Open Question: How Many People are Cheering for the Leafs to end their Cup Drought?

[SaucyJack]

21 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

It also seems to be an unwritten rule in hockey that to win a Stanley Cup you need to get past the game's greatest player at some point in your journey.

Just ask the Caps of the early 90’s like Rod Langway, Peter Bondra, Dino Ciccarelli, Al Iafrate, Dale Hunter, Mike Ridley, Kevin Hatcher, Calle Johansson, et al...especially their 91-92 squad...

 

...and they’ll have to admit that the likes of Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Ron Francis, Tom Barrasso, and the rest of their Pittsburgh Penguin mates were indeed CAP KILLERS responsible for greatly increased psychologist business in the DC region for several years.

 

——————

 

As for Toronto, I’d root for the Bay Leaves, I think, were that their logo.  Yeah pretty sure.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

I can't see myself ACTIVELY cheering for the Leafs, but then again, its not like I would cheer against them either.

Honestly, I think the problem for me and anything Toronto is the pure saturation of "Maple Leafs news" when there are bigger stories elsewhere around the league.
Same problem with baseball and the Yankees for instance.

All topics and convos eventually lead back to the Leafs or Yankees.
And you know, I can understand why...big market, big spotlight, yadda, yadda....but it doesn't change the fact that it is a bit irritating.

That said, it looks like I am going to have a pair of dogs at least, in the playoffs (Lightning and Wild) and a third if Vancouver somehow, someway, manages to sneak in there...and if they DO, they likely get Toronto in the first round.

So, as you can see, the chances of me cheering Leafs isn't too good.
Besides, I honestly think the Lightning have a chance to go back-to-back this season......team is still good, still hungry, and I think their core is as good as Chicago's or Los Angeles' when they won multiple Cups, though I realize even they never went back to back on any of them.

Also, I have had a growing admiration for how the Islanders have gone about their business on a year to year basis, when people kept saying they were just a flash and return to being bottom feeders.
Call them "boring" too, but they are starting to remind me of the 90's/early 2000's Devils teams and we all know they did well.....no surprise though when you look at who is running the NYI from the front office to behind the bench.

Finally, the Edmonton Oilers.
I've been saying for a many seasons now that whenever the Cup is won next by a Canadian based franchise, it would be THEM that would do it.
Been saying that since way back when the NHL had six divisions and the Alain Vignault led Canucks were the top team in Canada.

Why have I been saying that? Because the Oilers have had, and STILL have mega talent on their roster...........being mainly hampered by piss poor management (and the players they've brought in or let walk) and coaching.

That seems to have changed.
So, I have to stick by my guns on that before I cheer Toronto!   

[yave1964]

come playoff time here is how my rooting shakes out

 

Wings, of course

CBJ of course

Original six for absolutely no reason that I can quantify. I am not quite old enough to remember the era, I am old enough to remember the Sabres/Isles joining the league, then the Scouts/Capitals, but the term original six has a warm, fuzzy place with me, so yeah my two favorites followed by the original six in no order.  One exception, I hate the Bruins, always have, always will, my Mom was a Bruin fan as a kid I heard her talk Orr, Orr Orr all the damn time and it really kind of took on a life of its own, my utter contempt for everything Boston, it snowballed with the Patriots, Celtics, Bruins and Red Sox seeming to always win a championship between them every year. So I guess the rest of the six, Rangers, Leafs, Habs, Hawks but screw the Bruins and anyone with a New England accent 

[yave1964]

@TropicalFruitGirl26

THIS

 

We have had conversations before about THN interviewing Tyler freaking Ennis after a neat goal on nights when MacKinnon had six points and barely draws a mention. THN really must stand for Toronto Hockey News lol

[WordsOfWisdom]

9 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

I can't see myself ACTIVELY cheering for the Leafs, but then again, its not like I would cheer against them either.

 

So if it's Colorado vs Toronto in the Final, you wouldn't root for Toronto to end their drought?    

 

9 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Honestly, I think the problem for me and anything Toronto is the pure saturation of "Maple Leafs news" when there are bigger stories elsewhere around the league.
Same problem with baseball and the Yankees for instance.

 

Fixed it for ya lol.   

 

Interesting tidbit: This forum doesn't have any Leafs related feeds in its Twitter news feed. All the Leafs related news here comes from me.     In other words, you're extremely sheltered from Leafs news in this forum, and I'd say every other story gets told here (if I'm being honest). The news feed covers the Coyotes as much as the Leafs.

 

Plus, even if you're in Leaf-land like I am, our programs talk about all the teams. In fact, most of the NHL coverage of all 30+ teams comes from Toronto. So while we obviously talk about our own team as well (who wouldn't right?), if it weren't for networks like SportsNet and TSN, there would be no coverage at all of the players and transactions occurring in places like Vegas, Arizona, Anaheim, Carolina, etc. because those teams don't get any press in their local market.

 

9 hours ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

That said, it looks like I am going to have a pair of dogs at least, in the playoffs (Lightning and Wild) and a third if Vancouver somehow, someway, manages to sneak in there...and if they DO, they likely get Toronto in the first round.

 

Vancouver isn't going anywhere this season. The Lightning and Wild are a different story however.   

[WordsOfWisdom]

3 hours ago, yave1964 said:

@TropicalFruitGirl26

THIS

 

We have had conversations before about THN interviewing Tyler freaking Ennis after a neat goal on nights when MacKinnon had six points and barely draws a mention. THN really must stand for Toronto Hockey News lol

 

But the good news is that it got mentioned. I bet people living in Colorado said nothing about it at all.  

 

In other words, if it doesn't get reported on SportsNet or TSN, you can be sure that ESPN (or the Outdoor Life network or wherever the h_ll the NHL is broadcast in the US these days lol) certainly wouldn't mention it. 

 

The honest to goodness truth is that you could open up a newspaper in Colorado and read NOTHING about the Avalanche. You could open up the Toronto Star newspaper and find out every last detail about the Avalanche...... in a TORONTO newspaper.  And it has always been that way. 

 

I think you take the good with the bad. Yes, many of these publications cover the Leafs heavily, but it's well deserved. Largest hockey market = largest audience = largest coverage. However, those same publications (most of which are based in Toronto) are the only ones shining a spotlight on many of these US teams in non-traditional hockey markets. So if we're not covering your team, chances are nobody else is either.   

 

 

 

[WordsOfWisdom]

18 hours ago, RonJeremy said:

May the drought be as long as the one that caused the Great Dustbowl in the Midwest.

 

I don't know how long that dust bowl took to form but 3/4 of the NHL has formed since Toronto's last Stanley Cup win.

 

Surely that's close enough.   

[RonJeremy]

1 hour ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

I don't know how long that dust bowl took to form but 3/4 of the NHL has formed since Toronto's last Stanley Cup win.

 

Surely that's close enough.   

I’m just kidding, I wouldn’t mind seeing Toronto or Vegas win it...I think the Isles have a great shot, Barry Trotz is a great coach and Elmer Fudd Lamorillo is a great GM who knows how to build a team. Wish I could say the same for the Flyers.

[OccamsRazor]

My long answer?? NO!!!!!

[FD19372]

Other than the fact that NHL Network will most certainly then become Toronto Maple Leaf Network if they do win it all... I'll be cheering for any Canadian team to win it all, including the Leafs.

[Lindbergh31]

On 4/6/2021 at 10:46 PM, WordsOfWisdom said:

I can remember when the NY Rangers had their 50 year Cup drought and people wanted them to win in 1994. 

 

I can remember when Chicago ended their Cup drought. Once again, it felt like the entire hockey world was rooting for them.

 

So honestly and truly, if YOUR favourite team is out, would you be rooting for Toronto to win?

 

I know Toronto gets slapped with the label of "most hated" franchise in hockey... but why? People hate the Yankees because they win all the time. What's to hate about Toronto? There's probably more fans in Toronto watching Tampa hoist the Stanley Cup last year than there are in Tampa (for example). Toronto does soooooooooooo much for the NHL. A Stanley Cup for Toronto would almost be like a "thank you" for all the billions of dollars this franchise and its fans have pumped into this league. IMHO, no franchise in pro sports deserves a championship more than Toronto. 

 

You all saw the reception the Raptors got (biggest NBA parade in NBA history). I think Toronto could remind the NHL what a Stanley Cup parade really is... and why it doesn't simply involve walking around an empty parking lot with the Cup.  If Toronto won, I think an entire generation of NHL fans would get to see their first REAL Stanley Cup parade. 

 

 

Since I live four hours north of Toronto in Leafs/Habs country, I can honestly say I hate both teams equally. I'm looking so forward to a Leafs/Habs first round series for no other reason then after the series is done then there will be only one arrogant fanbase left going into round two. As much as there are some real hockey fans who cheer for the Leafs and have been cheering for them since the 70's, those would be the fans that I would be happy for if the Leafs win the cup. But there are too many Leaf fans and not hockey fans that are around and they're the most annoying fans you'd ever want to meet. The Leafs need to first get past the first round then lose in the second or third round a couple of years before they should have the chance to play in the finals. They need to suffer some defeats first. Since I have Sportsnet and TSN on my cable package, I'm stuck listening to the Leafs/Habs ******** all the time if I want to get any NHL news. And when you say "Toronto does so much for the NHL" which I think is ********, the Leafs are just lucky that they have a fanbase that is blind and delusional and will follow the team no matter what (they're like Trump voters in the States). Remember the Leafs have to learn to lose in the playoffs before they deserve to win.

[WordsOfWisdom]

2 hours ago, Lindbergh31 said:

Since I live four hours north of Toronto in Leafs/Habs country, I can honestly say I hate both teams equally. I'm looking so forward to a Leafs/Habs first round series for no other reason then after the series is done then there will be only one arrogant fanbase left going into round two.

 

The NHL is the only major pro North American team sport where the arrogant fanbases aren't getting any payoff for their support.  In the NHL, the team with the smallest fanbase almost always wins. The Cup gets paraded around an empty parking lot. Nobody knows what the fuss is about when they roll into the parking lot to go shopping and see people waving the Cup around. That's the honest to goodness truth. In every other big team sport, the arrogant fanbases are rewarded with champions. Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Lakers, Heat, etc.... go on down the list in the other sports and look who wins all the time. It's always the hardcore markets. The NHL is the only exception. Hockey's greatest fans haven't had squat since 1993.  Three decades!

 

2 hours ago, Lindbergh31 said:

But there are too many Leaf fans and not hockey fans that are around and they're the most annoying fans you'd ever want to meet.

 

If you mean fans who tune out once the Leafs are gone, that's more frustration than anything else. That's also 99.9% of fans. There were more people watching Tampa Bay win the Stanley Cup on CBC (fans in Toronto) than there were people in Tampa Bay watching the Lightning win the Stanley Cup. Also, as I've mentioned previously, by tuning out I am creating incentive for the Leafs to win. If I watch whether they win or lose then there's no incentive for them to win the Stanley Cup. If they suffer financial hardship in the form of reduced viewership then they'll try harder to win next time. 

 

2 hours ago, Lindbergh31 said:

The Leafs need to first get past the first round then lose in the second or third round a couple of years before they should have the chance to play in the finals. They need to suffer some defeats first.

 

Huh?  They've been defeated in the 1st round in the last five or six times they've been in the playoffs. You can't "suffer any more defeat" than that. They haven't been to a Stanley Cup final in my lifetime. Last season they lost BEFORE the 1st round (vs Columbus). 

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2021 by WordsOfWisdom

[Lindbergh31]

9 minutes ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

The NHL is the only major pro North American team sport where the arrogant fanbases aren't getting any payoff for their support.  In the NHL, the team with the smallest fanbase almost always wins. The Cup gets paraded around an empty parking lot. Nobody knows what the fuss is about when they roll into the parking lot to go shopping and see people waving the Cup around. That's the honest to goodness truth. In every other big team sport, the arrogant fanbases are rewarded with champions. Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Lakers, Heat, etc.... go on down the list in the other sports and look who wins all the time. It's always the hardcore markets. The NHL is the only exception. Hockey's greatest fans haven't had squat since 1993.  Three decades!

 

 

If you mean fans who tune out once the Leafs are gone, that's more frustration than anything else. That's also 99.9% of fans. There were more people watching Tampa Bay win the Stanley Cup on CBC (fans in Toronto) than there were people in Tampa Bay watching the Lightning win the Stanley Cup. Also, as I've mentioned previously, by tuning out I am creating incentive for the Leafs to win. If I watch whether they win or lose then there's no incentive for them to win the Stanley Cup. If they suffer financial hardship in the form of reduced viewership then they'll try harder to win next time. 

 

 

Huh?  They've been defeated in the 1st round in the last five or six times they've been in the playoffs. You can't "suffer any more defeat" than that. They haven't been to a Stanley Cup final in my lifetime. Last season they lost BEFORE the 1st round (vs Columbus). 

 

 

 

Losing in the first round isn't a great defeat, as for not being in the Stanley Cup finals in your lifetime well lots of the Leafs problems was bad management. Flyers fans seeing their team not win a cup at least once in the last 6 times they've made the Stanley Cup finals, that's suffering in defeat. Based on your comments as to why arrogant fanbases are rewarded with championship, then the Flyers should have won some because we can be an arrogant fanbase according to lots of opposing fans. Just because you fill your arena every game, sell lots of merchandise doesn't mean you should be entitled to a championship. Yes lots of fans in Toronto and the rest of Canada watched the finals more than people in Tampa Bay because hockey in Canada is the equivalent to baseball and football fans in the States. The NHL in the States will always the 4th for professional sports behind Football, baseball and basketball that's just the way it is. If the Leafs win the cup it will be because they grinded thru 4 rounds and came out on top not because they sold out their arena every game and since they did that they're entitled to a championship. You may see the Leafs in the cup finals in your lifetime or you may not, that's what happens when you cheer for sports teams you never know.

[WordsOfWisdom]

15 minutes ago, Lindbergh31 said:

Losing in the first round isn't a great defeat

 

The Leafs have also lost in FOUR conference finals prior to that:

• vs Carolina
• vs Buffalo
• vs Vancouver
• vs Los Angeles 

They lost in the second round:

• vs Flyers
• vs Devils

Look, there's no team in the NHL that has struggled more than Toronto to break through an achieve ultimate success. They've lost in every round there is except the Final... and only because they've never been good enough to even get that far.  No team in the NHL is more "due" for a Stanley Cup than Toronto. No team in the NHL has paid more dues, or suffered through more frustration than Toronto fans. IF/WHEN Toronto wins it'll be the most DESERVING Stanley Cup victory in NHL history. It's the longest drought in NHL history. It'll be bigger than Chicago's victory and bigger than the Rangers victory. It'll be analogous to the Chicago Cubs finally winning in baseball.

 

 

23 minutes ago, Lindbergh31 said:

Based on your comments as to why arrogant fanbases are rewarded with championship, then the Flyers should have won some because we can be an arrogant fanbase according to lots of opposing fans.

 

That's exactly my point. None of the Canadian teams ever win. The Flyers never win. The Sabres never win. Pick any hardcore market with die-hard hockey fans and they never win. It's always the Carolina's, the Anaheim's, the Tampa's, the Colorado's, the Pittsburgh's, and now it'll be Vegas (just watch). It's almost NEVER one of the traditional hockey markets that wins. That's why I get frustrated.

 

26 minutes ago, Lindbergh31 said:

Just because you fill your arena every game, sell lots of merchandise doesn't mean you should be entitled to a championship.

 

It's not just "fill the arena". It's REVENUE. It's 20,000 people x the most expensive tickets in the NHL = Most revenue per game in NHL.

 

Toronto fans fund all of the "have-not" teams through revenue sharing. We're paying so these teams can DEFEAT US by signing players with OUR money!  The cap prevents us from spending to acquire what would be an all-star team like baseball's richest teams. Instead, we pay to support other teams. We prop them up and we lose to them.

 

When you spend the greatest amount of money on the NHL product.... you deserve to be rewarded with a great team to watch. Absolutely.

 

(I'm not saying the players deserve a championship... because they have to EARN it... but the FANS deserve a championship because the FANS have earned it.)

 

 

 

[lynxrattle]

I find that fact of Toronto (and other Canadian teams as well) paying for the expansion of hockey pretty amusing. I never thought of that, and it is of course true. Nice point! But that is how it should be. Canadians gave us hockey, and are still giving it. The one who has gives, the one who doesn't have, can't give, even if they wanted to. It might not be right, but if you like hockey played all over the world, that's how it goes.

 

I still think that means nothing in the rink. The team that plays the best stretch of hockey wins the Cup, and the best team deserves the win. The fans are not playing, so we don't deserve anything. The team then decides to celebrate with us, if they so choose to. If the Wild would some day win the Cup, and the players decided that to hell with any partying, our organisation, our owner, our GM, our fan base sucks, and they are going to have a private party with no parades or meaningful contact with the fans, that's their prerogative. It's a gift to the fans, just like Canadians paying the bill in spreading hockey is a gift to the world. A very Canadian gift, as well:

 

 

[WordsOfWisdom]

  

7 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

I find that fact of Toronto (and other Canadian teams as well) paying for the expansion of hockey pretty amusing. I never thought of that, and it is of course true. Nice point! But that is how it should be.

 

To me, the way it should be is a luxury tax system. That's the happy medium that allows rich teams to spend more, but still imposes limits. It isn't fair to teams like Toronto, Montreal, Philadelphia, New York, etc.... to not be able to reward their high paying fans with a better on-ice product. When you can go watch Carolina play for $10 and see the same or better product that I'm seeing in Toronto for $350, that's most definitely not fair.

 

As a customer, would you be okay with paying more to get less?  (I'm talking about ALL forms of business.)  Are you willing to pay $350 for a plane ticket to ride in coach while I ride in first class for $10?  Are you willing to pay $350 for a basic oil change while I pay $10 and get a premium oil change with a full inspection?  It would never be acceptable in any other line of business. Why is it considered acceptable in the NHL?

 

7 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

Canadians gave us hockey, and are still giving it.

 

Yeah, I guess the question is: Have we given enough yet? When do Canadians get to see a champion? We basically gave 75% of the franchises away, and now we've given 100% of the championships for the past 30 years. Is there a point where Canadians can actually enjoy seeing a Stanley Cup parade here?  Is there a point where we can enjoy the on-ice product as much as our American neighbours are doing?

 

Perfect example: Canadians had to watch a North division with only 7 teams in it -- the least amount of variety compared to every other division. That made it even more repetitive and even more boring than it was already going to be. Once Vancouver went down with covid, it was the same opponent every other night. 

 

 

7 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

The fans are not playing, so we don't deserve anything. The team then decides to celebrate with us, if they so choose to. If the Wild would some day win the Cup, and the players decided that to hell with any partying, our organisation, our owner, our GM, our fan base sucks, and they are going to have a private party with no parades or meaningful contact with the fans, that's their prerogative.

 

Wait... what?  The fans are paying the player's salaries. There is no league without the fans. There are no players without the fans.

 

Any team that decided "nah, f those fans... we'll just celebrate privately"  (the full Kessel approach no doubt) wouldn't have a team the following year. All of those players could kiss their careers goodbye. The franchise would fold overnight, and the players would get booed in every arena they set foot in until they retired.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 9, 2021 by WordsOfWisdom

[lynxrattle]

The ticket prices are unfair, for sure, but what can you do, if the task is to get people who have never had skates on to watch a hockey game.

 

I'm exaggerating a bit with the fans vs the team thing for the sake if an argument. However, players play without the fans. There's beer leagues and pond hockey everywhere. What the fans enable is that we can see the best players from all around the world leave their home countries, cities, families and friends and take huge risks of ending their career badly injured. The money makes it possible. It still is the team that plays and deals with the pressure and risks. We only pay some of the bills.

[Buffalo Rick]

I am sort of.  I will cheer for the Blues but I think the Wild have a shot in the West.  Leafs or Isles in the East

[mojo1917]

Not me, they can **** all the way off to the all the circles of hell- now pro-rated to 9.

[Lindbergh31]

21 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

The Leafs have also lost in FOUR conference finals prior to that:

• vs Carolina
• vs Buffalo
• vs Vancouver
• vs Los Angeles 

They lost in the second round:

• vs Flyers
• vs Devils

Look, there's no team in the NHL that has struggled more than Toronto to break through an achieve ultimate success. They've lost in every round there is except the Final... and only because they've never been good enough to even get that far.  No team in the NHL is more "due" for a Stanley Cup than Toronto. No team in the NHL has paid more dues, or suffered through more frustration than Toronto fans. IF/WHEN Toronto wins it'll be the most DESERVING Stanley Cup victory in NHL history. It's the longest drought in NHL history. It'll be bigger than Chicago's victory and bigger than the Rangers victory. It'll be analogous to the Chicago Cubs finally winning in baseball.

 

 

 

That's exactly my point. None of the Canadian teams ever win. The Flyers never win. The Sabres never win. Pick any hardcore market with die-hard hockey fans and they never win. It's always the Carolina's, the Anaheim's, the Tampa's, the Colorado's, the Pittsburgh's, and now it'll be Vegas (just watch). It's almost NEVER one of the traditional hockey markets that wins. That's why I get frustrated.

 

 

It's not just "fill the arena". It's REVENUE. It's 20,000 people x the most expensive tickets in the NHL = Most revenue per game in NHL.

 

Toronto fans fund all of the "have-not" teams through revenue sharing. We're paying so these teams can DEFEAT US by signing players with OUR money!  The cap prevents us from spending to acquire what would be an all-star team like baseball's richest teams. Instead, we pay to support other teams. We prop them up and we lose to them.

 

When you spend the greatest amount of money on the NHL product.... you deserve to be rewarded with a great team to watch. Absolutely.

 

(I'm not saying the players deserve a championship... because they have to EARN it... but the FANS deserve a championship because the FANS have earned it.)

 

 

 

The same can be said for the Flyers, They average close to 19,000 fans per game, they're a big market team who likes to spend. Before the cap era, the Flyers, Leafs and Rangers always tried to buy their ways to a Stanley Cup which out of those 3 the Rangers did it once in '94 otherwise it didn't work. All of the big market teams are paying for the small market teams to compete in the league otherwise you'd have a league of 10 teams not 32. Personally I think it should be a league of 20 teams then the product would be a lot better. As for the fans deserving a championship just because they pay for tickets and merchandise is ********. Fans are being entertained, their lives don't change because the team they cheer for wins a championship. All they get to do is buy championship hats, t-shirts and be able to brag and bug their buddies that the team they cheered for won the championship for that year.

[WordsOfWisdom]

10 hours ago, lynxrattle said:

The ticket prices are unfair, for sure, but what can you do, if the task is to get people who have never had skates on to watch a hockey game.

 

I'm exaggerating a bit with the fans vs the team thing for the sake if an argument. However, players play without the fans. There's beer leagues and pond hockey everywhere. What the fans enable is that we can see the best players from all around the world leave their home countries, cities, families and friends and take huge risks of ending their career badly injured. The money makes it possible. It still is the team that plays and deals with the pressure and risks. We only pay some of the bills.

 

A luxury tax system. That's the solution. Let rich teams spend more.   

 

Example: Imagine if you trained hard, went to medical school, became a doctor, and were then prohibited from spending money on expensive things. No Ferrari for you, you drive a Corolla like everyone else does. No big mansion for you, you live in a small apartment like everyone else.  There would be no payoff to being a doctor other than just accumulating money in a bank. That's exactly what happens in the NHL. There's no payoff for the fans who pay more to watch games. Their money isn't going back into the on-ice product like it should be. It's just money accumulating in the bank for the corporations that own the team, but that does nothing for the fans who are funding it. 

 

If the fans are like shareholders.... the dividends should be championship calibre teams. 

 

 

[mojo1917]

12 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

A luxury tax system. That's the solution. Let rich teams spend more.   

Not 100% but look to the NBA for how to handle the salary cap.

there are allowances for each kind of player Super-star, mid-level and rookie/young player.

A system where a team could hang on to the players they drafted and developed would be more effective than just throwing a luxury tax at the big markets.

I think about how the Blackhawks got hosed out of being an actual dynasty during the last 12 years because they couldn't keep the guys they drafted and developed on their roster and remain cap compliant. There is something fundamentally unfair about that. 

 

[OccamsRazor]

Not me i think i am going to pull for the Minnesota Wild.

[JR Ewing]

2 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

Not 100% but look to the NBA for how to handle the salary cap.

there are allowances for each kind of player Super-star, mid-level and rookie/young player.

A system where a team could hang on to the players they drafted and developed would be more effective than just throwing a luxury tax at the big markets.

I think about how the Blackhawks got hosed out of being an actual dynasty during the last 12 years because they couldn't keep the guys they drafted and developed on their roster and remain cap compliant. There is something fundamentally unfair about that. 

 

 

This was my argument during the 2005 lockout; that we shouldn't punish teams for successful drafting and developing players, and that some sort of luxury tax ought to apply to players your team drafted. It's completely different than signing away a free agent from a team which is too poor to afford to match.

 

[J0e Th0rnton]

2 hours ago, mojo1917 said:

Not 100% but look to the NBA for how to handle the salary cap.

there are allowances for each kind of player Super-star, mid-level and rookie/young player.

A system where a team could hang on to the players they drafted and developed would be more effective than just throwing a luxury tax at the big markets.

I think about how the Blackhawks got hosed out of being an actual dynasty during the last 12 years because they couldn't keep the guys they drafted and developed on their roster and remain cap compliant. There is something fundamentally unfair about that. 

 

Some of that had to do with Kane and Toews getting a touch of the greed. And Seabrook and Keith Aging like milk(Although on great contracts)

 

At a time when Superstar players were signing for 8.5m a year(Crosby signed this in 2013 a year prior to them signing), they got together and reportedly both demanded 10.5 each for both or neither. Sign us both for the max or we test free agency together. At the time in 2014, I kinda mentioned how they boned the team in doing this and everyone assured me the team could adjust  and keep winning cups as long as they had those two. Which they didn't since as soon as those contracts kicked in, they either got bounced 1st round or didn't make the playoffs.

 

The Blackhawk sections of some forums went into meltdown when they saw how much they got. The fans of the team were certain they would take team friendly contracts and they felt absolutely betrayed. But they won the cup that year, so the fanbase sucked it up and forgave them.

 

Rocky Wirtz was in a spot. The players knew the fanbase hated his lowballing father, Dollar Bill Wirtz and they knew he was handcuffed from allowing them to test free agency or the fans would rebel and consider it his fault. He had spent years reforming the image of the team from the frugal penny pinchers who ostracized former players like Hull and Mikita to the guy who changed the culture and welcomed the legends back into the fold. Him suddenly being the owner not willing to pay up his 2 star players would undo 6 years of hard work.

 

Kane and Toews knew this and sacrificed the team stability for their personal fortunes. Neither of those guys deserved 2 million dollars a year more than Crosby. And it was annoying for a few years to see people making polls like "Crosby vs Toews" but Toews has 3 cups to Crosby's 1! At least Crosby won 2 more and shut them the hell up lol.