News Article: Molson's interview about Weber's injury, Rebuild, Future and more

[Laurentide]

Rogers AND Bell jointly own 75% of the Leafs through a holdco, with Larry Tannenbaum owning the other 25% through a hold co.

We're not sure how much of the Habs the Geoff, Justin and Andrew Molson own, just that its a majority stake. Their consortium also includes Bell and the Woodbridge Company (Thomson) among others.

The Leaf's are a huge part of Roger's and Bell's cable programing strategy and streaming strategy as people shift away from live TV and cable subscriptions. They care about how good the Leafs are.

I suspect that Habs ownership is as risk-averse as their preferred type of GM or coach. As we learned with the Expos you can have as many owners as you want but if none of them have any real money, or are too cheap to spend the money they have in order to try and make more money, you're going to get nowhere fast competing with owners in other cities who are willing to spend to win. I think that Habs ownership needs to be told that the Original Six era is long over. Teams no longer collude to keep costs under control except when they lock out the players. In the Original Six era, all teams played in hockey markets so selling tickets was less of a concern than it is in a lot of the non-traditional markets we have in the league today. Teams that need to sell tickets are more likely to try and win than teams with guaranteed fans like Montreal.

 

[Habs Halifax]

Yeah, well by the logic of your other post he could cash in and then sell the team...

Not sure I follow? He stands to make more money annually after the 2023 season and with a new naming rights deal, the franchise is worth more. It's right around the time we might be a competitive team again too. 2017-2020 draft picks would be age 20-23 at that point.

 

[Whitesnake]

Molson did let Tavares' name slip. It's a fair assumption that there was discussion between he and Bergevin about what they could offer.

It's also a fair assumption that Molson is just as stupid as Bergevin and that the only reason why he let that slip is to buy some time and let habs fans dream. And then when that dream is over, he moves on and tries to make them dream again with the "the future is great"".....and when that dream won't happen, well it will be something else. But he does have a chance of something happening. So that after telling us 100 different things, when 1 thing will happen, he'll be able to tell us "I told you so".

 

[Habs Halifax]

Anybody know where the annual $3M of current naming rights revenue are going? Forbs claims that Molson is not collecting it. Is Gillette still getting this money as part of the sale agreement? What's the scoup on this ?

 

[Habs Halifax]

Molson did let Tavares' name slip. It's a fair assumption that there was discussion between he and Bergevin about what they could offer.

I have no doubt in my mind that they discussed what they could offer Tavares... if given the chance.

 

[groovejuice]

It's also a fair assumption that Molson is just as stupid as Bergevin and that the only reason why he let that slip is to buy some time and let habs fans dream. And then when that dream is over, he moves on and tries to make them dream again with the "the future is great"".....and when that dream won't happen, well it will be something else. But he does have a chance of something happening. So that after telling us 100 different things, when 1 thing will happen, he'll be able to tell us "I told you so".

Oh I'm sure it wasn't an accident. Doesn't mean they weren't delusionally thinking they had a shot at him.

 

[Belial]

Not sure I follow? He stands to make more money annually after the 2023 season and with a new naming rights deal, the franchise is worth more. It's right around the time we might be a competitive team again too. 2017-2020 draft picks would be age 20-23 at that point.

You said he's not collecting any money from that deal Gillett signed back in the days, so should I understand he could cash in right away?

 

[Habs Halifax]

You said he's not collecting any money from that deal Gillett signed back in the days, so should I understand he could cash in right away?

You can make your own conclusions. My post was just an inquiry about who is collecting that money. And that the new deal is going to be huge where he brings in a lot more revenue. Who knows what their long term plan is but if they want to really cash in, you wait for the new naming rights deal to be in place and when the team is young and looks promising. Could be in 2023 or several seasons after that. Or they keep it in the Molson family for a very long time.

My post was not meant to create a narrative where I think he will sell the team. It was just an inquiry about who is collecting the current naming rights revenue of the reported $3M annually.

 

[Belial]

You can make your own conclusions. My post was just an inquiry about who is collecting that money. And that the new deal is going to be huge where he brings in a lot more revenue. Who knows what their long term plan is but if they want to really cash in, you wait for the new naming rights deal to be in place and when the team is young and looks promising. Could be in 2023 or several seasons after that. Or they keep it in the Molson family for a very long time.

My post was not meant to create a narrative where I think he will sell the team. It was just an inquiry about who is collecting the current naming rights revenue of the reported $3M annually.

I'm not expecting him to sell the team, it was just a question...

 

[Captain Mountain]

I suspect that Habs ownership is as risk-averse as their preferred type of GM or coach. As we learned with the Expos you can have as many owners as you want but if none of them have any real money, or are too cheap to spend the money they have in order to try and make more money, you're going to get nowhere fast competing with owners in other cities who are willing to spend to win. I think that Habs ownership needs to be told that the Original Six era is long over. Teams no longer collude to keep costs under control except when they lock out the players. In the Original Six era, all teams played in hockey markets so selling tickets was less of a concern than it is in a lot of the non-traditional markets we have in the league today. Teams that need to sell tickets are more likely to try and win than teams with guaranteed fans like Montreal.

The Canadiens franchise has one of the largest FO in the league and has some of the highest expenses in the league. There is no evidence that Canadiens ownership isn't willing to spend money. They're just not well run.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Rogers AND Bell jointly own 75% of the Leafs through a holdco, with Larry Tannenbaum owning the other 25% through a hold co.

We're not sure how much of the Habs the Geoff, Justin and Andrew Molson own, just that its a majority stake. Their consortium also includes Bell and the Woodbridge Company (Thomson) among others.

The Leaf's are a huge part of Roger's and Bell's cable programing strategy and streaming strategy as people shift away from live TV and cable subscriptions. They care about how good the Leafs are.

Yeah, and Rogerns AND Bell jointly own 75% of the Raptors, and Rogers owns the Toronto Blue Jays. Meaning if luxury boxes and season tickets leave one, they probably end up going to the other thus minimizing the exposure of their portfolio to Maple Leafs suckage.

It's not so much how much the Molsons own of the Canadiens, it's what their holding represents in their own portfolio. Being that the entire Molson fortune is somewhere in the 1.x B, it's entirely possible that Molson himself is actually fairly exposed compare to the Maple Leafs ownership group.

 

[Fixxer]

I'm wondering what went wrong in Montreal...
I mean, was it the draft... the player's development... the "environment" as some say Montreal can be a bad place for young "unguided" guys in the Big City.
Example -- Galchenyuk : He sure did a whole lot better than his former teammate Yakupov, but he hasn't proved he could be reliable. Was he just never going to develop these abilities in the D zone, Faceoffs etc.. or was he simply misguided.. or should another guy should have been taken (Forsberg) or rather, a defensemen (Morgan Rielly)... ???
I sure thought he was an excellent pick, probably the best of the draft.. despite the knee injury.

Some I believe were drafted wrong were guys like Mccarron (Size was the No.1 factor for this pick). As a 4th line center, he may improve as to get up the 3rd line.. but I'm being optimistic. Skating is still an issue and figuring out how to use his body (he still hits guys "awkwardly" at times).

So as for the rebuild (2018, although they deny and call it retool), it would be good to determine, since 2012, was the issue drafting, or development. It might have been both, but .. man, is that hard to watch.. lol

 

[Habs Halifax]

I'm not expecting him to sell the team, it was just a question...

They sold 80% of the team to Gillett for 185M in 2001. Eight years later, Gillett sold it back for $575M. I think the Molson family heavily financed the purchased as well. I'm trying to find annual profit reports and all I found so far was the team and event promotions wing profited $65M (from $300M in earnings) in 2010.

I don't believe many teams run an annual profit. The value is like a house... you make gains on your investment when you sell down the road when your principal left is low and the value increased. Looks like the Habs run a yearly profit so it's a much different situation and the reason why the organization is worth over a Billion today. The only way I see Molson selling is in a similar situation to Gillett... His other investments were not doing well and he needed cash.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Yeah, and Rogerns AND Bell jointly own 75% of the Raptors, and Rogers owns the Toronto Blue Jays. Meaning if luxury boxes and season tickets leave one, they probably end up going to the other thus minimizing the exposure of their portfolio to Maple Leafs suckage.

It's not so much how much the Molsons own of the Canadiens, it's what their holding represents in their own portfolio. Being that the entire Molson fortune is somewhere in the 1.x B, it's entirely possible that Molson himself is actually fairly exposed compare to the Maple Leafs ownership group.

I doubt it. For one, if we're using the "if luxury boxes and season tickets leave one, they probably end up going to the other" thought, where precisely will sports fans in Montreal flee to? The Molson family owns the Bell Centre and Evenko, they get a cut of most entertainment options in Montreal.

I'm also pretty skeptical that they're over-invested in the Habs. The ROI has been pretty impressive and the club has been making healthy profits for a while now.

Also, the Habs have always spent a lot under Molson. They could cut some of their frankly excessive costs in some areas if they're so concerned about a revenue hit. The revenue hit is coming one way or another, rebuild or not.


There's a lot of hindsight used at looking at the Leafs. Do some digging and look at all the different variations of articles on why the Leafs can't rebuild. Being answerable to publicly traded corporations presents a lot of challenges itself. The narrative for years in Toronto is that they needed family ownership that would ok a rebuild.

 

[Tighthead]

Anybody know where the annual $3M of current naming rights revenue are going? Forbs claims that Molson is not collecting it. Is Gillette still getting this money as part of the sale agreement? What's the scoup on this ?

From the article it sounds like Gillette sold the contract for the present value in order to reduce debt. It’s like selling an annuity for a lump sum payment.

 

[Habs Halifax]

From the article it sounds like Gillette sold the contract for the present value in order to reduce debt. It’s like selling an annuity for a lump sum payment.

He certainly got lucky with the stars aligning... from the time he purchased to the time he sold. I wonder if he would of sold if he didn't needed the cash from other poor investments and that he wanted to buy Liverpool. Gillette claims he still watches all Habs games from his home in Colorado.

And thanks for your interpretation on where that $3M naming rights money went. It makes sense.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

How is this BS? There're plenty of teams out there with cap space able to do what you're saying!

How come nothing gets done?

Maybe teams are not actually that desperate to move bad contracts while giving assets as you think?

I don't even understand why the Jets did it and then failed to sign Stastny... They're now sitting on close to 27M$ of cap space and there's nothing on the market!

"Trades are hard."

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Edmonton is also prime example of why balking at paying more expensive superstars or top-line guys in favour of much less talented players that are cheaper is incredibly stupid.

Excellent point. When you get a crack at a superstar you go for it. The fact that they actually traded away Hall for a 2nd or 3rd pairing blueliner is just shocking to me. That deal was even worse than the Subban trade.

 

[nhlfan9191]

Cult of Hockey: Oilers reportedly "passed" on P.K. Subban. Makes sense to me



rumors are rumors, but from EDM side it seems like they were the ones who turned down the deal not the other way around. They didn't want anything to do with PK's cap hit and chose for a cheaper option in Larsson.

As bad as MB is he was not walking away from Drai. There is no way I would believe he would chose Shea over Drai.

We’re watching a similar thing happen with Pacioretty right now. There would’ve been a lot of very good offers but Bergevin sets the price so high that GM’s just decide to go another direction. You have to give props to Poile for dangling a carrot in front of Marc Bergevin that they knew he couldn’t refuse. I don’t think it should surprise anyone that Shea Weber was likely a wet dream for both himself and Therrien as he resembles exactly the type of player they’re in love with regardless of age. Same goes for Drouin. Pretty sure Yzerman understood that Marc was would be licking his chops to get his hand on a local talent who could potentially make him look like a genius. Bergevin doesn’t seem to have any understanding of players value whether it’s contracts or trade. He does alright on depth players but depth players are just one element on building a team and not the most important.

 

[Captain Mountain]

Excellent point. When you get a crack at a superstar you go for it. The fact that they actually traded away Hall for a 2nd or 3rd pairing blueliner is just shocking to me. That deal was even worse than the Subban trade.

Or a 60-ish point winger in Eberle for Strome to save 3 mil this year. But at least they had room to add Russell, Lucic, Fayne, etc.

 

[Belial]

"Trades are hard."

"EA Sports- It's in the game"

 

[MaxDummy]

"EA Sports- It's in the game"

"Erik Karlsson in a deal in wich one of the main pieces Would be Mikhail Sergachev"

"MCDonaugh And Miller for futures and Namestnikov"

"ROR To the blues for not that much"

 

[Hockeyholic]

The worst thing this franchise can do is make the postseason next year. A) They'd get obliterated in round 1. B) Everyone stays C) No high picks. That's the "issue" with having Price locked up long term ( Besides price tag). He will likely be just good enough to make them the 12th or 13th best team in the league.

 

[Laurentide]

Or a 60-ish point winger in Eberle for Strome to save 3 mil this year. But at least they had room to add Russell, Lucic, Fayne, etc.

And what's the common denominator in all those Edmonton deals (and the deals they could have but didn't make)?

Money.

The Oilers don't have tons of money to spend. It goes beyond how they would fit both McDavid and Subban under the cap; it's about how they'd be able to pay both of them relative to their internal cap. They probably also know that Eberle is better than Strome but they need to economize because they foolishly lavished big money on Lucic which they can't easily absorb. If Chiapet makes a mistake like Lucic, Oilers fans have to pay for it by watching another good player get traded for a lesser, cheaper player. The Oilers are a "dollar in, dollar out" type of franchise. You can only jack up ticket prices so much in a blue collar town like Edmonton.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

Or a 60-ish point winger in Eberle for Strome to save 3 mil this year. But at least they had room to add Russell, Lucic, Fayne, etc.

So dumb. And it's classic that Hall goes on to win the Hart. Imagine if he'd stayed in Edmonton...