Are the Maple Leafs the NHL's most over rated franchise?

Question

OK, they don't exactly have a winning history. Leafs fans will quickly point out that they've won 13 cups, but 12 of them came pre-expansion, 1 in the very first year of expansion, before the new teams could even establish a good roster.

Essentially, all the teams in the NHL had a one in six chance to win the Cup back then. Simple math will tell you- 60 years divided by 6 is 10. Just an average organization should win 10 Cups during the pre-expansion era of the NHL. So, with 13 Cups the Leafs were an above average team in the Original Six era in the NHL.

But, let's move on from 1967, as we all should. I know that I wasn't even alive back then. Since then, the Leafs haven't even contended for the Cup. No final appearances, some rare conference final appearances, but no major threat. For the last 40 years, they can only be described as a losing franchise...except in the bank account. They have made a huge profit year after year despite thier lackluster performance on the ice.

This has probably been the biggest reason for the team's constant struggle to win on the ice. There have been well documented internal management and ownership power struggles since the days of Harold Ballard all the way to the current situation, with some members of MLSE trying to make JFJ's job difficult with the false report about Mats Sundin in the summer and the suggestion of hiring a senior advisor for JFJ, possibly Scotty Bowman.

Now, what the Leafs probably need is a complete overhaul of the current management, and starting fresh with hockey minds in hockey-related positions and successful businessmen in business positions. They need ownership that is not completely possessed by the bottom line, but one whose main interest is to win the Cup.

This is where it gets tricky for this organization. The majority owners of MLSE right now are the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan. They are using the large profit generated by the Leafs each year to write out pension cheques for old teachers. It is extremely difficult for an owner who is interested in NHL hockey to go in and buy the team. Why would the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan sell a gold pot away? All they do each year is stick their hands in and distribute money to their members. They have no reason to try to fix the organization, because the big money keeps rolling anyway. The ticket prices are raised regularly even though the team isn't doing well. Where else can the group invest and get a large profit every year without having to worry about anything?

The only way the money will stop rolling in is if Maple Leafs fans actually stop supporting a losing product year after year after year, stop buying jerseys, stop subscribing to LeafsTV, stop ordering pay per view games, etc, etc, etc. Then the ownership will be forced to try to fix the chaos and maybe even sell the team to an owner who is actually interested in hockey. But can anyone out there see a day, where Maple Leafs fans will stop shelling out money at all costs?

Puckdat, I thought the NHL expanded in 1967. I guess that was after the Leafs cup victory.
Also, I say over rated because so many people consider them one of the greatest NHL teams and so many predictions you see are about the Leafs winning the Cup. They're also on national TV an awful lot, like they're something special.

Answer 1

Actually, all 13 cups came pre-expansion. 1967-68 was the first year of the 12 team league, and the Maple Leafs last won a cup at the end of the 1966-67 season.

As for the rest of your question............you are dead on. Five times in 40 years has this team been the Semi-Finals, and 4 of those occurred during an 11 year period from 1992-93 through 2003-2004.

Let's look at the rest of the original 6 SINCE 1967
Montreal
- 6 President's Trophies
- 32 Playoff Appearances
- 14 Semi-Final Appearances
- 11 Final Appearances
- 10 Stanley Cups

Boston
- 5 President's Trophies
- 34 Playoff Appearances
- 13 Semi Final Appearances
- 7 Final Appearances
- 2 Stanley Cups

Chicago
- 2 President's Trophies
- 30 Playoff Appearances
- 11 Semi-Final Appearances
- 3 Final Appearances
- 0 Stanley Cups

New York Rangers
- 2 Presidents Trophies
- 28 Playoff Appearances
- 9 Semi-Final Appearances
- 3 Final Appearances
- 1 Stanley Cup

Detroit
- 5 President's Trophies
- 23 Playoff Appearances
- 8 Semi-Final Appearances
- 4 Final Appearances
- 3 Stanley Cups

Toronto
- 0 President's Trophies
- 26 Playoff Appearances
- 5 Semi-Finals Appearances
- 0 Final Appearances
- 0 Stanley Cups

Note: I realize the President's Trophy wasn't awarded until 1986, so I just made it retro-active until 1968

It doesn't take a genius to realize that the most 0's are under Toronto.


So yes, Toronto is hugely over-rated!

Answer 2

Agreed. What the leafs need to do is fire JFJ. He seriously needs to get outta the franchise. Your right, they need to hire someone who has a good idea of the game and what it will take to again become a threat in the NHL.

Right now they are not going anywhere. They aquired Vesa Toskala and he has been holding his own, but without a rock hard defence to back him up how is he gunna start playing. You can expect him to make the first few saves but he will get tired. Then they need an offence to back him up as well. If he lets one in the leafs need to be able to answer.


A big problem for the leafs is most of there players are older. They need to quit buying all these players and start brining up the youngers guys and actually play them. I believe the reason the leafs are soo bad is because of the Harold Ballard curse. Just before he died he susposedly cursed the leafs.

Well to wrap this up the leafs are way over rated there fans are dellusional and need to seriously take off the blinders ( Doc Hollywood) .. what they need to do is completlety re-do there management. Then we will see what happens.

Answer 3

You're assuming that everybody who wants them to win is expecting them to win. Not the same thing. If the team has more fans than most, you have to expect they also have a higher number of fans with unreasonable expectations, even though the percentage is about the same. For comparison, pick a team that you consider equal to Toronto, talent wise. Estimate the number of fans and compare that to the number of people who think that team has a shot at winning the cup this year. Percentage wise, it should work out, about the same. Leaf fans just seem to be more unrealistic because there are that many more people talking about them and people tend to remember the things that are said that they disagree with more than points agreed upon. At least that's the way I see it.
The short answer is 'NO'.

Answer 4

I don't know of you can call them overrated because nobody really rates them very high lol... Though, they do have the biggest fan base of any Hockey team in the World, I think. The last time I would say they were a legitimate contender was in '93 when they lost in game 7 to the Gretzky-led Kings who went on to lose to the Habs in the Cup finals. Was a great series and Gretzky claims that to be his greatest NHL game of his career.

Answer 5

Clearly Overrated but as Overrated as the Blackhawks haven't won the Cup since 1961.

Answer 6

Not overated, everyone knows they suck, they just have the most massive fan base in sports (going out on a limb). Its called Leaf Nation for a reason, and the fans follow them every year. I remember seeing a cartoon comparing the leafs to Santa Claus, you know hes not real, but theres that small part inside of you that never stops believing.

Answer 7

First the correction. Leafs won the last season there were six teams and has not won since then. Expansion was the 67-68 season.

And if theyve never won anything and never been picked to win anything in 40 years, exactly how are they over-rated?

Answer 8

Sifting through all the bullshit, excuses, definitions, and explanations, the answer to your question is Yes. The current Leafs team is the most overrated franchise out there, period.

Answer 9

Okay, yeah, that's great. How can you overrate something when even most Leafs fans with a brain already know the team is crap?

Go Leafs, by the way...

Answer 10

Overrated, No...Over Paid? Deffanatly.