Top 5 Best and Worst run Franchises in Hockey

[homie564]

With all of this talk about the Flames, I'm interested to see reasoning behind some of the other terrible and on the contrary exceptionally run franchises in hockey.

[Bob Loblaw]

worst would be in no order NYI Cal Clb Buf and Fla maybe Edm too

best again in no order Det Nas Phx Bos and Nj or Ott

[homie564]

Best:

1) Blackhawks -- not because of the hockey they're playing, but they have some great ownership and rarely give out a blatant terrible contract. They stuck with Corey Crawford and he's been doing them wonders as well. Letting Niemi walk seemed questionable, but has turned out awesome for them.

2) Red Wings -- forgot all about them for some reason.. been a long day already.

3) Blues -- This may be a surprise to some people, but the Blues have some of the smartest ownership in the NHL. They've built their team internally and add the right players at the right times. Haven't put it together in the playoffs, but it's only a matter of time.

4) Bruins -- call me a homer if you want, but they'll be in everyone's top 5. Look at the depth on the team and the great position Chiarelli has put them in. Ownership, not so much, but a brilliant GM makes up for it imo.

5) Canucks -- Similar to the Bruins in a sense but are kind of opposite imo. Brilliant ownership imo but a questionable GM (at least imo, never been a big fan of Gillis)

6) Penguins -- Good all around front office. They've managed to improve their team with minor tweaks every year and also are doing fairly well building internally. They've also managed to keep two top 3 players in the NHL, possibly the top 2, under contract together while keeping their team strong.



Worst:

1) Flames -- Obvious reasons.

2) Islanders -- Obvious reasons..

3) Columbus -- Though they stepped in the right direction with a complete rebuild, They've been a bottom dweller for a while now and they let their franchise player go for a pretty low price.

4) Panthers -- Too quick to spend a bunch of money on low B level free agents. A bottom dweller that tries too hard to compete with mediocre players.

5) Oilers -- 3 consecutive #1 picks and their team still sucks. Enough said lol.

[Thumper 88]

How could you not have devils in top 5 let alone top 2 only missed one playoff year in how many years? 3 cups, 5 Stanley cup appearances

Red wings and Devils top 2

[ShaunRiching9]

Toronto is pretty badly run. Detroit is really well run

[cwick925]

wtf? Any list without the Redwings #1 is wrong, Period. Let alone not in the top 5

[homie564]

I obviously forgot to put detroit in there lol.. Though I'd have them pegged at 2.. That's pretty obvious I forgot them, lol. NJD are far from the top 5... The whole Kovalchuck scandal, they lost their best player to FA, I wouldn't have them in my top 5 over any of the 5 teams (and detroit) that I listed.

[bronxbomba26]

The top 2 have to be the Red Wings and the Devils. No doubt.

[homie564]

Toronto is pretty badly run. Detroit is really well run

I don't really think Toronto is THAT badly run. Granted they'd be #6 on my list, but they've improved a lot.

[bronxbomba26]

I obviously forgot to put detroit in there lol.. Though I'd have them pegged at 2.. That's pretty obvious I forgot them, lol. NJD are far from the top 5... The whole Kovalchuck scandal, they lost their best player to FA, I wouldn't have them in my top 5 over any of the 5 teams (and detroit) that I listed.

The Devils have made the playoffs how many times in the past 20 years? How many cups do they have in that time? Oh yeah they also have the longest tenured GM in North American professional sports but that's nbd right?

[homie564]

The Devils have made the playoffs how many times in the past 20 years? How many cups do they have in that time? Oh yeah they also have the longest tenured GM in North American professional sports but that's nbd right?

They lost a first round pick because of an idiotic contract, the same player contemplated staying in Russia as opposed to playing for hat idiotic contract, they lost their best player to free agency, their drafting has been average at best lately. Great they were awesome 10 years ago when they had Stevens, prime Brodeur, rafalski, etc... how good have they been lately? refer above.

[Bullseyed]

How could you not have devils in top 5 let alone top 2 only missed one playoff year in how many years? 3 cups, 5 Stanley cup appearances

Red wings and Devils top 2

The Red Wings got lucky with a couple legendary players who played for 20 years. Eh.

The Devils success came mostly from playing the trap and the league had to take multiple actions to ban their method of success because it was bad for the sport.


/shrug

[bronxbomba26]

They lost a first round pick because of an idiotic contract, the same player contemplated staying in Russia as opposed to playing for hat idiotic contract, they lost their best player to free agency, their drafting has been average at best lately. Great they were awesome 10 years ago when they had Stevens, prime Brodeur, rafalski, etc... how good have they been lately? refer above.

Parise left to go play at home, plus they offered him a boat load of money. It wasn't anything against the Devils organization. Kovy never was actually going to stay in Russia if you actually read his comments. They make the playoffs just about every year and they were in the cup finals last year so I have no idea how you're questioning their recent success....

[Seguin]

I don't see what makes NJ so perfectly run... They let their star player leave and have yet to find a suitable replacement for Broduer. I won't argue the effectiveness of Lou, but I don't see what makes them a better run team than Boston, Pittsburgh, Detroit, etc. they're surely not a slam dunk for top 2

[bronxbomba26]

I don't see what makes NJ so perfectly run... They let their star player leave and have yet to find a suitable replacement for Broduer. I won't argue the effectiveness of Lou, but I don't see what makes them a better run team than Boston, Pittsburgh, Detroit, etc. they're surely not a slam dunk for top 2

Why does everybody keep talking about how we "let" Parise leave? We made him a giant offer, he just got offered an even better deal with his hometown team.
As for being a better run team, they do a hell of a good job in bringing in players that perfectly suit their system. Lots of other teams have star power but they don't amount to much because they're playing in the wrong system.