They are one of the most popular teams in the NHL, yet you have to be over 50 remember the last time they won the Stanley cup...why??? What is wrong with them?
2007-04-10 10:45:35 · 19 answers · asked by Pls no name 3 in Sports ➔ Hockey
The past 10 years, the Leafs strategy is to evaluate the team in February and boost up talent if they are in contention for a far playoff drive... this sucks and is totally stupid because the the team from September to January usually sucks!!! - above average at best..!
The only time this nearly worked was 2003-04 when they got Leetch, Kilger and Francis at the trade deadline... I really thought we'd get to the finals with that team...
Not since the Gilmour, Andreychuk, Potvin days have I ever consistently felt confident in a Leafs team...
wtf is wrong with JFJ...? get this man outta here pls..!
2007-04-17 03:56:18 · answer #1 · answered by Virus Type V 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Their problem starts at their very foundation: ownership and management are more concerned about making money than building a champion. If they put a team that squeaks into the playoffs and gets a few extra gates, they're content because they have a sufficiently large and rabid fan base to guarantee sell-outs. Unlike a large percentage of American franchises, the viability of the Leafs doesn't depend on its success. Ambition is not a pre-requisite in Leafland.
On the topic of that rabid fan base: that is also a slight burden, because it makes the GM fearful of trading key players. If he trades Sundin and the short-term impact isn't positive, he gets crucified by the media and the public. As such, guys like Kaberle and McCabe are now locked up long-term, which stifles the rebuilding process. Ferguson doesn't have the cajones to say "no" to our key players or the leverage to say "you know what, the core of this team just isn't good enough." It's all short-term thinking. Let's be mediocre for the next 10 years rather than terrible for 2 years and legitimate for 5.
2007-04-10 18:43:50 · answer #2 · answered by guglielmanov 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, the last time I looked popularity has nothing to do with it. The thing is that they simply cannot get it done come playoff time. If teams were awarded championships based on popularity then only the Yankees, Rangers, Lakers, and Cowboys would be champions. You have to win it on the ice. But don't feel so bad. Be happy you are not a Cubs fan(last championship 1908) or Arizona Cardinals(1947). Hey, even my beloved Flyers haven't lifted the Cup since 1975.
2007-04-18 03:02:38 · answer #3 · answered by njcardfan 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Like many teams, they find it more profitable to not win championships. Its weird but true.
As with the Flyers, Ed Snider is always claiming that he wants to win championships, but he is raking in the dough for Comcast with parking, concessions, advertising, television, the Phantoms, and other ventures. He is either trying to bamboozle us, or he is just too used to the California air to be effective and hungry as he was in the 1960's.
I prefer to believe that he is stuck back there, suffering from the delusion that Broad Street Bully hockey can still win in the NHL. He's using the memories of 74 and 75 to keep the house full, and look where it got them this year.
The Leafs probably have a similar reason for not reaching the top, it's a shame, really. I may be a Flyers fan, but Toronto fans deserve better than what management tries to pass off as a contender. Chicago fans too.
2007-04-10 11:00:44 · answer #4 · answered by Awesome Bill 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They are always under incredible pressure to make the playoffs and validate the team.
Being in the largest Canadian market, they feel obligated to make dangerous trades at the deadline that could either sneak them into the playoffs or cost them valuable draft picks.
Take this year for instance. They go out and acquire Yanic Perrault, who was making waves in Phoenix but hardly made an impact in Toronto. What did this cost the Leafs? Young and skilled d-man Brendan Bell who could have potentially been with the club for years to come.
Toronto is the same as New York (Rangers, I mean) They go out and spend as much on over paid, big name players as possible so that they maintain their fanbase. Problem with big salary guys is that while they produce points in the regular season, they hardly stand up when the pressure's on and they need to put their character to the test.
As long as Toronto continues to "sell the farm" on trade deadline day, they will continue to under achieve and enfuriate the very fanbase that they try so desperately to make happy.
Most successful teams in East in my opinion: Buffalo and Pittsburgh, both of which have drafted NEARLY EVERY player they start. When your players grow up together, they play better together.
2007-04-10 11:50:34 · answer #5 · answered by jlpubarch 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I think there is too much pressure to win in Toronto. There's no willingness to have the patience to slug it out for a couple of years building from the farm system and through draft picks. Yes they have had some decent players but can never seem to reach the necessary "critical mass" to become a great team.
I think the majority of the blame rests on the shoulders of management both past and current.
2007-04-10 18:59:43 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Corporations. The owners of the largest % of the shares of the Leafs are corporate entities, and one of the largest entities of these corporate entities is a pension fund. Plus, the big season ticket luxury box holders are also corporate entities.
Why is that the problem? All they care about is maximizing profit. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ that's what counts with them not playoffs not players not Cups. They're one of the richest organizations in hockey, Canadian or American, but they sign like one free agent per year and that's all, and make a lot of dumb trades too.
That's the problem. Corporations.
2007-04-10 16:00:05 · answer #7 · answered by Ilmari_Karjalainen 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What's wrong with the Leafs? They're not in Winnipeg, Quebec City, Saskatoon, or, let's face it, any Canadian city currently without an MLB or NBA team.
2007-04-10 14:05:06 · answer #8 · answered by Judge Ghis 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Money is their problem. The ownership of of the teachers union won't let the GM or coach do what they have to do, to get a winning team on the ice. What does ownership care when they are selling out every game, no matter what crap they are going to ice.
2007-04-15 09:38:15 · answer #9 · answered by john F 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Eitehr the trees are risky, for some reason adn it does not tutor interior the leaves. Or somebody's taking from the teh trees. The final apricots vanished from my apricot tree, and that i'm confident somebody took them. If somebody did, i think of that's all perfect. i've got not moved in, yet.
2016-10-21 13:42:23 · answer #10 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋