If HFboards was smart, they'd add subforums like OffTopic to the Leafs subforum.
The content would not show up in "What's new" so the main boards wouldn't be pissed off with trivial content. (This is a setting in Xenforo).
Yet, Pageviews would go through the roof. Google Ad money
The content could also be blocked from Google so google doesnt see non-hockey info.
For revenue increase, you could charge to be in the offtopic subforum. It could be like Rennlist ... where all the action happens in offtopic and that's why so many people pay the yearly dues. On Rennlist, the offtopic forums are not indexed by Google as the content is hidden.
It also develops a sense of community of paying members over time. People also ask more personal questions in /offtopic and the help they get is surprisingly helpful. Mind you, the Rennlist community is a little more homogenous than hfboards.
Over time a Blue Jays subforum might actually take off and bring new members. Raptors as well.
Actually a subforum called:
Toronto Sports with lots of Raptors, Jays, TFC, etc content with content prefixes would work great.
Remember, the content wouldn't flood the mainboard's what's new or searches as the content would just reside in the subforum.