Maybe you need a second team in YYZ (a Mets equivalent) to give the Leafs management something to worry about. Of course that would only work if the NHL was actually playing hockey.
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Reasons why the Toronto Maple Leafs will never win the Stanley Cup in the modern era
- Thread starter to-guy69
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yychobbyist
gladheateher said:
The problem with this coulda-shoulda-woulda analysis is that you can do it for any NHL team and come up with alternative draft choices. What makes the Leafs record so bad in comparison with many other teams though is that they really don't even have one out and out success in the first round (or any other round for that matter).
I think one problem the Leafs have had is that problem which seems to affect storied franchises in big markets- they've been pretty full of themselves. They hire poorly, they draft poorly, they almost expect everyone to stand aside and let them succeed and even small doses of success go to their heads.
You make an excellent point Kath but I'm gonna tell you why I think you're wrong.Kathleen said:
Leaf owner is very smart so what he does is he makes it look like he's building a winner when really what he's doing is forming an almost-team of good players but not great players. A teaser if you will.
Fans think they are oh-so close to winning it every year and keep coming back in droves. It's brilliant when you think about it.
Meanwhile the owner is laughing all the way to the bank.
I'm counting 8 years from the list above when nobody was drafted - this is potentially much worse, when you make the mid-season trade to get a burnt-out 33 year old for future considerations. The Leafs seem to specialize in this - getting phase 2 of Wendel Clark or someone else just as useless.
Y
yychobbyist
Escohort said:You make an excellent point Kath but I'm gonna tell you why I think you're wrong.
Leaf owner is very smart so what he does is he makes it look like he's building a winner when really what he's doing is forming an almost-team of good players but not great players. A teaser if you will.
Fans think they are oh-so close to winning it every year and keep coming back in droves. It's brilliant when you think about it.
Meanwhile the owner is laughing all the way to the bank.
This is actually a very interesting argument and it's one that's been made in relation to the Boston Red Sox as well. Some in baseball are arguing that the worst thing in the world that could have happened to the Sox is winning the world series because there's nowhere to go but down. Now all of a sudden the expectation is to win another and another and these days that's next to impossible. So the fans feel screwed by the players, management and owners and they abandon the team and 5 years from now they' end up playing in half empty stadiums and the owners find themselves in financial trouble.
I find it an interesting argument and I think the same may be true of the Leafs.
Exactly my point!!hummingbird said:
They always seem to be getting players that are nearly over the hill or ARE over the hill. This is not how you build a winner.
The last few years they had a good chance to sign some superstars but they didnt.
I dont remember their names but I think it was Blake and a few others.
They used the excuse that there was no money which is true because the owner has probably siphoned it all away.
One of the Leafs' problem is development of drafted players. When Ballard took over, he decimated the Leafs by selling their farm teams for a quick profit. The Leafs have never recover from it.
With the Leafs' record of developing their drafted players, even if they had drafted Bossy, Stevens, Sakic, Roenick, or Guerin, these players would probably spent their career in the minors and never amount to much.
With the Leafs' record of developing their drafted players, even if they had drafted Bossy, Stevens, Sakic, Roenick, or Guerin, these players would probably spent their career in the minors and never amount to much.
I have been a loyal supporter of the Leafs for as long as I can remember. Do I agree with some of the decisions made over the years...NO...but...at the time of drafting/trading for players who here knew that these guys would or would not be stars??? Hindsight is worth a million dollars right??
I think that in Toronto's it is the years of not drafting and developing a star players that is the central issue. Hindsight has nothing to do with it! If you look at the teams that have been successful, they clearly have had good scouting which has lead to the drafting and development of the talent they have on their team.hornyharry said:
Maybe this lockout is the best thing that can happen to the Leafs. Perhaps fans will wake up and smell the lattee. If and when the season restarts there's a chance half the people will stop showing up, if that happens they will be forced to become serious about building a winner.
I also hope that some of the southern U.S. teams disappear and I maybe they'll shorten the season.
Oh and somebody please get rid of Bettman!!!
I also hope that some of the southern U.S. teams disappear and I maybe they'll shorten the season.
Oh and somebody please get rid of Bettman!!!
