All lame, you say? Sounds like you've never been in any other NHL arena.
The owners need a new arena because the Saddledome was built by people who had never seen a modern arena. When the new arena opens in Detroit, the Saddledome will be the oldest building in the league except for MSG – and the owners of that building just spent a billion dollars replacing the entire interior. That means that 30 teams will have venues with better revenue potential. Yes, Calgary is a better hockey market than most – but that's not helpful if you have to limit ticket prices because your crib is a dump.
The public has much less need of a new arena, but it would be a nice amenity to have. My own position has been pretty much that public involvement should be limited to paying for transportation infrastructure, plus perhaps (if the City owns the land) leasing the site to CSEC below market rates. Katz bent Edmonton over a barrel, and I'm not in favour of that. But that does not make me incapable of recognizing that the Saddledome is no longer an NHL-grade facility.
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