Oilers making 'major announcement' Friday, amid rumors Bob Nicholson in as CEO
Since he announced his resignation in early April, the future of former Hockey Canada CEO Bob Nicholson - who officially stepped down on June 1 - has been speculated about endlessly. That speculation is about to hit a fever pitch.
It was reported by TSN's Darren Dreger on Wednesday that Nicholson was close to joining an NHL team in an undefined executive role "above the level of president, but below the level of an owner." Superficially, that job description sounds somewhat like the role Tim Leiweke holds down for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment in Toronto.
Shortly after Dreger's report landed, Ken Campbell of The Hockey News - who incorrectly reported that Nicholson was close to joining the Vancouver Canucks organization in April - reported that while the Canucks, Washington Capitals, and Edmonton Oilers had all offered Nicholson a job as CEO, the Oilers were the frontrunners to land his executive services.
In the immediate wake of these reports, "The Katz Group," of which Rexall Sports is a subsidiary that owns and operates the Edmonton Oilers, has called a press conference for Friday morning. The release touts a mysterious "major announcement."
Obviously this news, vague as it is at this stage, has fueled intense speculation that the Oilers are set to name Nicholson the CEO of either the club, or Rexall Sports. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period says the Oilers are "expected" to name Nicholson CEO on Friday and TSN.ca is going with the same description. Elliotte Friedman, meanwhile, suggests that the press conference will 'reveal Bob Nicholson's future.'
Clearly there's a lot of smoke here, which would seem odd in the absence of any fire. For the moment though there's a high volume of cryptic, hedging statements on this topic, and nothing in the way of firm, specific reports.
On the hockey operations side, the Oilers front office currently includes general manager Craig MacTavish, team president Kevin Lowe, and Sr. vice president Scott Howson (who has experience as an NHL general manager). Adding Nicholson to that mix, if he's on the hockey operations side of things, would seem a bit redundant.
Nicholson took over as CEO of Hockey Canada in the wake of the disaster that was both the men's and women's teams failing to win gold at the 1998 Winter Olympic games in Nagano, Japan. He presided over the Canadian national team for 16 years, and his tenure generally represented a golden era of Canadian international hockey dominance.