On August 23, 1996, at a hastily arranged press conference at Telus Field it was announced that Peter Pocklington had purchased the Chicago Power of the National Professional Soccer League and was moving them to Edmonton for the rapidly approaching 96/97 season.

Pocklington has recently negotiated control of the Coliseum, and was looking to fill dates in the building whose main tenant was his NHL team, the Edmonton Oilers.

Another more vindictive motivation for bringing in the indoor soccer side was to make life more difficult for the expansion Western Hockey League team, the Edmonton Ice.

Bill Sedgewick (who was also Captain) and Nick DeSantis came with the franchise from Chicago, and Todd Rattee who was acquired from the Milwaukee Wave for Mark Manganello.

Heading into their first game, Pat Onstad had earned the starting goalkeeping spot, but while traveling to suit up for the Canada national team he was involved in a car accident and suffered a wrist injury which knocked him out of action for six weeks.

Player wise, the team remained largely intact, but did lose Nick DeSantis, Lloyd Barker and Rick Titus to the Montreal Impact when they joined the league.

At various times the captain Bill Sedgewick, all-star defender Todd Rattee, as well as leading scorers Carmen D'Onofrio and Domenic Mobilio were out for extended periods.

It proved to be tremendously fortunate that these events had taken place, as during the 4th quarter of that game in Cincinnati Lloyd Barker attempted a bicycle kick and landed awkwardly, breaking his neck.

After surgery and several days in traction, Barker did recover from his injuries, and with the aid of a neck brace he made a tearful appearance at a game later in the season.

Fortunately for the team, there was an ownership prospect waiting in the wings, and after spending much of the summer hammering out the deal, on August 11 Wojtek Wojcicki was officially introduced as the new owner of the indoor side.

Off the field Wojcicki had a much different vision for the product, and introduced an entirely new look for the team, as well as aiming to make game days a far more family oriented outing.

Heading into the team made several key acquisitions on the player front, including Nikola Vignjevic, Chris Handsor, and Martin Nash.

The Onstad move in particular was important, as the team sold two time club MVP Scott Hileman to the upstart Florida ThunderCats in September.

Fortunately, Titus' unceremonious departure perfectly coincided with the arrival of another midfielder, Paul Dailly, who had previously played for the Wichita Wings and had been finishing up his degree before returning to pro soccer.

The Drillers success was noted by the league, and when it came time for the annual All-Star game both Pat Onstad and coach Ongaro were selected to represent the club.

After getting behind early, the change of scenery didn't hurt the team in the long run though, as they posted 19–15 come from behind victory in front of an overflow crowd.

In the stands, the club experienced another solid but unspectacular year averaging 5,983 (announced), but dipped well below that during the post season, seeing only 4,638 show up for the conference final game versus St. Louis.

The deal in principle was to see Drillers captain Bill Sedgewick and goalkeeper Pat Onstad head to the Wings, in exchange for defender LeBaron Hollimon, and midfielder Sterling Westcott.

Beyond that, Sedgewick made it clear he didn't want to play for anyone but Edmonton, and then decided to also sign with a WISL club in Utah, where he also had business interests.

The deal saw Domenic Mobilio shipped to Philadelphia for Rick Titus, a player that only months earlier had walked out on the Drillers, and whom management had stated would never again be welcomed back.

On the other end of the spectrum, Martin Nash was lost as he was on trial with a European side, and long-time veteran Chris Clarke was cut in training camp.

Another player that drastically stepped up his game for the 99/00 season was Vignjevic's line mate Rick Titus, always a tenacious defender, he too became a force in the offensive end to the surprise of many.

The Drillers were well represented in the game itself, with Ongaro coaching, Vignjevic, Handsor and Rattee selected to the team, and eventually Titus, Dugas, Isacco, Brown and D'Onofrio being added as replacements.

On the field it was a tough night for the locals, beyond the "Team Canada" side losing the game, the Drillers also lost Martin Dugas for the remainder of the season when he went down with an ACL injury in the fourth quarter.

Coupled with even the announced figures falling far short of the previously stated 8,000 break even point, there were questions abound about how long Wojcicki could continue bankrolling the team.

The Drillers again qualified for the playoffs, and even posted a first round upset sweep of the favoured Kansas City Attack, earning themselves a ticket to their second straight conference final.

This was a major blow to the internal workings of the club, as he was instrumental in what few bright spots the team had off the field, including negotiating a favourable lease for Skyreach Centre.

Off the field, things also looked to be improving when in September it became public that there was a movement afoot to erect a consortium of investors to take over ownership of the team.

The newly appointed commissioner of the league flew to Edmonton and met with Best in a last-ditch attempt to have the group move forward with the purchase however no positive resolution could be made.

After two weeks of trying to find suitable local ownership, it became very apparent that there were no takers willing to absorb the substantial losses that would be encountered as a result of taking over the club at this point.