You have to want to put a competitive, Stanley Cup-caliber team on the ice in contrast to wanting to hopefully someday financially break even. So you have to really balance expenses with revenue.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
You do not play hockey for good seasons. You play to win the Stanley Cup. It has to be the objective.
You cannot make money with a hockey team. You cannot make money with a hotel, either, and you cannot make money with a golf club. I have all three of them. When you have a certain amount of money, you do silly things - because it's pretty to have a golf course and it's interesting to have a hockey team.
Playoff hockey is the best way to market your team. It's the best way to grow your fan base and give hope to your players and for them to develop.
I think the big thing is you really have one chance to do this... to play hockey for a living, you have one chance at your career, and you have to take full advantage of it.
I think to compare any time you win a Stanley Cup would be unfair to all the players from all the teams.
It's tough in the NHL; you have to produce on a high level. And everybody expects you to do it because you make a lot of money. And I never minded it. I always want to be that guy.
But if you look at teams that want to share more revenues, they're teams that don't have a lot on the table. They've long since not had any serious investment in their team.
I'm competitive. I'd love another chance to be part of a Stanley Cup championship team. That'd be awesome.
You can technically lose money during the playoffs if you don't raise your ticket prices.
For good reasons, there are no ties during the Stanley Cup season. Somebody needs to win so the lads can get out to their cottages on the lakes, where all hockey players spend their summers, or so I have been told.