The Edmonton Oilers & The Management of Information
By Kurt Leavins
Edmonton Oilers fans, fair warning: Don’t believe everything that you read (or, for that matter, hear).
Actually, that’s good advice for anyone consuming media, in general. Rare is it that messaging put out in the main stream media is exactly as it seems. A lot of people already suspect that, at least to an extent. However, too often main stream media are implicated in these cases, which is regularly unfair and inaccurate. Many reporters and columnists in main stream media have an unfiltered view of events, and while you may not agree with their vision or assessment, it’s nonetheless independent. Do Owners, Publishers or even Editors have bias? For sure, especially the first two. And that’s something to be aware of.
More often than not, you can depend on a fair and measured view of a situation from mainstream media than you can from the actual source of the information. And increasingly, these days, those sources have their own means with which to get their message out, in a fashion which they prefer. The advantage of that? As an organization, you have a much better chance of getting a message out the way in which you intend it. There are fewer filters, less interpretation, not as much clutter in the way of expressing your brand and it’s beliefs (or intent) when you control the message oneself. Very McLuhan-esque, no?
More from Editorials
- Three Battles To Watch At Edmonton Oilers Training Camp
- Keys to Success: What the Edmonton Oilers Need to Focus on for a Successful Season
- The Edmonton Oilers Mean Business This Season
- Are The Edmonton Oilers Better Than Last Season?
- Analyzing the Importance of Preseason Games for the Edmonton Oilers
So…what does this have to do with the Edmonton Oilers? A lot.
Yesterday, broadcaster Bob Stauffer offered up a comment that has been breathlessly repeated dozens upon dozens of times since, with a frequency that ensures the message has been disseminated pretty thoroughly. What did he say?
I recorded the quote as:
“I would say its (sic) better than 50% chance (sic) one of Hall or Nugent-Hopkins goes. I would suggest to you it’s less than a 15% chance at this stage that Jordan Eberle goes”.
Mr. Stauffer’s comments are given further context if I mention that he was alluding to the fact that the Oilers could use “one of the $6-Million guys” to acquire an asset on defence.
As you can imagine, that comment was swallowed up by fans and media alike and regurgitated 6-ways to sideways since. And for the most part, it was taken at face value, as in “one of these two things IS happening”, present-tense intended. And in fairness, that is not Mr. Stauffer’s doing.
A couple important things to consider, though, that I have yet to see anywhere else:
-This comes from a man who is employed by the Edmonton Oilers. I am a fan of Mr. Stauffer’s, he does a good job, but lets be clear: He is not an independent reporter. And while that does not necessarily stop him from speaking his own mind (I have no doubt that he frequently does so), it does open up the door for other possibilities and other circumstances, such as…
-Rights Holders listen to the team they are partnered with. There are reasons why, not the least of which is that the broadcast rights for an NHL franchise cost a figure in the millions of dollars. It is big business, and as it is usually contracted…the terms of which usually up for review on a regular basis. As a result, it is usually in a rights holder’s best interests to ensure the guy who signs the checks is happy.
-Having worked for an NHL rights holder on several occasions, I can tell you that the clubs are usually very displeased when a message is published or broadcast in a fashion in which they do not agree. They are also often very proactive in how the “raw” information is provided to the media in the first place, and that certain things are said for certain reasons.
-This is not to say that the right’s holding or a team-employed reporter provides you with information that is inaccurate. I’ve never seen that firs-hand. But it is highly probable, however, that they ARE given information which is advantageous to the organization to have known by the media, the general public, and yes…by other NHL teams. And they are often “facts”, but just as frequently…absent of “other” facts.
What I’m saying is…
Given the circumstances here, it is highly probably the Edmonton Oilers wanted you, the media and other NHL teams, to hear that message. The chances of a right’s holding or club broadcaster just “going with his gut”, with that kind of information in public, is not highly likely, even from a guy like Stauffer who (on balance) is pretty independent.
Lets be clear: I’m viewing this situation through the lens of someone who has “been there”, and not as someone who pretends to have insider information of this specific situation. And I hope you will take it as such.
But we are at the stage in the season when the dance between teams, and between players and agents and teams, is at a heightened level, and clubs will take every advantage legally available to them to make their team better than the other guy’s team. And that includes influencing the value of your assets.
Surely we can all agree that Peter Chiarelli knows he cannot fix what ails the Edmonton Oilers with subtleties. He needs to land a big fish or two. And to land big fish, one usually has to angle with appropriately-sized bait.
I, for one, doubt that Mr. Chiarelli actually wants to trade either Taylor Hall or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. But in his position, it’s his job to at least investigate it. And that’s what I submit you are seeing here.