There has been considerable spin by the Katz group and some of their friends (HERE, HERE and HERE) to convince Edmontonians that the real reason why they can't fund their own arena is that Canadian owners have tried that in the past and have all gone bankrupt because of the arena.

This simply isn't true.  Or at least the arena was not the only or even major factor in any of the cases.

In this three part series we will look at the true story behind the bankruptcies.

Part 1: The Ottawa Senators and the Corel Centre (now Scotiabank Place)

Ottawa Senators owner Rod Bryden built the Corel Centre in 1996 at a cost of $217m ($294m in 2011$).  In addition to paying for the land and the building, Bryden was forced by the Ontario government to put up the cost of the highway overpass.  At an approximate cost of $27m the province was generous enough to provide Mr. Bryden a loan so that he could build the highway infrastructure required of him. This loan was restructured in 2003 for the remaining $21m.

Bryden declared bankruptcy in 2003 and sold the team and the Corel Centre to Eugene Melnyk for $130m - a considerable loss.

So, what precipitated this loss and the bankruptcy?

Well, why don't we ask Mr. Bryden:

"players' salaries and the Canadian dollar just blew that all away. It turned out to be just a dreadful period for a Canadian company that relied on Canadian revenues and had to pay export (U.S.) dollars."

Further from the same article:

"Bryden figured that he would still own the Senators had Enron Corp. not collapsed and dragged Covanta Energy Corp., a primary lender for the Corel Centre, down with it.

Covanta had to seek bankruptcy protection and that, Bryden figured, eventually forced the Senators into insolvency too."

To recap why Bryden went bankrupt and had to sell the team and the arena:

• High players salaries during a non-salary cap era of the NHL
• Low Canadian dollar
• Financing from Covanta Energy Corp who had to seek bankruptcy protection due to Enron collapse
• Government requirement for private land developer to pay for $27m overpass