimistic, however. Well-known Oilers blogger Tyler Dellow wrote, “while I applaud the effort, I’m not really sure that I think they’re going to get a whole lot that’s useful out of it.”

My sense after talking to Kevin Lowe and Nick Wilson about the hackathon is that they are realistic about the potential for data analytics. “It’s about knowing where to spend your time and resources,” Kevin said. “The findings are not earth shattering, but it’s a little bit of knowledge that you can hand over to the coach that at the right moment he can use, or so that he has more confidence in his decisions.” Nick agreed. “It’s a two or three percent contribution, like everything else.”

That said, there is some optimism that a fan will come up with something the Oilers just haven’t thought of, with some nugget of gold. “What’s unique about math applied to sports is the undiscovered, the lingering moneyball,” Nick said. “There’s incredible fans, incredible intelligence in this city,” Kevin agreed.

A total of 400 entrants had registered for the hackathon as of this morning. If you want to participate, you’d better move quickly – the deadline to register is tomorrow. After filling out the form, you’ll receive an email with a link to download the data. From there you’ll have until February 15 to submit your methodology for answering four challenges set forth by the Oilers AWG. You can see the full contest details here.

If you don’t get the opportunity to participate this time, don’t worry, the Oilers are keen to do additional hackathons in the future. “It’s not a one-off, and we definitely want to do more,” Nick told me. That’s probably a good strategy, given that new data is available all the time. As technology improves, you can imagine all sorts of new statistics being tracked. For example, cameras could help to track the number of strides a player takes per shift, or the number of times he pivots on the ice.

I’m planning to participate in the hackathon, though for me it’ll be more for fun than anything. I have already enlisted the help of my Dad who is a much bigger hockey fan than I am, based on some advice from Nate Silver: “Statistical inferences are much stronger when backed up by theory or at least some deeper thinking about their root causes.” In other words, it helps to know a thing or two about hockey!

Edmonton benefits from seconded Oilers employees during the lockout

oilersThe players and the owners get the spotlight whenever the NHL lockout is discussed, but the lack of hockey affects many more people than that. At many teams, the employees that run the organization have been laid off or have had to take pay cuts due to the lack of revenue coming in. But for many of the Oilers staff, secondment to other organizations throughout the city has been a welcome alternative.

“Our biggest and most valuable asset is the people we have recruited and trained,” Oilers President & COO Patrick LaForge told me. “The worst thing you can do is lay people off.” He knows it is not only difficult for the employees, who would have to go out and find new jobs and deal with everything that goes along with that, but also for the Oilers who will still need talented people once the lockout ends.

The Oilers have done two key things to retain staff during the lockout. The first is that the senior executives all took a sizable pay cut, and the difference is used to ensure that all employees who make less than a certain amount of money per year still earn 100% of their salaries. That leaves the folks in the middle, and that’s where the secondment idea comes in. During the last lockout in 2004, a few Oilers employees found temporary homes at other organizations. One of the employees had a connection with the company that suggested the secondment, and the Oilers decided to give it a shot. “This time, everyone was prepared,” Patrick said.

The Oilers currently have 22 employees seconded to other organizations in Edmonton (that’s about 30% of the folks in the middle). Pennock Acheson Nielsen Devaney took six accountants on board, and other employees have gone to Body by Bennett, the Winspear Centre (including Tony Bao, who the Journal and Sun both wrote about), Williams Engineering, West Edmonton Mall, and a number of other local companies and non-profits. The employees stay on the Oilers payroll, earn their full salaries, and retain all of their benefits, and the Oilers simply invoice the companies for part of the employee’s salary. Most employees have two week notice periods with their temporary employers, so if the lockout were to end the Oilers could be back up and running at full capacity in short order.

Regardless of what happens with the lockout, the employees will likely be back with the Oilers full-time in February as the organization ramps up to sell season tickets for the 2013-2014 campaign. But that may not be the end of the secondments; Patrick indicated that the Oilers may explore the idea for the summer too.

There’s a risk that the Oilers will lose some of these people, but it doesn’t seem likely. “It’s about good commerce in the city,” Patrick told me. It certainly does seem like a win-win-win. The employees get to keep their jobs and paychecks, and they’ll be exposed to new ideas and approaches along the way. The employers get to take advantage of some talented individuals, which is a big deal in Edmonton’s tight labour market (it took just ten days to place the 22 individuals). And the Oilers get to retain their employees and will likely experience a jolt of energy and fresh ideas when they all return.

Actually, they’re probably experiencing that already. Every two weeks the team gets together to swap stories and to share the things they have learned. “Having a culture where everyone is learning is important”, Patrick said. While I’m sure the Oilers would rather be in the middle of a season right now, the opportunity for employees to learn new things from other local organizations probably isn’t such a bad thing.

Could this happen in other cities? Sure, but it’s no surprise that it’s happening here. As Todd wrote, Edmonton is “an unusually open city: open to ideas and open to change.” There’s a spirit of collaboration that makes partnerships like the ones the Oilers have forged possible.

Bid on an Oilers jersey signed by the entire team!

Post ImageTomorrow evening is the 2nd Annual RestorAction Charity Gala, presented by the Youth Restorative Action Project (YRAP) and the Elizabeth Fry Society of Edmonton (EFRY). In addition to comedy, live music, and dancing, the event features a silent auction. One of the big ticket items in the auction is an Edmonton Oilers jersey.

This isn’t just any Oilers jersey though – it is signed by the entire team! If that doesn’t make you drool hockey fans, nothing will.

Here’s the best part: you can make a bid even if you aren’t attending the gala tomorrow! To do so:

  1. Come up with your maximum bid amount.
  2. Email it to me at mastermaq@gmail.com no later than 3:45 PM tomorrow, October 13th, 2007.

Everyone attending the gala will have the final opportunity to bid, between 6:30 PM and 9:30 PM tomorrow. There are still a few tickets available ($70) if you’d like to attend.

Happy bidding!

UPDATE: The jersey ended up going for $675! Thanks everyone!

Read: RestorAction

The WHL comes to Edmonton

Post ImageLooks like things are going to get a little more crowded here in the heartland of hockey. Patrick LaForge’s efforts to bring a WHL team to our city are starting to bear fruit:

Today at a Western Hockey League Board of Governor’s Meeting in Calgary, a decision was made to conditionally award the Edmonton Oilers a WHL expansion team for the 2007/08 season. The Oilers have been granted 30 days to study the conditions of the expansion, and to assess their suitability as it pertains to their business plan.

Further details on Edmonton’s WHL expansion team will be announced in the coming weeks.

The decision has been criticized by some existing WHL teams, but I think it will be great not only for Edmonton, but for the WHL too. Increased visibility, more room for players, and new competition are all great benefits of bringing a team to Edmonton. Hopefully this deal really does go through!

Read: Edmonton Oilers