Quote:
Originally Posted by Jay Random
There was an influence in the 80s, to be sure. The original group of owners gave Cliff Fletcher carte blanche to build a team that could beat the Oilers. The '89 team had one of the highest payrolls in the league, if memory serves, and Hotchkiss & co. would probably have lost money on the season if the team had lost in the first round (which nearly happened).
Nowadays, with a strict cap and so many constraints on trades, no GM really has the freedom Fletcher had, and any particular rivalry has much less influence on a team's plans.
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I do remember an 80s player saying Calgary compensated well financially.
That said, Hotchkiss was just as heavy handed as Edwards when it came to making bucks off the team later on in the SOF says.
I have no doubt that Edwards has the operations running cheaply. That was indeed the RCR tale from staffers (that said, RCR was insolvent before he took it, because Charlie Locke wasn't a great money manager).