 |
| Vancouver Sun |
The NHL team came in dead last in a recent survey by ESPN Magazine, which means they rank 122nd out of 122. The survey asked several questions and ranked the clubs in eight different categories.
It shouldn’t have been a surprise to Leafs general manager Brian Burke since the club hasn’t ranked higher than 120th for several years now. However, it seems that being named the worst franchise in the continent is a quite a bit different than being named the second or third worst. When fans look at the categories that were used for the ranking, such as bang for buck and on-field performance, it’s hard to argue with the results.
The Leafs last won a Stanley Cup back in 1967, which is the longest barren streak in the NHL. On top of that, they haven’t qualified for the playoffs for the past seven seasons even though they’re in the top two when it comes to the NHL’s richest franchise.
Burke told reporters on Sept. 10 that ESPN doesn’t know anything about hockey. This is the same guy who said earlier in the year that Sports Illustrated didn’t know anything about the sport either after one of their surveys listed Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf as the league’s most overrated player. He added that ESPN’s coverage of hockey stinks and they don’t know anything about Canada.
Tom Anselmi, who has just been named the president of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment (MLSE), said he was confused because MLSE owns both the Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors of the NBA and the survey ranked the Leafs ownership at 112 and the Raptors at 93. He should be thankful another of MLSE’s annual losers, Toronto FC of Major League Soccer wasn’t included in the poll.
Even though he said he doesn’t take much stock in these types of surveys, Anselmi admits that the Leafs, Raptors, and FC all need to start winning since the team’s fans are becoming more frustrated year after year.
MLSE has been taken over by Rogers and BCE, which are basically two media monopolies who deal in cable television, satellite TV, and mobile phones etc. Both Rogers and BCE (Bell) own specialty sports channels and will actually still be competing with each other even though they share ownership of the franchises.
The 57-year-old Burke has been general manager of the Leafs since 2008 and many fans see him as a complete failure since taking over the club. The same can be said for GM Bryan Colangelo of the Raptors and Toronto FC’s Paul Mariner. Burke has been heavily criticized for not upgrading the Leafs goaltending situation as of yet, preferring to go with two unproven goalies in Ben Scrivens and James Reimer.
The Leafs’ training camp is scheduled to open on Sept. 21, but the NHL may lock players out on Sept. 15 when the current Collective Bargaining Agreement expires. Many cynics feel the Leafs may have their best season in years in 2012/13 if they’re locked out.
FeedCrossing is a partner of FootBasket. You can see more about them at their website.
