Kukla's Korner Hockey
Time For Reflection
by Paul on 07/04/12 at 11:19 AM ET
Comments (5)
Let’s take a look back at an interview Michael Russo of the Star Tribune did with Wild owner Craig Leipold…
I know you can’t name names, but how essential is it for you guys to finally land a big fish or two?
“Yes. Where a star player wants to come here, wants to play here. It’s important to our franchise that we become one of those markets where players want to come to, they want to play for the fans here, they want to play because the culture’s the way it is, because the coaches are the way they are, because management treats their players a certain way. We want to get to that point. I mean, this is such a great market. I have to believe that players would want to play in this city. It’s our job to create that kind of atmosphere and culture, and winning is important. It’s a big part of that. They’ll come here if they think they can win the Cup.”
How would you sell a free agent on this franchise and market?
“Now if I’m an unrestricted free agent and I’m looking at this team and I’m looking at the future of this team and the committment that we have to winning and the coaches, this is a good market. We think we have a lot to sell. We don’t plan to be shy. We don’t know who’s going to be a UFA come July 1, but we’re going to be looking. We need to make our team better. We need to get more goals. And we need to get better defense.”
Are you making money?
“We’re not making money, and that’s one reason we need to fix our system. We need to fix how much we’re spending right now. [The Wild’s] revenues are fine. We’re down a little bit in attendance, but we’re up in sponsorships, we’re up in TV revenue. And so the revenue that we’re generating is not the issue as much as our expenses. And [the Wild’s] biggest expense by far is player salaries.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Minnesota Wild, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: craig+leipold
Comments
They were 8.5 million under the cap last season. Makes you wonder what they will do if they actually get these two guys.
Posted by gretzky_to_lemieux on 07/04/12 at 11:38 AM ET
If you win, the money will follow.
Posted by T Bird from Micigan/Indiana on 07/04/12 at 11:42 AM ET
How can any player or agent forget how Leipold, when he owned the Predators, decided to cut costs and sent all his star players away? You cannot trust this guy.
Posted by w2j2 on 07/04/12 at 11:45 AM ET
Still think that all this crap…multiple stories and tweets p3r day by Russo will scare Suter away.
Posted by mrfluffy from Long Beach on 07/04/12 at 12:47 PM ET
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For as important as it is for any particular team to gain a star performer, it is just as important for that team to prevent another team (rival team) from gaining that (those) star caliber player(s).
Posted by T Bird from Micigan/Indiana on 07/04/12 at 11:35 AM ET