Every few years the guys who run the NHL are seized with an overpowering urge to run their ship into an iceberg. They're at it again.
Long the poor sister in the world of pro sports, the NHL has actually had a resurgence of sorts since the last lock-out. But that's not good enough for the owners.
As the pie has gotten a little larger, the owners figure that they need a bigger slice. The upsurge in television revenues, they maintain, is due to their shrewd management, and not to the efforts of the guys wearing the skates.
They're willing to drive the team bus over a cliff if they don't get their way.
This is the context in which Burkie lambasted the talking heads at ESPN the other day. ESPN had just announced that the Maple Leafs came dead last in their annual survey of professional sports teams.
That's a bit a pickle to chew on, because the Leafs are also acknowledged to be one of the most valuable sports franchises. In fact they have just changed hands at a valuation that prices the organization as being worth somewhere north of a billion dollars.
ESPN is of course commenting on the Leaf product on the ice, not their valuation on the bourse, and on the ice, where Burkie bears a large measure of responsibility for the product, the Leafs suck.
So of course, according to Burke, ESPN are a bunch of know-nothing twats who don't understand hockey.
Well Burkie, it's been my observation that under your guidance we have yet to observe the Leafs playing in the post season.
Any thoughts on when that might change?
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