| 09 December 2011
So after years of being owned by the Ontario Teacher's Pension Plan (Majority owners to be exact, 79.23% of all shares), the OTPP is selling the majority of their stake in MLSE to communications giants Rogers Communication and Bell Communications for a whopping $1.2 billion. With this Transaction, Rogers, who already owns the Toronto Blue Jays, will now own the Toronto Raptors, Toronto FC (MLS), the Air Canada center and the Toronto Maple Leafs as well as their AHL affiliate the Toronto Marlies.
After the Jump- The Panthers' Early season Success and The Canadiens' Curious Moves
The Leafs new ownership means that they go from one big money owner to another- unlike some recent ownership transactions like the Dallas Stars. This really doesn't mean a lot in terms of spending- Burke has spent money in the past. The Leafs having new owners that are hands off is the best news for Leafs fans. Rogers wasn't very hands on with the Blue Jays, which more or less means Burke can do whatever he wants with the team. All Rogers and BCE have to do is pay the bills for Burke. Some people, like JP Quayle think it's a bad thing- simply because he thinks that Rogers and Bell can't coexist as owners. It's a legitimate concern- just ask Tampa Bay Lightning fans about Koules and Barrie.
The new ownership doesn't mean the Leafs will win the cup this year, but it should be a step in the right direction for them, assuming Rogers and BCE don't bite each other's heads off.
It's Always Sunny in Sunrise
After Dale Tallon's crazy off-season, which included several questionable moves (and the trade for Jack Skille last March), no one would've expected them to be atop the Southeast in December. A lot of it has to do with Kevin Dineen, who's managed to do everything right with the Panthers. However, you don't see stat-heads talking about how they're bound for a fall- simply because they're a good puck possession team. Their fenwick % with the score tied is around 52%, which means they'll be controlling play for most of the game rather then sitting back. The only cause for concern might be that their ultra-productive top line of Kris Versteeg, Stephen Weiss and Tomas Fleischmann are riding significantly high PDO and shooting percentages. They're all shooting above their career shooting percentages, so they will be bound for a bit of a fall sometime. They will see a dropoff in production, but really I doubt that their potential regression will lead to the Panthers imploding.
Panic Move in Montreal?
The Habs haven't had a good year this season. They've been pretty unlucky, and that's mainly been the case there. The latest move by the Habs shouts "PANIC!"- as they've traded Jaro Spacek for Tomas Kaberle. Spacek might not be the fastest or best defenseman, but his contract expires at the end of the season. Kaberle on the other hand, still has two more years left on his contract and isn't any better. Perhaps the biggest reason has to be Andrei Markov's knee requiring more surgery, shelving him until at least the new year. Last year's New Jersey Devils, a team that suffered alot of problems similar to the Habs (bad luck), didn't do a lot except remove the two pieces that weren't working- John MacLean and Jamie Langenbrunner. The only player who could be considered a "broken part" would be Scott Gomez. But Gauthier doesn't want to dump him in the minors, despite taking on over $8 million.
Personally, the move makes no sense. The only reason the Habs can still compete for a playoff spot is that Carey Price hasn't spontaneously combusted. With Kaberle, the Habs have a ton of money on their books for the next few years- Gomez, Markov, Kaberle as well as Brian Gionta and Mike Cammaleri on the downslope of their careers. They also lack a top tier scoring threat, and unless they get Jacques Lemaire himself to trap the hell out of the league for another half-year, they're probably not going to be a playoff team.
The $11 million dollar question now is what happens if Kaberle doesn't work out for the Habs? Do they just clean house? Do they rebuild? Do they just fail for Nail? Who knows.
