ehc73 said:
Montreal's the exception rather than the rule. I think it's Montreal, Toronto and the Rangers will always make money no matter what simply because of their fanbase. It's large enough and committed enough that even if the team is doing lousy, the fans will still show up. Sorta like Red Sox fans.
I agree... Some teams will always do well (or at least pretty good)...
I think that there is a bit of a trend... For teams that have a 'long history' (i.e. 20+ years in the league), I think that as long as the fanbase sees promise and small, steady improvement (say over 3 or 4 years) then the bandwagon fans will quickly come back (say 3 to 4 thousand extra tickets per game)... But because these 'history teams' have a die hard fanbase - who grew up with the team and followed them all of their lives, the team still does pretty good during both lousy and growing years...
IMO, there is no excuse for these 'history teams'
not to be earning profits every year... All their fans really need to see for them to come back in full force is promise for a brighter future, and small steady improvements forward... These 'history teams' can do this with a younger, reasonably-priced team... The more money that these 'history teams' save up during the 'growing' years, the more that they can spend down the road... as their teams get older and more expensive...
For example, IMHO, Edmonton wasted money on acquiring Nedved... Sure, it seems like a pretty good
short-term move, but they could have saved that money and used it towards keeping their young core together at a later date... $400,000 here, $200,000 there adds up...
Edmonton doesn't have the same opportunities as a NYR or a Toronto, but they do have better opportunities over a newer American teams... Edm can afford to build their team slowly, and inexpensively, the right way... IMO, because of their awesome fanbase, EDM
can earn a profit ever year (and save and build up that profit over the years to use at a later date) - IF they follow the Vancouver strategy and not try and act like they are a 'big spender' team...
Same as Montreal... IMHO, for them to acquire Kovalev was a no-brainer... Save and invest your money, you're going to need it to keep your quality younger 'core' together one day
All IMO...