team's name was changed to the Edmonton Oilers. In 1979, when four teams from the WHA were absorbed by the NHL, the Oilers retained their name. Oil City Roadhouse Oil City Roadhouse, formerly located at 10736 on Jasper Avenue, was one of many Edmonton businesses employing the reference to Edmonton as Oil City. Oil City was owned and operated by the Oil City Hospitality Group. The Edmonton Journal wrote that "the country-themed room, located in the old Saveco building between 107th and 108th Streets, was one of the most notorious venues in downtown Edmonton." In 2012, Oil City Roadhouse closed and was replaced by an establishment named Knoxville's Tavern. Other cities Business such as Oil City Press and Oil City Express have offices in Calgary. Fort McMurray has also been referred to as Oil City due to its proximity to the Athabasca oil sands. Responses The phrase "Oil City" and its relationship to Alberta's oil and gas industry and the sociology of place identity continues to be discussed in scholarship. In a paper published in Environmental Ethics titled "This is Oil Country: The Alberta Tar Sands and Jacques Ellul's Theory of Technology," philosopher Nathan Kowalsky and sociologist Randolph Haluza-DeLay discuss the relationship between cultural identity and the oil industry in Alberta. In a section titled “I Am Alberta Oil: the Naturalization of Technical Identity" Kowalsky and Haluza-DeLay write that in Alberta, "tar sands advocates imply that oil is a necessary component of one’s own identity." Alberta's "oil identity" has also been discussed by writers Andrew Nikiforuk and Stephanie LeMenager. In her essay, "Imaginary Alberta: Is It A More Appealing Place," Edmontonian writer Linda Goyette similarly discusses frustration while filling up with gas in Edmonton and asking oneself "why can't I write about a more appealing Alberta?" See also Athabasca oil sands Edmonton Oil Kings Edmonton Oilers Economy of Alberta List of city nicknames and slogans in Alberta Petroleum industry in Canada References External links Oil City Roadhouse website (archived) Culture of Alberta Culture of Edmonton Canadian slang Canadian English Epithets