Cal Nichols, Who Kept the Oilers in Edmonton in the 1990s, Dies Aged 84

Cal Nichols, the businessman and investor who played a decisive role in keeping the Edmonton Oilers in the city during the 1990s, has died. He was born in Paradise Hill, Saskatchewan in 1942 and moved to Edmonton in 1969, where he built his career in the oil industry. Nichols was also a seasonal Oilers ticket holder and remained one until the end of his life.

As reported by the NHL, Nichols died on Sunday at the age of 84. He began to act publicly for the team by co-leading the Friends of the Oilers ticket campaign in 1996, an initiative that doubled the seasonal ticket base and helped stave off the threat of relocation. When owner Peter Pocklington decided to put the Oilers up for sale, Nichols organized a group of 38 local investors and, in 1998, bought the club for $110 million through the Edmonton Investors Group; that group later sold the team to Daryl Katz in 2008. Katz publicly praised Nichols’s contribution, saying that without him the Oilers would not be in Edmonton today.

Nichols was honored with a place in the Alberta Business Hall of Fame and received the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002, while in 2015 he was decorated with the Order of Canada for his achievements and community service. League commissioner Gary Bettman noted that during the 1990s Nichols repeatedly stepped in to secure the club’s long-term stability, and described him as self-made from humble beginnings. He leaves behind his wife Edna, children Ken and Kristine and five grandchildren, according to the NHL.