The NHL’s geological map must change to satisfy everyone

The Toronto Maple Leafs were by far the top money makers last season. Their profit margin was 90% better than their rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. The bad news is that the Leafs have to share their revenue with all the failing teams that can’t seem to dig their profits out of the hole. So how much did the Toronto Maple Leafs really make? The earnings records after the collective bargaining process were not noted on its financial report, but it could be the $80.4 million generated or perhaps it could have been a different number. There is no information on how the money was divided in the collective bargaining process, but I think all the profit numbers after all is said and done from the list of 30 NHL teams are misleading, but that’s a story for another day.

The NHL allocated a staggering $3.3 billion in revenue in the 2011-2012 regular season. It seems like every NHL team owner, executive, and business partner had a great year of success. Unfortunately that is not true. NHL teams in the southern United States are in bad shape and it’s time for those owners to bury themselves in the mud and take action. The Los Angeles kings still lost two million dollars after they won the Stanley Cup in dominant fashion last season. If the King did not make the playoffs, their losses would be comparable to those of the Phoenix Coyotes. The Coyotes were again the biggest losers in the financial department. If it weren’t for making the playoffs, their losses would be $35 million or more. If you didn’t already know, all the money is made during the playoff season because there is more demand for merchandise, sponsorship, and arena tickets. Player expenses are reduced to next to nothing because their salaries only needed to be paid in full during the regular season.

It’s no wonder why the general managers of the Anaheim Ducks, Dallas Stars and Phoenix Coyotes don’t trade their star players for draft picks during the trade deadline because they fear they will lose their jobs if no money is made. If the coach has not been fired by the losing team, the general manager will be fired in his place. Most head coach hiring and firings are done by losing teams that lose money, not losing teams that make money. General managers of financially troubled teams will not hesitate to fire the head coach if they are losing and that creates a vicious cycle. The Los Angeles Kings had 3 different coaches, which is absolutely crazy, but the last coach that was hired rallied them together so they could win the Stanley Cup. Darryl Sutter was the man for the job and he was terrific during his season there. He luckily he did a good job or else he would have ended up in the dog house with the rest of the fired NHL coaches.

I’ll cut to the chase, cities in Canada and the northern United States have enough stadiums open for an NHL team. There is also a market and a devoted fan base to expose as well. Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington can absolutely handle an NHL team. The only flaw that can occur with a managed NHL team is the management itself. If teams are mismanaged they will fail, but that should be less of a concern.

Cities in Canada such as Quebec City, Hamilton and a second NHL team in Toronto can fill the seats and generate significant and, above all, prosperous mass. If cash-strapped teams like the Phoenix Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, and Carolina Hurricanes moved north to those cities, that gigantic $3.3 billion NHL annual revenue bubble would grow to at least $3.5 billion in an instant.

There would be 10 Canadian teams and 20 American teams with my proposed realignment of NHL teams and there would also be teams in Seattle and Portland. The Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators may move to those cities since they aren’t making much money either.

With the current 2012-2013 NHL regular season on lockdown, everyone is going to lose big and that pushes the poorer NHL teams one more step toward relocation because they still have to honor their arena leases.

These are dark times for hockey and the only direction it can go is up because it’s a mess.