Another Mediocre Season in Toronto?

Can you believe another hockey season is only a couple months away and training camps will be starting even sooner? It seems like only yesterday Detroit won but the summer has been flying by and I for one can’t wait for the puck to drop.

It would be quite easy for me as a Montreal Canadiens fan to make fun of Maple Leaf fans and their team that hasn’t hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup in 41 years and counting but that’s not what I plan on doing. I say that but ultimately it may seem like exactly that after I’m done.

To be honest, I can’t fault Leaf supporters as their loyalty has been tested and they continue to support their team. Once a Leaf fan always a Leaf fan and I can respect that. But at what point do the fans start demanding more from their team’s management?

You can’t blame the players that have been in Toronto as they just haven’t been that good. Oh sure, there have been some great players during this lengthy dry spell. Players like Sittler, Salming, Sundin, Gilmour, Clark and others but while super stars are nice to have, they can’t do it on their own.

Leafs management has continuously, and quite impressively, failed to build a team around these players. These Leaf teams of the last four decades haven’t underachieved; in fact many have done a lot better than I think anyone could have predicted.

Put yourself in the shoes of those in charge of the team for a moment. Why on earth should they go out and spend money on building a team or do any better scouting when their fans continue to put up with it. Oh sure they might complain a little but they still sell out every home game and Maple Leaf jersey’s, t-shirts, pendants and bobble-heads continue to roll off the shelves. The money is rolling in and they don’t even have to win. Why bother to improve?

In almost any other market except perhaps Montreal, New York, Detroit, Chicago and a few others, the Leafs would have been sold to owners that want to win long ago. They wouldn’t have survived because the paying public wouldn’t support them.

Actually, I probably should remove Montreal from that list because their fans and the media would have demanded more from the team and have over the years. The only difference is, in Montreal, they may go through a few lean years but they always bounce back.

I’m not even suggesting that Toronto has to win the Cup to be a success. That is the ultimate goal of all teams but for a team that has struggled for so long a success would be to build a contender. They need to make the playoffs every year. They need to build a team by not buying older players past their prime but instead draft well and bring in some youth for the future. Once the nucleus is in place, then you can spend some money on some big guns to add more firepower.

I’m sure I’m not telling Leaf fans anything they don’t know. Heck, they above anyone else know what the team needs to do. But if it’s so obvious, why hasn’t it happened? Why does the team continue to trade away draft picks on has-beens? Why do they continue to struggle year after year? In my opinion it’s because they don’t need to win to make money and that’s what it’s all about.

Harold Ballard may have been a crotchety old fool but he was a smart guy who sat in his bunker at Maple Leaf Gardens every game and counted the money while laughing at the poor saps in the stands who paid to watch a pitiful team. The faces may have changed but the formula still works and Leaf fans continue to say, “Maybe next year.”