Bonner Not Joining Edmonton as Asst.GM

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"One day I would like to work for the Edmonton Oilers, I don't hide that fact, but... will it be next season? Probably not."

That from the man himself who appeared on The Pipeline Show on Tuesday evening and effectively put an end to the reports that he would be replacing Kevin Prendergast as the Assistant GM in Edmonton.

Bonner, a native of Edmonton, gave specific reasons as to why he wasn't going to leave his comfortable surroundings in Vancouver to take on the job as the Oilers described it to him.

"I have 10 and 12-year-old daughters and they are in the school system here and I just didn't think that moving down South would be the right move for my family at the time."

Much of our conversation pertained to his role as General Manager of the Vancouver Giants but I specifically allotted enough time in the segment to address the elephant in the room - was he destined to become the Assistant GM of the Oilers, overseeing the Oklahoma City Barons. I had several questions jotted down but most of them went out the window after I'd asked him the first one: Can you confirm that you have at least been offered the job and if so, where do things stand right now?

"I was never really formally offered the job," Bonner admitted, "I had talked to Steve Tambellini a few times about the context of the job and at one point in time he'd asked if I'd be comfortable moving to Oklahoma City which I had declined. Since then we have had minor discussions but nothing has ever really been formally offered or discussed."

And just to make certain that there was no mistaking his intentions, I asked if he expected that he'd be with the Giants in the WHL this year.

"I think so." he said. "My intention is that I'm going this [Vancouver] way. One day I would like to work for the Edmonton Oilers, I don't hide that fact, but... will it be next season? Probably not. I think that they have people in mind and he's [Tambellini] moved on with his plans."

Some recent rumblings have suggested that Don Hay might be in line for a job with Tom Renney on the bench of the Edmonton Oilers. I asked Bonner if the Giants expected Hay to be on their bench when the 2010-11 WHL season began.

"I hope so!" he laughed, "Don would be a huge void to fill because I think we have the best coach in junior hockey. Do I think he could coach in the NHL? No problem. Do I think he would compliment Tom Renney? No problem. I think, much like myself, Don... we appreciate that we work in the plum job in junior hockey. It's not an easy place to consider leaving."

As for subjects that pertained to the WHL, we discussed his club's possible advantages over smaller market teams based simply of geography, climate and facility when it comes to recruiting. We also talked about California as being the most untapped hockey market in North America. Finally I asked the GM if he'd like to see the WHL expand by a couple more teams so that each Conference would consist of 12 clubs.

You can hear the entire interview with Vancouver Giants GM Scott Bonner by hitting the media archives of The Pipeline Show.