Are the Knicks the closest sports comparison to the Leafs?

[Hall of Faber]

Knicks have been horrid for 2 decades. The Cowboys not so much. I vote the Cowboys.

 

[HisIceness]

At least they’re not the Sacramento Kings

15 years of no playoffs when more than half the NBA qualifies is insane. Not even a season with 40+ wins.

I feel for their fans. The 2002 WCFs were bad enough, now they get to watch Luka whom Vlade passed on, work his craft

 

[Shiba]

As a Knicks STH this hurts me so much. ):

 

[Amadeus]

No. Leafs are a very well run organization which the Knicks unfortunately can not claim.

 

[BKIslandersFan]

No. Leafs are a very well run organization which the Knicks unfortunately can not claim.

I don't think Knicks are the circus that they used to be anymore.

 

[jaywills1020]

I saw the thread about Stephen A Smith saying the Leafs are the Cowboys of the NHL but when you look at the numbers, even the Cowboys haven't dug that low. They last won a title in 1995 (much closer to the present than the Leafs last cup) and they won a playoff game in 2018.
The New York Knicks are probably my pick for a Leafs comparison. So much history, the biggest market in their respective leagues, loyal but annoying fanbase, media puts an immense amount of pressure on players, every sought after UFA is rumored to sign there until they don't, been abysmal for most of our lifetimes, and the rest of the league clowns them for entertainment.

Knicks last title was in 1973 (6 years after Leafs) and they've won one playoff series since 2000 (even less than the Leafs in this time span). Both had their best seasons in recent memory this year just to be kicked out in round one. They also wasted the prime years of stars like Sundin and Ewing in the 90s/early 00s

Managements have also taken a ton of criticism. Dubas is seen as a softy who bends over to players, agents and other league-wide executives, while Dolan is universally viewed as the worst owner in sports. In the 80s, Ballard was also seen as the worst owner in sports

The Knicks didn’t waste Ewing’s years. The early to mid 90s Knicks teams were pretty solid teams. The problem was Jordan and the Bulls ran through everyone.

 

[aufheben]

The New York Knicks are probably my pick for a Leafs comparison. So much history, the biggest market in their respective leagues, loyal but annoying fanbase, media puts an immense amount of pressure on players, every sought after UFA is rumored to sign there until they don't, been abysmal for most of our lifetimes, and the rest of the league clowns them for entertainment.

So...the Rangers?

 

[405Entrance]

Yes.

Personally I don't really have any ill-will or whatever towards the Leafs and I think most of that is because Hockey in general doesn't move the needle much in the states on the sports shows. But yes, the comparison is appropriate from the large market to the championship drought to the constant media attention to the fans and so on.

Perhaps my biggest gripe with teams like the Knicks, Leafs, Lakers, Yankees (the "big" teams) is the constant narrative that these teams being good is good for the sports world. No its good for the media markets that cover them, fans of other teams don't give a f***. Ask a Utah Jazz fan right now if they shed any tears last night for the Lakers, most likely the answer is hell no.

The lakers live in your head rent free

 

[gamer1035]

So...the Rangers?

Its wild how the Leafs fans are so hated that other teams pretend they don't hate leaf fans because they don't wanna give any sort of credit for anything.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Big difference is, Knicks fans and media know they suck.

Deep down.... We all knew

 

[WarriorofTime]

Lol look at how many Leafs topics are in the main NHL board. Even though we're the laughing stock of the league, we're still the #1 team in terms of popularity whether they love us, hate us, and whether we suck or not - EVERYONE *always* talks about the Leafs. Even when another team wins the cup, the conversation in the main board will still somehow be about the Leafs lol.

Imagine being a Blue Jackets fan, or Senators fan, or Wild fan - you'll be hard-pressed to find ANY topics about them outside of their own forum sections. But Toronto? Absolutely everywhere in here lol.

Leafs might suck but no other team compares in league-wide popularity - at least they are #1 at something

So.. the closest comparison to the Leafs is... Jake Paul?

 

[HarryLime]

Knicks
Browns

 

[hfman]

So.. the closest comparison to the Leafs is... Jake Paul?

man, i dunno... who's jake paul... you lost me

 

[Opado]

I saw the thread about Stephen A Smith saying the Leafs are the Cowboys of the NHL but when you look at the numbers, even the Cowboys haven't dug that low. They last won a title in 1995 (much closer to the present than the Leafs last cup) and they won a playoff game in 2018.

The New York Knicks are probably my pick for a Leafs comparison. So much history, the biggest market in their respective leagues, loyal but annoying fanbase, media puts an immense amount of pressure on players, every sought after UFA is rumored to sign there until they don't, been abysmal for most of our lifetimes, and the rest of the league clowns them for entertainment.

Knicks last title was in 1973 (6 years after Leafs) and they've won one playoff series since 2000 (even less than the Leafs in this time span). Both had their best seasons in recent memory this year just to be kicked out in round one. They also wasted the prime years of stars like Sundin and Ewing in the 90s/early 00s

Managements have also taken a ton of criticism. Dubas is seen as a softy who bends over to players, agents and other league-wide executives, while Dolan is universally viewed as the worst owner in sports. In the 80s, Ballard was also seen as the worst owner in sports

Looking at the results yes they are. How ever i think the Knicks fans are nice people. Comparing to Leaf fans that is.

 

[Sniper99]

Always felt the Redskins were a good analogy.

-Up until recently the Skins were the most valuable team in the NFL, and one of the most high-profile despite their futility.
-Both suffered through a dark age of bad ownership (Snyder and Ballard).
-Both have had way more fan support than they’ve deserved, capitalizing on nostalgia and past accomplishments (and local popularity of the sport in general).

Hey! Thats the Washington Football Team

 

[93LEAFS]

The Knicks are probably the closest.

The Leafs are almost unmatched though. We are a talent-rich region comparable to the Cowboys (if not even bigger relative to the sport), we are probably the biggest team in the league (Knicks/Lakers is a debate), and have a prior history of success like the Browns (pre-superbowl). I'd say Knicks is the closest though.

 

[ps241]

Interesting topic.

The solar systems I see are HFBoards, Canada, US.

On HFBoards it’s most magnified as far as fandome intensity and the Leafs are front and centre.

Once you get outside HFBoards to Canada then the Leafs tend to dominate in the media in the English speaking regions at least and I think the media circus/pressure might be similar to the Knicks. They do have established legacy fans in all the building like the Habs.

In the US (Buffalo notwithstanding) the NHL not that big and therefore the Leafs are a non entity and I am a bit suprised they hit Stephen A’s radar although he needs negative shit to drive hits for his gig I guess.

As far as results go I think the Browns are the best comparison since both the leafs and Browns had their success pre Super Bowl and pre NHL expansion when the 6 hockey teams could all take the train to play each other.

I think the Leafs in the NHL are a mash up of Cowboy fans, Knicks media, and Browns history but 50 year drought.

I do miss the Ballard years though because he was that Cantankerous, curmudgeon, old school, f*** you I'm the owner Uber heel that trolled his own fan base and brought a Melnyk level torture to the story lines. It was more WWE when he was in the mix. I loved how he would sit with the Baby face King Clancy in that box/bunker like the two old men muppets. Is my memory fooling me or did they close the lid to that once in a while? I use to admire how resilient the Leafs fans were back then when the owner seemingly approached every day trying to destroy his customer base and he couldn’t kill them. Perhaps that era is what the Knicks fans are living through now with their owner.

 

[Whalers Fan]

The Detroit Lions say "hi". They have won just one post season game (way back in 1991) since their last title in 1957.

 

[ClydeLee]

I think of this more historically and going back you gotta compare the Leafs to the franchises past. Saying not thr Knicks because the last 5 years the Leafs have made the playoffs. I think the Knicks fit better than the Cowboys

I think the Cowboys fit the Habs better. At least they won in the early 90s and have their prior 70s success too, but thr Cowboys aren't a founding era team. But I like the post above mine or what I've said before with the Leafs. A team like the Bears or the Lions. The lions is harsher they've never won anything. But the Bears like the Leafs won in the early championship era plenty. Just the Bears have an actual 80s super bowl and super bowl loss on hand over the Leafs.

 

[Blueblood9]

I mean I'm a Knicks fan (and obviously a Ranger fan), but you have to consider that up until this year the Knicks were a complete embarrassment on and off the court for about 15 years or so (with the exception of Linsanity, which was a flash in the pan). I mean if you wanted to find the most dysfunctional sports organization in the four major sports, look no further than the Knicks.

Id like to throw the hat for most dysfucntional organization to the WFT as a fan of theyres for over 30 yrs they were a terrible franchise with an owner that is on par with Dolan for worst in sports.

 

[NYRKing]

Difference is the Leafs have superstars and high expectations. The Knicks haven’t had any of that in the last 25 plus years so I fail to see the comparison.

 

[Big McLargehuge]

The Detroit Lions say "hi". They have won just one post season game (way back in 1991) since their last title in 1957.

Eh...different kind of bad. The Lions are almost never good enough on paper to disappoint the way the Leafs do. The Lions are closer to being a Pittsburgh Pirates-level of long-standing organizational rot than a team with championship ambitions nearly every year that disappears once fans get a taste of potential success. If I had to pick a Lions comp in the NHL, the Panthers were the first team to pop to mind. Most fans are all too aware of the lack of success in both situations too. I get a 'this is fun' vibe when either of those teams is even competitive, sadly because it is so uncommon (I'm a Pirates "fan," so I fully understand that feeling), whereas with the Leafs it seems like every little bit of success builds to a more painful inevitable collapse. Hope has a tendency to explode in high-pressure situations, scenarios the Lions are almost entirely foreign to. To put it another way: the Vikings, Bears, & Packers have all won the NFC North division either 20 or 21 times since the division was created in 1967. The Lions have won it 4 times. The Panthers won 2 divisions in the past decade while the Lions haven't been able to finish atop their 4 team division once...the last time the Lions so much as finished the regular season atop their division was the same year the Florida Panthers began play.

If I had to compare the Leafs to an NFL franchise...the Cleveland Browns 1.0 would be my first thought. Not the current Browns, the original Browns. They had success prior to a major event in 1967 (expansion in the NHL, the inaugural Super Bowl in the NFL/AFL), were largely quiet as the league grew around them, and then heartbreak after heartbreak after heartbreak. If there was a NFL Films-worthy comeback in the 80s, you had pretty good odds of it being against the Browns. This doesn't really work with contemporary Browns, but the Leafs of now remind me of the Browns of the 80s.

If Leafs fans want to be positive they can note that the old Browns have won 2 Super Bowls since then.
If Leafs fans want to be negative they can note that the old Browns won 2 Super Bowls as the Baltimore Ravens.

 

[Roo Returns]

Knicks and Rangers are not alike.

The Rangers are closer to the pre-2005 Red Sox. I went to college with a bunch of Sox fans pre-2004 and it was basically Rangers fans. I hope they can in my lifetime have a run like the Sox did from 2007-2019.

Knicks I'd say are like current Cowboys. Leafs have Superstars. Cowboys have stars but their teams are always a little incomplete like this year's Knicks.

 

[Kranix]

The Knicks were doing good until their star fell of a cliff so...

 

[Roo Returns]

Big difference is, Knicks fans and media know they suck.

It's all about expectations. When you say they suck, in what context? This year they were fine as a blue collar team that made the playoffs. No one thought they'd win anything.

They have a good culture and if they continue to progress and make some good moves, have a chance to do something in 2-3 years.

The media was very fair to them too. This is not the Isiah Thomas era Knicks.