Pchu wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
That's complete bull.
He can afford to rebuild in Toronto. Just tell the fans up front that we are going to rebuild, it make take a couple of years, but we are going to play young kids, draft well and etc.
The Leafs fans are loyal. They can stand losing (remember the 80s, when we aren't really rebuilding but we are getting high picks year after year because the team suck), they will sell out the ACC even if the team is losing.
Someone should be honest with MLSE and tell them that the Leafs are a crappy team, and the only way they can be better is to blow it all up.
QFT. JFJ Shot himself in the foot with all the No Trade Clauses in his contracts. He pretty much has the organization's hands tied.
I've said this many many times before, the reason MLSE wants a Colangelo type is because they're starting to realize the value of Great Management. Selling ice to an Inuit can be a futile thing, but if you're selling it from a business standpoint you must be doing something right. Same thing can be applied to the Leafs. Making the playoffs and thinking you can win the cup is a futile thing for Leaf fans, but for the Ontario Teachers Pension board it was exactly the right thing to do. Bryan Colangelo isn't needed by the Leafs because he is a brand as someone suggested above. He was wanted by the Raptors because he is a brilliant executive and because he is a brand. Let's face it, the Raps have a stigma attached to them that Bryan Colangelo is pretty much wiping clean within a year. MLSE as a brand doesn't need the Colangelo name, but they need his vision.
Now the cards were stacked against JFJ coming in, I'm not sure what percentage of the Salary cap he had to work with when he started, but I doubt it was anything like what Colangelo had.....for that reason I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.....but these No Trade Clauses are brutal.
A winning franchise begins with great management, and quite frankly the Leafs don't have it. Don't think Colangelo should be running both teams because there wouldn't be enough hours in the day to effectively manage both, but I could see him in charge of MLSE one day.......they'd be stupid not to pay him whatever he wants to stay in Toronto.
