Will Fort McMurray eventually get a WHL team?

[Drake]

At Fort McMurray’s annual Canada Day barbecue at MacDonald Island Park, Mayor Melissa Blake announced that the municipality is pursuing a number of beautification and community projects as part of the City Centre Area Redevelopment Plan.

Some of the projects Blake talked about including a new civic centre, a downtown arena, a gallery, waterfront parks along the Snye, and a public gathering place that will be called Franklin Square.

Blake says construction on the projects — titled City Centre McMurray and part of the larger City Centre Area Redevelopment Plan — will begin within the next 12 months. Blake says reclamation projects along the Snye will be an ongoing project.

http://www.fortmcmurraytoday.com/Art...aspx?e=3591239

[Yeah_Baby]

Fort Make Money. Gold Digger Capital of Canada




I have nothing constructive to add to this thread.

[Svensational]

It's a hole. Heh.

[Shin Pad]

The only problem with a team in Ft. McMurray is that taking a team bus on the highway out of there is almost as risky as flying in a team airbus in Russia.

[Drake]

At least one WHL owner has looked into putting a franchise into Fort McMurray. He has told me that he was told by the WHL office at the time that the league isn’t interested in the northern Alberta community, primarily because it is a five-hour bus ride from what would be its closest rival, the Edmonton Oil Kings.
That particular owner had begun to put together the pieces that would have resulted in the building of a new arena with private funds. However, that all fell apart with the WHL saying it wasn’t at all interested in putting a team in the city of more than 60,000 people.

http://gdrinnan.blogspot.ca/2012/07/...n-spokane.html

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Fort Make Money. Gold Digger Capital of Canada




I have nothing constructive to add to this thread.

I've never heard the term Fort Make Money, so you have, despite your best efforts, contributed something constructive to this thread

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Yeah_Baby

Fort Make Money. Gold Digger Capital of Canada




I have nothing constructive to add to this thread.

The correct dumb-#### name for Fort McMurray from transient workers is Fort McMoney.

[VERVE]

Originally Posted by Matty81

I think it's just a matter of when. The size of the oil reserves there coupled with the decline in wells, I bet there are 150-200 k up there in 15-20 years.

Also once the construction slows, all the camp dudes leave, and all the projects are in production mode like they were in the 80s and it'll settle down and be a decent place to live again if you don't mind the ridiculous coldness.

The construction will never slow in Ft Mac. If anything, there will be more leases signed and more development. There is enough oil sands in them thar hills for 5 or more lifetimes (Wood Buffalo and Athabasca regions) put together. If technology develops further via innovations, oil companies can go back to old leases and further rejunvenate and extract more oil production. The oil sands are third in the world in proven oil reserves (over 171 billion barrels) that does not include conventional oil (1.4 billion).

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by VERVE

The construction will never slow in Ft Mac. If anything, there will be more leases signed and more development. There is enough oil sands in them thar hills for 5 or more lifetimes (Wood Buffalo and Athabasca regions) put together. If technology develops further via innovations, oil companies can go back to old leases and further rejunvenate and extract more oil production. The oil sands are third in the world in proven oil reserves (over 171 billion barrels) that does not include conventional oil (1.4 billion).

Production won't slow, but construction relative to the size of the town will. Even if as you say they keep developing it like idiots and building plant after plant without upgrading our infrastructure (which I don't agree will happen anyway) the city's population will eventually grow to a point where there is enough of a critical mass of actual residents that constructing two or three new plants doesn't swamp the town with transients trashing the place.

[VERVE]

Originally Posted by Matty81

Production won't slow, but construction relative to the size of the town will. Even if as you say they keep developing it like idiots and building plant after plant without upgrading our infrastructure (which I don't agree will happen anyway) the city's population will eventually grow to a point where there is enough of a critical mass of actual residents that constructing two or three new plants doesn't swamp the town with transients trashing the place.

If oil prices keeps going up, there will be more expansions. The oil companies have built camps up there to house a small city (probably that is where the 70,000 pop of Ft Mac totals by adding the stabilized town and camp popn). The housing prices is astronomical, a single family (1400 sq ft) home can sell for over 650-850k. Rents for 2 bedroom apt can be as high as 2000-2500/mo. The government is slow to act (as you have stated) to open up land for sale to private builders. They need more housing. The twinning or widening of hwy 63 is slow (at a snail's pace)and beyond ridiculous, and meanwhile, the death tolls keep adding up each year. There are alot of transients living in camps. Oil companies make it mandatory for workers to undergo drug testing, and as well, they do hire securities with drug sniffing dogs to check all camps. If a family lives in the city itself, the lifestyle is like any other small city. There are fine high schools and college with excellent trade programs. Lots of money to be made. The median family income can easily be over 150k-200k-of course it has to be given the high cost of living there.

[Matty81]

The lifestyle's gotten pretty crappy for families living in the city IMO. It's not unliveable but it's trying.

Eg last year I was driving down my old quiet residential street where I used to play street hockey with my friends when I was in elementary and there were two prostitutes coming out of the house next door. Any of us who grew up there in the 90s when it was half decent probably have the same kinda stories. It's not that there wasn't always a rough area in town where you saw that sort of thing, it's just that now almost every street in town has camp houses and dudes who treat the place like a giant toilet.

I have a big personal investment in the town and a lot of friends still there but once I got married I wasn't having my family up there. It's been developed way too fast with little or no community support from the provincial government or the oil companies. But I digress... and I do think they will eventually get a WHL team but probably not for 7 or 8 years.

[speede5]

There's no doubt that there are several cities which 'deserve' a whl team. I don't know how good that is for the league. Travel would be an issue bit I'm more concerned with the talent pool. It's already pretty thin and the competition with NCAA for good players is only going to get tougher. It's gonna be pretty hard to sway some of these kids away from full ride scholarships to go play in the great white north.

[VERVE]

Originally Posted by Matty81

The lifestyle's gotten pretty crappy for families living in the city IMO. It's not unliveable but it's trying.

Eg last year I was driving down my old quiet residential street where I used to play street hockey with my friends when I was in elementary and there were two prostitutes coming out of the house next door. Any of us who grew up there in the 90s when it was half decent probably have the same kinda stories. It's not that there wasn't always a rough area in town where you saw that sort of thing, it's just that now almost every street in town has camp houses and dudes who treat the place like a giant toilet.

I have a big personal investment in the town and a lot of friends still there but once I got married I wasn't having my family up there. It's been developed way too fast with little or no community support from the provincial government or the oil companies. But I digress... and I do think they will eventually get a WHL team but probably not for 7 or 8 years.

I used to live there too. I used to play street hockey on McLeod Street. My family moved away in 1986 and it is obvious there has been alot of changes since. Not sure if a WHL will land in Ft Mac. anytime soon but the town loves sports. Besides having an AJHL, a WHL team will be great for the town.

[868904]

If WHL teams are mandated to bus to their locations, I guess it makes more sense for an AHL team to go in.

Sounds like a good place for the Flames or Oilers to put a farm team.

[VERVE]

Originally Posted by 868904

If WHL teams are mandated to bus to their locations, I guess it makes more sense for an AHL team to go in.

Sounds like a good place for the Flames or Oilers to put a farm team.

The team will probably get quite a few number of fans from plantsite camps. Btw, is 868904 your Univeristy Student ID #?

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by VERVE

The team will probably get quite a few number of fans from plantsite camps.

It's very doubtful, someone who just did a 12 hour shift, is going to bus into town to watch a WHL game. Those guys fly in, they fly out. That's about it.

[VERVE]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

It's very doubtful, someone who just did a 12 hour shift, is going to bus into town to watch a WHL game. Those guys fly in, they fly out. That's about it.

Some do fly or drive in/out of town and when they are on 7 days on and 7 days off, they usually get the heck out of town as fast as they can. There are some who do reside at camp that are on short shifts with 3-4 days off and or some who are on 7 days off may want to make it back early for a game. There are over 30,000 camp dwellers (regularly) and can be as high as 40,000-that does not include the city of Ft Mac.=60,000-70,000. There is a steady population of about 75,000-85,000 people living in around Ft Mac -just less than the pop of Red Deer and about the same as Prince George who does support a WHL team. There are numerous sports leagues in Ft Mac.-from hardball, slo-pitch, golf, curling, fastball, hockey, flag-football, drinking etc It is very sports oriented city and I think a WHL may get support from all parts of the population.

[MrMastodonFarm]

I'm very aware of all that, thanks. I do think McMurray can support a whl team, just don't rely on the camp workers.