Welcome to Loserville

meh, this article is really about the jays and MLSE. TFC is too new to be called a 'loser' especially when the article admits someone ELSE is the worst team in the league. Argos are just in a rebuilding phase.

The real problem here is the economics of MLB, NBA and NFL. Its all about sports betting, broadcast network deals, taxpayer funded mega-stadiums filled with unaffordable skyboxes and corporate-owned block seating. Team performance and 'average fan' attendance dont mean nearly as much as they used to.

Wait 'til next year.

I do find it hard to understand why Leafs fans keep spending their money and keep watching the games. I get that a real fan doesn't jump ship at the first sign of trouble, but eventually you have to show management that if they can't be bothered to ice a decent product, then you can't be bothered to support it.

I was just checking to see whether "Unsound" was an anagram for "Stemmer". Okay, sorry, carry on.

Here's what I ask each and every Leaf-basher - what should Burke and company do to fix the Leafs? What did Burke do that is so unforgivable that us real hockey fans should jump onto another bandwagon? Its interesting that people love to bash the Leafs and their fans, but when push comes to shove (or "truculence" in Burkenese) they really don't much about hockey themselves.

Funny how when one disagrees with you they don,t know much.

Funny how I offered them a chance to substantiate their point.

Funny how instead of actually conceding a point you cheer-lead.

Funny how you posted nothing relevant other than to take a cheap shot.

Funny how no matter what you do, you're still wrong.

Funny...actually, it's not funny, it's sad.

Shuffle on.

Admittedly, I dont know much about hockey, but I assume those high-flying execs up at MLSE headquarters could possibly read some books or something on the subject, there must be some out there since people do it successfully all the time. Heck, they figured it out in CAROLINA and ANAHEIM where the local newspapers and game programs still have to explain the rules of the game to the fans in the stands.

Being the richest team in the league, MLSE certainly cant claim poverty. At the very least, I dont see how they can justify maintaining the highest ticket prices in the league. Why spend half a months salary taking your kids to the game just to see them cry? You can do that for free anytime.

Admittedly, I dont know much about hockey, but I assume those high-flying execs up at MLSE headquarters could possibly read some books or something on the subject, there must be some out there since people do it successfully all the time. Heck, they figured it out in CAROLINA and ANAHEIM where the local newspapers and game programs still have to explain the rules of the game to the fans in the stands.



They don't need to read books...they needed to hire experienced hockey men like Brian Burke and Nonis. How is that detrimental to the team?



Huh? When did they claim poverty? Up until this year, the Leafs always spent to the cap, but made poor, knee-jerk decisions and saddled themselves with bad, overpriced contracts all in an attempt to appease the fans -the Domi signing after the lockout is a perfect example.

Again, i see a lot of finger pointing but no actual suggestions. Speaks volumes.

LOL, That comment reminds me of a commedy sketch I saw once where a patient wakes up in the middle of surgery to find his guts splayed out all over the place and the surgeon scratching his head in confusion and trying to figure out what organs he has in hands. When the patient screams at the doc, the surgeon replies "well I dont hear you coming up with any ideas, smart guy!"

Point is, Im not supposed to be the one telling them what to do, THEYRE SUPPOSED TO BE THE EXPERTS. This is not some start-up hockey team down south, this is the TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS, one of the ORIGINAL SIX and one of the winningest teams in hockey history. It shouldnt take them 42 years and counting to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. This year you say they've hired so-and-so and all that has been prophesized shall finally come to pass, well I've heard that line every year since I was born and it already was ten years old then.

So far, they're off to their worst season start in their team history. I dont blame the players, I believe that players play hard on almost any pro team. I blame the managment of a large media and entertainment enterprise, MLSE, who could care less about whether one of their many diverse assets wins or loses games, they have no incentive to put any effort into their situation. The status quo is highly profitable and will be for the forseeable future. The point about not being able to cry poverty was simply meant to illustrate that were not talking about the Coyotes or some other team scraping by and actually trying to prove itself.

Two fallacies in your logic, Beaver: 1. No matter how profitable MLSE currently is, it's wrong to think they wouldn't be moreso with a winning team. The Toronto/Ontario hockey market is larger than anyone can imagine. If the Leafs ever started winning, you couldn't sell a Senators' sweater in Ottawa; 2. There's a salary cap in the NHL now. They have no more power to spend than the poorest markets. Financial clout is no longer an advantage on the ice, except in as much as it allows richer teams to store better/more expensive talent in reserve in the AHL.

1) The Leafs were controlled from the late 1960's to 1990 by Harold Ballard, who is best described as a human cancer and/or one of the worst people who ever lived. No team, no matter how previously great they were, would be able to win with a nutty black-hearted bastard like that as an owner. So that accounts for at least 23 years of the Curse.
2) It'll take time for the Leafs to recover from all of John Ferguson Jr's mistakes. As indicated already by Mustang, if they stop signing fan favourites (e.g. Tie Domi) who might be popular but really contribute very little on-ice to the team, and put a stop to the suicidal idiocy of no-trade clauses in contracts, then their management side should be able to get back to a position of strength. Thanks to bad policies when it came to signings the Leafs are still hamstrung because they have a lot of players that Ferguson over-valued but that no other teams even wanted. They have to rebuild through smart free agency and better drafting. This will definitely take some time to accomplish.

If the Leafs give Burke the time to do his job I can see them being a playoff team within five years. If they panic and give in to the fans or, especially, to that asshole Southern Ontario sports media, and fire Burke prematurely then it's back to square one and they can go fuck themselves. I'm not a huge Brian Burke fan but he'll need time and patience to get the Leafs out of the hole they dug themselves into.

Oh, I know about the salary cap, Im just saying I dont think theres much of an incentive for mgmt to do anything. Considering they already sell out tickets, not sure what else there would be it for them, merchandising is already pretty strong but I'm sure not their most lucrative venture. These guys are into half-billion dollar real estate development deals, Leafs TV etc and broadcast contracts. I'm not saying they deliberately want to loose, but theyve got bigger things on their minds. I bet winning a NHL division title isnt even on their priority list. Im sure they would be happy if it just happened by accident, but its not something they spend alot fo brainpower trying to figure out.

In other words, if you were to ask the exects for an honest answer to the Leafs problem, they would look at their ever-growing empire of business activity, record profits, high ticket prices, constant sell-outs and probably say "what problem?". Their expectations for on ice performance are markedly less than the fans expectations, IMO. MLSE is 80% owned by financial interests (Ontario Teachers Pension Plan and TD Capital)who dont give a damn about things like trophies, they just want steady revenue.

The best thing that could happen to the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan would be a winning Leafs team. Revenues would be through the roof.