Oilers Appoint Bob Nicholson CEO

Bob Nicholson appointed Chief Executive Officer of #Oilers Entertainment Group. Details at http://t.co/SKYO6uvWNA. pic.twitter.com/Z1IxU0Tczg

— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) April 20, 2015

Bob Nicholson has been appointed CEO of the Edmonton Oilers.

Nicholson was appointed vice-chairman of the Oilers in 2014. Previously, he had been CEO of Hockey Canada from 1998-2014.

Today, he's the CEO of the Edmonton Oilers, a team that needs a lot of work to even become competitive on a regular basis.

Bob Nicoloson's biggest asset to #Oilers is his contact list. If he really wants the right people for the job, he knows were to find them.

— Derek Van Diest (@SUNdvandiest) April 20, 2015

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

• THE OILERS WON THE DRAFT LOTTERY!  WOOOOOOOOO!
• Darryl Katz spoke a little bit about the hiring today.  I'm not going to transcribe it, but the gist of it says that Nicholson is going to have his hands on everything, and that includes the on-ice product.  It's especially nice to hear the owner say something that isn't an insistence on remaining patient that we're only in year five of the rebuild.
• Nicholson is a fresh face (relatively speaking) within the Oilers.  Perhaps the "forensic audit" has finally finished, and we are closer than we think to seeing some real progressive change within this hockey club.. I'm only dreaming right now, but after winning the draft lottery on Saturday, I'm riding this one out.
• Nicholson is now the shot caller.  He's King Cheese, he's CEO.  I'm hoping he arrived on scene last year and his first official act upon seeing this sack of potatoes was to profusely vomit uncontrollably for an hour.  I'm hoping he was so thoroughly appalled that he walked up and poked Kevin Lowe in the breast pocket and told him what he thought, and then he made Lowe buy him lunch.
• I'm hoping that winning the draft lottery on Saturday will help push some of these changes.  Developmental years, begone.