Sportsnet: NHL should have thrown the Maple Leafs a McBone

[fahad203]

There are fans that want to see the Leafs be successful and win the cup, and there are fans that want to see the Toronto finally have a player they can call "best" in the league.

I don't think we have had one of these McJesus type players on any of the Toronto sports teams for decades now.

I hear you, but If you win, nobody will care who lifts the cup. Build a competitive team. That's what we should aim for.

We had really good players, we had players that you fell in love with easily. Most of us forgot what that feels like.

Mats Sundin was one of those players. CUJO, Belfour, Roberts. Not to mention Wendal Clark and Gilmour

I'll take players like that on my team than a generational player who'll get me points. Maybe I am old school when it comes to heart and grit.

 

[Stephen]

The Leafs didn't "deserve" McDavid, but if they got him imagine the sizzle in this market/throughout the league right now...

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Strome will be better anyway

Centering Domi and Duclair?

 

[Morbo]

should of thrown arizona a bone. How many people hundreds of millions of dollars has been lost there?

Yeah.

If the NHL was going to fix the lottery, that's where McDavid would have gone.

 

[hfman]

Yes. Life is not fair. However this part of life is business. Business is always drawn up to benefit both parties. The Leafs are not benefiting from their investment.

but is it an agreed upon investment or is it NHL "rules" that require the teams with higher revenue "donate" to the lesser teams? If it's a partnership/agreed upon deal between the Leafs and the NHL then no they are not benefiting from their investment. But if it's league rules then the Leafs have no choice in the matter. In that case they're just straight up being pillaged and looted by the league and left to rot in 30th place each year with zero benefits

them being in 30th place has no connection to the revenue sharing though. Montreal rakes in big dough, is forced to share revenue--- but look at them. Them, and all 28 other teams are running laps around the Leafs. We've seen Montreal rise, fall, rise, fall, etc etc all while we've sat at the bottom all along. Same with Ottawa - rise, fall, rise, fall, rise - and during ALL of that time the Leafs have been a laughing circus act, just sitting and watching all these other teams flourish and run laps around them.

This is all on this pathetic organization and how ownership neglects them. It's because ownership is too big, too powerful and have too many other interests and products, which leaves the Leafs as a jellyean in the bowl. The Leafs USED to be top dawg under previous ownership group... now they're just another small fish in a big sea - this is a major reason why they're crashing and burning, and it will continue to slide as each year goes on - trust me. They SO badly need to be released from the current ownership arrangement and put in the hands of someone/a company who cares to win a game or two.

 

[Cor]

Centering Domi and Duclair?

Better not be!

 

[mcleex]

I'm sick and tired of reading articles about this. Yes it would have been amazing if he became a Leaf
but it's time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. I'm sick of this franchise always feeling sorry for itself.

You don't need the #1 overall pick to ice a competitive team that can compete in the playoffs. Just make the ****ing playoffs already we have had 1 playoff appearance in 11 years with countless management, coaches, and players

WAKE THE **** UP ALREADY

 

[TheLeafsBro]

Strome will be better anyway

Yeah. Arizona is lucky to have him, aren't they?

 

[Auston Matthews]

We dont need a pity prize that Edmonton got.

 

[Brown Dog]

I'm sick and tired of reading articles about this. Yes it would have been amazing if he became a Leaf
but it's time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. I'm sick of this franchise always feeling sorry for itself.

You don't need the #1 overall pick to ice a competitive team that can compete in the playoffs. Just make the ****ing playoffs already we have had 1 playoff appearance in 11 years with countless management, coaches, and players

WAKE THE **** UP ALREADY

 

[bobber]

The Leafs were no different than the other tankers. They put coaches in they knew would fail and basically told the players through the press most of the core was on a one way ticket out of town. The Oilers just had a horse shoe up their butts again. The league looked like donkeys again. That is why Bettman let his lackie hold the cards up. Next time they should at least put a donkey suit on him. McDavid would be brutilized in TO if he failed to live up to expectations. They still get a hell of a pick. It's what they do with him that matters.

 

[LaCarriere]

Yeah the article is really stupid. There is one point that is valid though. The Leafs have kept this league rolling in the past. Could possibly be the reason why Arizona is still in Arizona. I was reading in 2011/12 the Leafs forked over 20 million dollars to be dispersed to failing teams.

The organization has not really been "Thanked" in any way to my knowledge. All I keep hearing from other fans is how poorly our franchise is run and how ignorant our fans are.

How exactly should the league "thank" them?

The league gave them a Winter Classic last year. The only other thing they could really do is give them an all star game or draft, or something of that nature, and they had an allstar game in 2000 and a draft in 2002.

Suggesting they rig the lottery, even if half jokingly, is pretty amateur on sportsnet's part.

 

[Budsfan]

but is it an agreed upon investment or is it NHL "rules" that require the teams with higher revenue "donate" to the lesser teams? If it's a partnership/agreed upon deal between the Leafs and the NHL then no they are not benefiting from their investment. But if it's league rules then the Leafs have no choice in the matter. In that case they're just straight up being pillaged and looted by the league and left to rot in 30th place each year with zero benefits

them being in 30th place has no connection to the revenue sharing though. Montreal rakes in big dough, is forced to share revenue--- but look at them. Them, and all 28 other teams are running laps around the Leafs. We've seen Montreal rise, fall, rise, fall, etc etc all while we've sat at the bottom all along. Same with Ottawa - rise, fall, rise, fall, rise - and during ALL of that time the Leafs have been a laughing circus act, just sitting and watching all these other teams flourish and run laps around them.

This is all on this pathetic organization and how ownership neglects them. It's because ownership is too big, too powerful and have too many other interests and products, which leaves the Leafs as a jellyean in the bowl. The Leafs USED to be top dawg under previous ownership group... now they're just another small fish in a big sea - this is a major reason why they're crashing and burning, and it will continue to slide as each year goes on - trust me. They SO badly need to be released from the current ownership arrangement and put in the hands of someone/a company who cares to win a game or two.

Again all this is true but MLSE is not losing any money, in fact they are making tons money and are one of the top revenue teams in N/A but in the hot bed of hockey, that is the Toronto and Sothern Ontario region, why do we not have a choice of teams to watch.

I stated earlier Bettman is putting teams into areas that are not Hockey venues, next up Las Vegas and Seattle and while NY has 3 teams, Toronto and the GTA has one, the Leafs and so because we are the hot bed of hockey, we have one team, the Leafs and Bettman and the NHL are exploiting this, so Leaf fans pay outrageous prices, to watch the Leafs and this is out and out gouging, why don't we have a team in Hamilton and another in Markham they would be supported by Fans, but would the pricing be in line with what the Leaf fans are paying, I think they would level out and so there would be less dollars in the NHL to support bad teams, in the U.S.

If we had a choice of teams how many people would switch from the Leafs to other Clubs, ones that may be better run and probably better supported.

The NHL and Bettman are creating this problem and we see it all the time when you have exclusive rights in an area you can charge what you wish and and Leaf Fans in this case pay the freight.

 

[Commander Clueless]

I'm not sure why the league should throw our beloved team an anything for their incompetence.

Frankly, I don't think the NHL has any real reason to care until the day comes when the Leafs' putridity (it's a new word) actually wears thin enough to make Leafs fans start losing interest in hockey in droves, thereby tanking the financial juggernaut that is MLSE.

 

[killer1980]

We don't have a winning team here because we don't have to. With all the moaning and complaining by the fans and the press, the franchise is still the most lucrative in the league. Every business model I have seen or read about says make money, and that this team is doing.That will only change if the team starts losing money or, at the very least, becomes less profitable. Until then, I'm enjoying the playoffs without them. It's been pretty exciting so far.

 

[Bluelines]

A lot of that money comes from Toronto, if they are losing a lot of money, they should be moved to a better hockey venue, or just closed out and their players would go into a disperal draft.

Why do we keep throwing good money, to support a team that has never been a money making franchise.

Phoenix is the twelfth largest TV market in the USA, and all advertisers care about is how many potential viewer's there might be. Same reason Atlanta keeps getting teams, eighth largest US market.
Gary is focused on growing ad revenue as long there is a money tree in Toronto, Phoenix will have a team.

 

[i1]

I'm sure many of you have said it but an article about how the NHL should have rigged a draft for Toronto is terrible/embarrassing journalism.

 

[Paladin2799]

If there was any doubt that the NHL didn't fix the lottery, it was answered when Edmonton won it. Not a fan of the NBA and its suspect lottery.

The lottery should be revised to prevent a team from winning it as many times as the Oilers have in the last 5 years, or some other revision to discourage intentional tanking.

TBH, the lottery works.

Edmonton is an absolutely horrible organization and has absolutely pissed away gems by not coming close to developing them.

The lottery pick is rewarding the worst team in the league for being god awful. Their previous drafts dont matter.

 

[toasterart]

I think instead of revenue sharing, the 'poor' teams should have to sell draft picks ,
example: Toronto receives Arizona's 2nd round pick for $10 mil.
then poor teams make ends meet, rich teams get value for supporting the poor teams, and the poor teams can scour free agency to fill out the rosters. the cap controls too much talent going to one team anyway, so it's not like the Leafs can just buy every draft pick and keep all the players.

 

[redgrant]

Impressed that most of the TO fans have condemned this stupid article. No one is entitled to McDavid or any other draft player. Rules are rules and Edmonton won it fairly.

I do hope Toronto improves as having strong Canadian teams is in the best interest of the sport.

 

[darrylsittler27]

We still get a good player.

And who knows maybe a Marner, for example, will turn out to be just as good.Im just going to trust the leaf scouts(Hunter) to do their job, Im sure they knew we wouldn't win it.The good news is we didn't slip to 5th, so we know we get a good player.