[Jay Random]

If the object of running an NHL team were to win in the playoffs, your analysis would be sound. Since NHL teams are businesses and their object is to make money (or, as I said in another thread, not to piss away in operating losses what they make in capital gains), playoff success is not the be-all and end-all.

Do you suppose MLSE worries because the Leafs never make it past the first round, when they can sell out every seat in their arena at jewellery prices whether the team wins or not?

As I said in another other thread, the NHL in the U.S. attracts risk-takers, who are willing to risk years of half-empty buildings in the hopes of making big money by building a contender. They know going in that hockey in the U.S. is a cyclical business, and that the cycles may be very long and are never guaranteed.

The Canadian owners mostly come from businesses that are based on avoiding risk (in some cases by lobbying the government to outlaw their competition), and the different nature of the business in this country suits them. They like having a nice reliable income from a reliably full arena; they want to make the playoffs because it's hard to break even on operations otherwise, but won't push for any more than that if it means sacrificing their regular-season crowds.

Canadian teams suck in the playoffs; the Flames more than most. They are built that way on purpose; though nobody in the business will admit it publicly, because that would upset the suckers and hurt the business.