Toronto Maple Leafs to get new logo for 2016-2017 season

[Gothamite]

8 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

That's the problem I have with your take on this subject, sparky. MLSE cannot win. They make moves that don't pan out? You accuse them of resting on their laurels. They start to figure it out and try to put a solid team together? You accuse them of only doing it for the money. Which is funny because that's ultimately why any team does anything. 

 

I swear. The Leafs could win the Cup and you'd still find a reason to complain.

 

It does kind of seem that way.  I understand frustration with ownership, but it seems as though no matter what they do the response will be the same.

 

"(M)oral obligation to their fans"?  Exactly which team ever has been primarily motivated by a moral obligation to their fans?

[IceCap]

Don't get me wrong. MLSE has pretty much bungled one of the league's cornerstone franchises since the mid 2000s. I would cite stripping Pat Quinn of GM duties as the first misstep myself.

That being said? They're not this evil corporate overlord some Leafs fans make them out to be. They put together a solid decade and a half of regular playoff appearance and four conference finals trips. 

Then the window closed, and they struggled to figure out how to rebound from that for a bit. Should they be taken to task for that? Absolutely. 

Just as they should be commended for taking the steps they have recently to try and right the ship.

 

[sparkychewbarky]

5 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

MLSE cannot win

 

Well...they haven't yet, have they?

 

5 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

You accuse them of resting on their laurels. They start to figure it out and try to put a solid team together? You accuse them of only doing it for the money. Which is funny because that's ultimately why any team does anything. 

 

Exactly Ice_Cap. Whatever...I don't care why they do it. Just do it! 

 

6 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

This myth of yours, that MLSE has always mismanaged the team, simply doesn't hold up. 

 

O.K....How about, for most of their reign (there have been a few bright spots) they've mismanaged this franchise.

Their record certainly backs up that statement.

At the end of this season, we'll have gone 10 out of the last 11 years without playoffs.

You OK with that?

I'm not...especially with a team that has the resources and support that the Leafs have.

[sparkychewbarky]

17 minutes ago, Ice_Cap said:

I swear. The Leafs could win the Cup and you'd still find a reason to complain.

 

Your bum's out the window on that statement, Ice_Cap.

If MLS&E wins a cup, I'll sing their praises, write nice stuff about them and buy their pyjamas.

[mcj882000]

4 hours ago, BigBubba said:

I've never understood this argument. The Leafs being a cash cow doesn't mean there's no incentive for MLSE to try and build a successful team.

Others have brought this up, but I think where he's basing it off of is the fact that that's exactly how Ballard ran the team in the '70s and '80s. He didn't give a damn about putting a competitive team on the ice 'cause the team sold out every single game anyway.

Granted, MLSE's nothing like that; incompetent as they may be sometimes at putting a decent team together, (though as Ice Cap said, from 1993 to 2004 they were on-and-off contenders) they're at least trying.

[DAKINS24]

On 12/02/2016 at 3:43 PM, sparky chewbarky said:

 

I agree with you DAKINS.

It appears that, for now at least, MLS&E is going down the right path.

I like what they've done recently. (except for the logo thing).

...But I don't think that they're righting the ship because of some sort of moral obligation to their fans.

It's because they've realized that, "Holy Crap...We're finally killing the Golden Goose!!"

 

We should have stopped selling out the joint and buying their stuff decades ago.

Oh, I absolutely agree it's nothing to do with a "moral obligation to the fans".  My point was that the fans finally started embarrassing the team on national television during games and people stopped buying tickets.  They are learning that their "brand" isn't as strong as they thought it was.