Daryl Katz

Calgarians are self-confident enough not to worry that the NHL would abandon them. And unlike Edmonton, the city doesn’t need an arena to revitalize its downtown core

The Oilers’ owner faces a probe over his gift to the Alberta Tories

The Globe and Mail, by means of outstanding spadework, has accounted for the particulars of all of the $430,000 donated to the Alberta Progressive Conservative party in its hour of electoral need by Edmonton Oilers owner and pharmacy magnate Daryl Katz. Actually, David Ebner and Dawn Walton traced the $430,000 and then some—others with close business relationships to Katz, it turns out, contributed to the PC kitty. But even the $430,000 donated this spring, supposedly in the form of a single cheque, represents more than a quarter of the cash raised by the Tories during the 2012 election period. The party managed to raise just $1.6 million—while spending almost $4.7 million protecting its flanks from the upstart Wildrose Party.

City council holds off building a new Oilers arena

This week: John Baird, Alison Redford, Daryl Katz, CFIA, Ikea

Just don’t ask Oilers’ billionaire owner Daryl Katz to pick up the tab

Subsidizing NHL arenas is ultimately a means of subsidizing a cartel

Oiler goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin’s trial for the offence of “extreme” impaired driving was the talk of the town in Edmonton yesterday. Khabibulin, 37, may seem a little old to be horning in on the extreme sports craze, but that’s what Arizona charges you with when you’re caught going 70 in a 45 mph zone and you have a blood alcohol content of 0.16%. The Russian, pulled over in February, was found guilty late last week and was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in jail, the mandatory minimum. He had the bad luck to be busted in Maricopa County, home to the demented Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his “tent city” justice.

La première étoile: Daryl Katz. After several failed bids, the billionaire finally received approval from the NHL board of governors yesterday to buy his hometown Edmonton Oilers for a cool $200 million. That’s chump change for a guy who is worth $2.4 billion and runs his family’s pharmaceutical empire. He has indicated that he will spend any amount of money to ensure that the team wins, and has already pledged $100 million for the construction of a new arena. Katz is primed to bring the Oilers back to their glory days. Thank God.