from Frank Seravalli of TSN,
Edmonton is now a destination in the NHL again, cemented visually by Wednesday’s opening of the palatial Rogers Place and the surrounding $2.5 billion ICE District, equipped with casinos, hotels and bars.
The Oil City is no longer just another waypoint in the league. No one has been able to say that since Wayne Gretzky’s glory days in the 80s.
The saying from Field of Dreams is “If you build it, they will come.” In Edmonton, it was more like “If you draft him, they will come.”
Watching Connor McDavid for 45 games was all Milan Lucic needed to convince him to become Edmonton’s first high-profile free agent signing in a decade. The gaudy new building only aided as eye candy in the decision-making process to sign a $42-million deal.
In the process, Lucic turned down equally lucrative opportunities in other cultural hotspots, like Montreal and Los Angeles.
“It’s funny,” Lucic said. “I was talking with former teammates and players around the league and they all see how scary of a player Connor is. They said, ‘If you get a chance to play with a player like that, it could make your career.’”
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