Quote:
Originally Posted by getbak
A totally greasy guy.
I don't know what value he brought to the Oilers (other than selling them Gretzky), but he didn't really do anything to benefit Calgary. Hotchkiss and the Seaman brothers had already been working on a deal to buy the Flames when Skalbania swooped in with a late offer. He eventually partnered with the others and purchased the Flames to move them to Calgary. He was bought out by the other owners after one season.
If he hadn't been involved, the sale still would likely have happened and the team still would have moved.
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Skalbania was able to outbid the Seaman/Hotchkiss group by surreptitiously negotiating a long-term deal for local broadcast rights with Molstar Communications. He used that up-front money to sweeten his offer. Or so the story went.