Tacklebuster Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Leaf Money Making Machine Won't Force Change Wednesday February 28, 2007 - City News Are blindly loyal Leaf fans actually responsible for the team's 40-year Stanley Cup drought? It sounds like a preposterous theory, but according to former Leafs G.M. Gord Stellick, it could be true. Stellick believes the fact that fans will sell-out the arena game after game, despite years of mediocrity, dissuades management from spending the money necessary to build a winner. "They're laughing all the way to the bank," Stellick boldly states. "Does it defy logic? Yeah. Is it the reality of the hockey fan, the hockey situation in Toronto? Yeah." "As long as you keep cutting that cheque or paying that money for a ticket, there's really no impetus on them to do anything else." The stats back up Stellicks assertion. Despite years of disappointing results, nearly every match is a sell-out, and the organization makes a staggering $8 million a game, in part by ad sales and television rights, but primarily through ticket sales. "To me there's no parallel in North America (for the) abuse the fans have taken for almost 40 years, with so little return." But some Torontonians believe the key to a Stanley Cup could be right around the corner. "I think the fan base will die out eventually," said Pat Ciero. "Because they're not winning and nobody likes cheering for a loser." (except for Leaf Fans...Tacklebuster) GO HABS GO! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlied Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Well Sabre tickets are about half the price and they are number 1 in the league...hmmm tells you something. This is why I refuse to go to ACC to see the leafs....plus I get every game right here at home. Been to a leaf game and yes its exciting but over $200 for one game....shoot. I pay .50 cents for leafs tv a month and $50 sattelite and I get all the games...so I choose to stay home and watch. I love the leafs but prices are out of control! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaque Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Shoot, you guys help sell out some of our (sabres) games down here ............your supportin a double market. Just make the Sabres your team as well and it'll be a little easier to swallow lol. Its just a little imaginary line between you and HSBC arena lol!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lunkerbasshunter Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 40 years and the fan base has not died out at all! THat is why the leafs are the most watched nhl team and have fans all over northamerica! At least leaf fans can honestly say they are not bandwagoners! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbuck Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Jeez, I remember going to Sabres games 4 years ago and picking up nose bleed tix for $20 then walking down to the ringside seats unmolested by the ushers because you coulda shot a gun and not hit anyone. Now I hear it's a different story. We had our chance during the Stavro years but because of huge pressure from his partners in the Leafs, Steve could not get the cup winning team together (unfortunately, Toronto's biggest fan died last year before his beloved Leafs could bring the cup to it's rightful home, T.O.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1leggedangler Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 You can thank corporate wanna be fans for the out of control prices for tickets. Problem will never change untill the Teachers Pension fund get their grubby hands out of the team. Contious sell outs give them absolutely no reason to change a thing 8mil profit a game! Us little guys can do our thing by at least not watching them on the tube, less revenue from advertisers at least. When the best they can do is celebrate a cup win 40years ago you know things are bad and closest thing since then was 93 and Dougie G. I have been a leaf fan for 35 years but boy is it getting harder and harder evey year to support these guys the way it's set up with the board of directors doing nothing but count the money. Maybe Blaque is on to something Buffalo ain't that far from Mississauga! Cheers, 1leg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacklebuster Posted March 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 If you're a Leaf fan, the best thing you can do for the team is to not support them. Go see them in Buffalo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennyman Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 I think the real problems with the Leafs IS the fans. The fans who won't let them suck. Think about it,all the teams that are good right now SUCKED for quite a while. Take Atlanta and Ottawa as examples. They sucked for a LONG time. They got high draft picks and most importantly let them develop . There were no immediate expectations placed on these teams and they let the young guns mature at their own pace. I'm not saying you can duplicate these conditions completely,but stop selling the farm (literally) for instant gratification. A great example is the pickup of Raycroft for Tuuka Rask. Don't get me wrong we needed Raycroft, but give up some of the present. A couple years down the road with Poggie and Rask the Leafs may have had the world by the tail.Let the Leafs miss the playoffs if they have too. Sell or trade off some of the old stable if the right deal arrises. I wonder how many teams asked about Sundin.If the right price is offered I think you have to let him go (for young talent). I think they need to make a concerted effort towards a certain time span,not far into the future (say a five year plan) and pet EVERYTHING into that plan. Don't worry about today as much. The fans have been loyal throughout the last fourty years, what's another five?So Mr. Ferguson, here's hoping you have the guts your father did. Here's hoping you'll turn a deaf ear to those who want instant gratification. Have the balls to build for the future of this franchise sir. We'll all stand by you (at least the real Leaf Fans will). I'm a devoted Leaf fan until death..... (I BLEED BLUE) . Please win a cup before then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puckhead Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 If you're a Leaf fan, the best thing you can do for the team is to not support them. Go see them in Buffalo. But were still watching the game on Saturday, no? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishdawg Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 havent been to a live Leafs game since '95 at the good 'ol Gardens no real desire to go to a game either (unless free tickets fell in my lap) leafs need to rebuild & start from the beginning - Detroit was weak for a few years... then they got Fedorov, Lindstrom... ect in there system, built around Yzerman & boom a constant contender & 3 Cups same thing with Jersey, Colorado/Quebec, Ottawa & now Pittsburgh, Nashville, Buffalo - you gotta take your lumps for a few years... keep just a coupla leaders/veterans & build around & develop the system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GbayGiant Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 I'll stick to going to the Raptors games. They are surprising me this year, hope they do good in the playoffs, if only we could get Steve Nash. He's a contender for 3 MVP's in a row that would put him in with Doctor J, Larry Bird and I think only 1 other, what a feat that would be. Go Raptors ! and Nash Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjsa Posted March 1, 2007 Report Share Posted March 1, 2007 Heard a little snippet, they are thinking about a new coach, from the Chinese National Team. Supposed to be a forward thinker. His name is......................... Win Won Soon!!!! . . . . . . . . Sorry, even my buds that are leaf fans laughed at that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northhunter Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Leafs are a mediocre team and will continue to be one until someone comes in and changes the way they are run. Problem is they are always on the bubble and can never rebuild because "Leaf Nation" refuse to let them take a step back. The Perrault deal is a good example - they gave up a 2nd round pick and a prospect for a player who was a 3rd round pick himself and will be gone at season's end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilkynan Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Leafs - S U C K From a die hard leaf fan!!!!! Oh yea - the new rules are terrible also - shoot out - 3 points - What the heck??? Go Borje Go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanTheMan Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 No comment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jediangler Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 The only hope for the Leafs is when Joe Thornton becomes UFA. He wouldn't sign a deal past his UFA date with the Bruins so they traded him before they lost him for nothing. He intends to go to Toronto July 1/08. You will probably see Sundin traded at next years trade deadline to make room for Joe. The only problem is Joe is inconsistant and a bit of a prima donna. He'll get league maximum from the Leafs who'll then have to move 2 of their 3 $5million defencemen just to afford him. Then they'll need to get some pure goal scorers to convert Joe's passes into the net. At least with Pogge they have a goalie for the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Pike Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Stellick believes the fact that fans will sell-out the arena game after game, despite years of mediocrity, dissuades management from spending the money necessary to build a winner. Ya, that's why the Leafs had one of the highest payrolls in the league before the salary cap! Kordic for Courtnall. Good one Stellick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jughead Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Mike Pike is right. It isn't that the Leafs are primarily motivated by money. If that was the case they wouldn't have spent money like they did the last 15 years. I agree during the Ballard years it may have been true but since then they have had one of the higher pay rolls in the league. They have the highest paid blueline in the league right now which isn't providing good return for the investment. They are a horribly managed team that spent years getting into the cycle of trading away youth trying to get a quick fix with a veteran, usually well past their prime. It's not a case of the Leafs not being willing to spend money. It's a case of them spending money on the wrong people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musky66 Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 All the salary cap does is stop management from spending 65 million a year on the players, since it is now limited to about 44 mil...thats 20 million or so in their pocket! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puckhead Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 I find it funny how stellick is admitting he didn't care about winning. Kind of makes his tenure make a little more sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorlifts Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 Even if the roof of the ACC were to break apart and kill ten fans a week, people would still show up in droves. This is hockey country, and although I havent seen a game since 1982 @ the Montreal Forum, (because the game just bores me now) I believe if you like something, no matter who wins, its the game that is to drives you. total excitement and power hitting scores, teams pushing it to the edge of human ability. Making you want to see whats going to happen next. Thats worth paying for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holdfast Posted March 2, 2007 Report Share Posted March 2, 2007 I think Montreal is in the same Boat. Poor management. Its all been politics since Sammy Pollock left. It all started with the Chelios for Savard trade. Mtl just cant find that french Canadian superstar. So now they opt to go overseas. Lets see who have they given away. Rivet, Kilger, Tucker, Stevenson, Corson, Odelin, Schnider, Recci, Brashere, Asham, Langway, Gilmore, and so on. They should send all their players with a K, V, O, and I back on the boat they came from and start scouting the Western Hocky league, or forget politics and start trading for English Canadian Players. Players with grit. My observation Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northhunter Posted March 3, 2007 Report Share Posted March 3, 2007 I disagree - Gainey's about as good a GM you can find. He built the cup winning teams in Dallas. Kilger? Kilger?? lol. The guy's big and plays hard but has hands of absolute stone. I can't remember how many breakaways and 2 on 1's that guy fouled up when he was with the habs. Rivet was overrated. He had leadership and always said the right things, just couldn't do them on the ice. We got a prospect and a 1st in return and have more cash to sign Souray/Markov. Montreal had a french Canadian superstar - Jose Theodore. The man was god in Montreal for 3 years. Wish I knew what the hell happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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