The Toronto Maple Leafs – Forever Losers?
Jeff Gesner is the owner/operator of a small sports apparel/memorabilia business
called “The Stadium”. He spent some time in the scriptwriting business for film. The transition has been satisfying for Jeff being a sports fanatic.
Forever losers?
I’ll assume this title has garnered the attention of Leaf fans. The Toronto Maple Leafs are the face of the NHL, they are Canada’s team, and always will be. In Canada we pride ourselves on the beautiful scenery and outdoor activities that are offered, we have sparkling lakes to rugged mountains, the Calgary Stampede, Niagara Falls, and diverse cultures. Canada has something for everyone, it’s a beautiful country, but above all the great cities and landmarks, we have hockey, and above hockey, we have the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Maple Leaf fans can be found from coast to coast, cheering on a team that hasn’t won in 42 years. I’ve lived in both British Columbia and Ontario, and the one thing I found constant in the citizens that call themselves Leaf Nation, is the lack of knowledge and total disregard for the actual game of hockey itself. Leaf Nation enters each season with the belief of “this is the year”. I’m supportive of loyal fans, even the ignorant ones, which in my opinion is most Maple Leaf fans, but here’s the problem I have with supporting Toronto’s quest for the cup – - They don’t ever have to win, and the reason why, is because of the fans themselves. Huh? No matter what the Maple Leaf franchise does, it will never be wrong in the eyes of Leaf Nation, they can suit up gorillas, triple ticket prices, and lose all 82 games in the schedule, and somehow Leaf Nation will still buy the merchandise and still support the club. I stated that I support loyal fans, in fact I admire passionate sports fans, but I do not admire stupidity.
The next time you’re watching a game that is being played in the Air Canada Center, take a look at the people sitting in the first half dozen rows, they are generally well dressed business people, generally on business dates. A Maple Leaf game is trendy, it’s a great place to take a client, these people are the other portion of Maple Leaf fans, they are the “bigwigs” that can afford front row seats on a regular basis. They aren’t what you would call “hardcore” hockey fans, but they do know big name players, and being able to look onto the ice in between their conference, and know the names on the back of the Leaf jerseys is important to them. Here are a few examples of players that Leaf management has signed representing my theory. Eric Lindros, Ron Francis, Ed Belfour, Jason Blake, Joe Nieuwendyk, Michael Renberg, and Owen Nolan, these are just the ones off the top of my head. These weren’t poor hockey players, but they were players that the Leafs acquired long after their prime, players that were “Big Names”. You may think I’m contradicting myself because I stated above that Toronto fans would buy tickets if gorillas wore the jersey, yes, I stand by that assessment, but with being the richest NHL franchise, they are forced to spend money, and by signing expensive stars from the past, you then make your wealthier fans happy too.
The Maple Leafs has the highest ticket prices in the league, and still they increase their profit each year with a losing record. They are the most valuable NHL team, and they never win, does this make sense? Other teams in the NHL are forced to win rapidly or they might not have a team playing in the same city the following year.
Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd are certainly winning off the ice, not so much on the ice after four straight seasons out of the playoffs. Maple Leaf fans cheer for a potential eighth place seed from mid-season on. Is that really worth cheering about? How unfortunate that your ambition and hopes are to be an eighth place team.
I’m very comfortable voicing my opinion on the Leafs franchise, I’m not a Leafs fan, but I am a hockey fan, and I sit by watching Leaf Nation cheer louder each season in hopes of finally succeeding, it’s become sad. The Leafs will never win, and it’s their own fans fault, you feed into their marketing system, and in return you get nothing. I’m confident it will be yet another season out of the playoffs for Toronto, at the same time, I’m certain that the ACC will sell out every game this year, and that is the problem.
Shame on Leaf management, shame on Leaf Nation.
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Clearly, the Leafs lack the proper amount of TRUCULENCE!
Nah, I’m not ready just yet to totally throw the franchise under the bus just yet – this roster could sneak into a low playoff seed this season, despite their poor start thus far.
Although I agree with several of your comments I am forced to write a comment to stick up for myself, here is my best attempt, writing was never a strong point of mine.
First off I would to define “fan”
FAN -noun
An enthusiastic devotee, follower, or admirer of a sport, pastime, celebrity, etc.: a baseball fan; a great fan of Charlie Chaplin.
Directly from the dictionary, it does not state a follower of a sport when they are winning or only during championship years. I believe that there are over 20 teams in the NHL that would love to have ¼ the following the Toronto Maple Leafs has. I also think that if there was passion around the league, the NHL would have avoided embarrassments like several teams tanking and nearly going bankrupt; Pittsburg, Nashville, Ottawa, the Phoenix fiasco, and now we have the Islanders threatening to move. I also do not admire stupidity, but we apparently have different definitions of that word too. I think seeing a 2 time Stanley cup champion team, such as Pittsburg almost lose their team is stupid. 15 years from now could we see history repeat itself?
Now I will agree that “Leaf Nation” has and is currently being taken advantage of, the price of tickets is a good example. I would personally love to see a Leaf game live at the ACC but cannot afford it. There is demand for Leaf tickets like no other team, like any other product with high demand and low availability prices will go up. The same is true around the league, how much did a Pens/Caps ticket sell for in the playoffs, same as regular season?? How much did a regular season ticket cost in Pittsburg 5 years ago??
When looking at Stanley cup winners over the past 10 or so years most of the teams (with the exception of the Red Wings) have benefitted from finishing near the bottom of the standing for years. Currently teams such as the forgotten Blackhawks, Penguins, and Capitals are all reaping the benefits of terrible hockey for many years. In that same period Toronto has been too good to get a good draft pick but not nearly good enough to make a championship. Even now, the worst the club has looked in a long time, they are still unable to get a top 5 draft pick.
Since the NHL has expanded from there have only been 16 different Champions, out of 41 cups only 16 different clubs managed to win. With my math that leaves 14 teams including Toronto yet to hold the cup since ’67. I cannot speak for the Ballard years, and really neither can you. I can however speak for the ‘90 ‘s. The Leafs have made the conference finals 3 times, and had several other good playoff runs albeit normally as the underdog.
I’m also very comfortable voicing my opinion on the Leafs franchise, I am a Leafs fan, I am a hockey fan, and I cheer loudly with Leaf Nation. What’s truly sad is articles like this one slamming hockey fans for cheering, and being passionate about our game and blaming hockey fans for something that they are not capable of changing.
Leafs suck so face it guys, there is nothing that can be said but leafs blow.
I feel as a hockey fan I need to defend this article. I am a die hard fan, a die hard Penguins fan. I have been fortunate enough to see my team win the cup three times in my life. I have also seen the Pens finish in the cellar five times. The Penguins clearly tanked on purpose so they could lose now and win later. The Maple Leafs brass has clearly never heard the expression you need to lose before you can win. Or they ignore it.
The Maple Leafs have a huge advantage over ever other NHL team. They could tank ten seasons in a row and still sell out every game. The Leafs could have had Taveres last year if they wanted, they just needed to tank the season. When the Penguins were in tank mode they traded away or let the following players walk: Martin Straka, Alex Kovalev, Jaromir Jagr, Robert Lang, Darius Kasparitis, Michal Rozsival, Jan Hrdina, Andrew Ference. They replaced these guys with Alexander Daigle, Kent Manderville and Dick Tarnstrom. The end result was Pittsburgh drafting Ryan Whitney, Marc Andre Fleury, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal. That is how you build a team, and for Pittsburgh they were getting 11000 fans a game at this time. Not easy for a team to withstand and they did it. So why can’t the Leafs tank? They make a ton of money still and build a team the right way.
I remember the good old days of 2003-04 when Leaf fans used to make fun of me for being a Pens fan, I would say “you watch, within five years the Penguins will win a cup. I guaranteed it. They delivered.
I thought the Leafs were going in a good direction hiring Brian Burke, drafting Schenn and Kadri, then they got impatient. Instead of subtracting and trading Kaberle for the future, who won’t be a leaf by the time they turn it around. The got impatient signed free agents to big contracts, and traded away first round picks. A huge no-no.
How can the Leafs justify the fifth highest payroll (look it up http://www.hockeybuzz.com/cap-central/) in the league when the Penguins brought back almost the same team for almost seven million less in real dollars. Free agency should be used to plug holes on your team, not build your team.
Leaf Nation is dedicated, I have no doubts. They have the strongest fan base in hockey. But they are also impatient. They want to win now. But MLSE exploits this, they remain a model NHL franchise at the box office and the turnstiles, but when it comes to hockey moves they remain clueless and mediocre.
My point is this, the Leafs are a business, a money making machine. Richard Peddie has zero interest in the cup and might not know what it is, he just cares how far in the black the Leafs bottom line is. The average fan means nothing to them because they will remain a fan regardless. For the Penguins they are a team for the fans, if they don’t perform they fans don’t show. Die hard fans are great but it allows a franchise like the Leafs to settle for mediocrity .
I think the same can be said for Canuck fans, or fans of other Canadian hockey franchises, like the Habs, Flames, etc..
I can say that this is the case for Canuck fans because I am one myself, and have been subjected to several years of choking in the playoffs or just prior to the playoffs. But without fail, GM Place sells out every game, and every year I hear my fellow Canuck fans saying “This is the year”. Hell, I even save up my paycheques and buy tickets, so try my darndest to get my hands on some, at any cost. And I watch, along with my Canuck fan brethren, all 82 games and every playoff game, and share in their immense disappointment every time the penalties or bad goaltending catch up to us. And yet, year after year, we cheer the Canucks on, even after decades of failure. I dont want to use “faith” because of the religious taint it puts on being a fan of a team, but hell, what other reason can you give for the dedication of Canucks, Leafs, and other Canadian teams fans?
We are all fools.
Well put buddy, I live in Ottawa and its a similar deal here just on smaller scale.
It’s called faith – Gesner, the glass is half full.
P.S – Clockwork Orange sucks
I have just finished reading another article about the leafs that was posted a year ago, and can confirm that you could cut and paste the entire article, change the date, and you will think you are reading about the current plight of the Leafs. I just dont understand what has happened since Pat Q left, and that’s not saying that everything he did was right!
I guess its early days, but really, I am losing it, and losing it very quickly:(
I have a very cool writing opportunity involving NHL.com and Bleacher Report that I would like to offer you. Please get back to me at max@bleacherreport.com as soon as possible and I’d be happy to set up a phone call to explain more. Hope to hear from you.
Thanks,
Max Tcheyan
Featured Columnist Manager
Bleacher Report
the management of the toronto maple leafs is the problem. think back from 1967 to present 2000’s all the great players and goalies too many to list hear. but i could mention all the inadequate managers owners presidents who screwed up forever the great players and teams of the maple leafs. easy to remember and sign off these losers ballard imlach ferguson the list goes on and on of poor management. no wonder scotty bowman turned down the offer of managing the leafs!!! good luck maple sports and entertainment you are going to need it into the middle of the 2000’s. R.I.P haaarrrolllld!!!!!
[...] guilty of a little Leafs bashing here at The Puck Doctors every once in a while (case in point, Gesner’s post a few months back), but with the Maple Leafs floundering in 14th place in the East, it’s high time to question [...]