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The $67,000 question: Will Oilers group give prize to 50/50 winner who missed deadline?

The Oilers Entertainment Group says the man who bought a winning 50/50 ticket at a hockey game last week - then missed the deadline to claim his $67,000 prize - won't have to wait long to learn whether his luck was good that day or very, very bad.

Clayton Hinkey bought his ticket during the Oilers game against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday, Oct. 16.

He was at the game with his four-year-old son, Roscoe, and the boy had missed his nap. So dad and son headed home not long after the second period started.

Hinkey didn't remember to check his ticket until Thursday.

"Holy man, I couldn't believe my eyes," he said.

That was the good-luck part.

The not-so-good-luck part came when he learned that winners have two business days to claim their prizes, and he'd missed the deadline.

"Kind of twists in your chest like a knife, you know?" Hinkey said on Monday.

Hinkey said he hopes the Edmonton Oilers Community Foundation will agree to give him the $67,692.50 prize.

On that front, no decision has been made at this point, said Tim Shipton, spokesman for the Oilers Entertainment Group.

"This will be resolved some time this week," Shipton said.

The 50/50 draw is considered a raffle and is therefore regulated by the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission.

Organizations that hold raffles determine for themselves how much time to give winners to claim their prizes, said Michelle Hynes-Dawson, spokesperson for the AGLC.

"The actual duration is really set by the organization, so in the case of the Oilers it's 48 hours," said Hynes-Dawson. "We've spoken with them, and we've left it up to them to decide what they want to do in this particular situation."

Hinkey said there's nothing printed on the ticket to indicate a deadline. He said that the information isn't readily available on the organizations' website.

He has been in touch with the Oilers and the AGLC.

"I'm super-optimistic," he said. "Because I know it isn't just something in writing that is absolute, it's up to people.

"It seems like a no-brainer to me. If you can choose, it should be a positive ending, all in all, for everybody."