The owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs say they would rather the team be competitive long term than win a Stanley Cup now and be lousy in the following years.
"From an ownership level we look at the long term," said Larry Tanenbaum, co-owner of the hockey club and chairman of the board of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. "We want to be absolutely competitive, super competitive each and every year.
"If you asked us if you were to pay for a Stanley Cup team this year, but you were to be lousy for the next five years, would you do it? The answer from the ownership point of view, absolutely not.
"We want to see a consistently strong winning team over the long term. If it takes two or three years to rebuild this team, let that happen, to know that it's going to be a strong contending team for 10, 15 years."
Tanenbaum dropped by Leaf practice and said the public perception the billion-dollar company doesn't care about winning is "B.S." He says the Leafs rebuilding program is on track.
One reporter surmised Leaf fans would take a Stanley Cup now even if it meant five years of losing.
"I don't buy that," said Tanenbaum. "It would be an interesting survey. If someone would say we would be we could win a Stanley Cup one year and go from first to worst and stay worst for a long period of time, would they actually take that?
"Or to be always be like a Detroit Red Wings, competing every single year?"
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