Quote:
Originally Posted by Erick Estrada
Bad drafting is the biggest contributor but also poor management has dogged Canadian teams as well as the fact the most elite UFA players opt to go to American teams making the bad drafting stick out more as an issue. Canucks under Gillis, Oilers under the Klown show, Flames since the 90's, Jets/Thrashers, Leafs all have drafted poorly and have turned very few of their draft picks into elite superstars. The Senators and Habs have drafted better but even they haven't really franchise players although Karlsson and Subban are very good defenseman they are both flawed defensively. Most of the best players in the league were all drafted by American teams hence the dominance of US teams.
|
We always see lists and articles explaining how around 50% of revenue comes from the seven canadian teams. All seven teams are in all in the top half of the league in revenue per team (Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver are in the top five I believe). However, money doesn't seem to buy victories north of the border.
With a salary cap, you can only spend so much on talent, although all the Canadian teams should be able to afford to spend to the cap ceiling. The one advantage the Canadian teams should have is being able to hire top notch management, coaching, and scouting. Not to mention the benifit of seeing CHL prospects play in your own rink in markets like Calgary and Edmonton. However, like you pointed out, the Canadian teams continually fall short when it comes to drafting.
Does the location and climate limit the potential for Canadian teams?