from Brett Cyrgalis of the New York Post,

The fact is the Maple Leafs are like the Yankees – not in the sense that they win or buy championships (the Leafs haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967) or that almost everyone roots against them. It’s just in the sense that everyone keeps tabs on what they’re doing. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that Toronto is the biggest hockey market – in terms of demands for tickets and television rights, etc. – and therefore they have a dizzying amount of revenue. But I also think it’s something else.

Following the Leafs is like following a soap opera. There is constant public drama.

Irascible former team president Brian Burke didn’t exactly quell that situation, and the recent hiring of Brendan Shanahan to run the whole operation – while not firing GM Dave Nonis or coach Randy Carlyle – led to a more intriguing scenario. And now they have made a full-on publicity stunt out of their adoption of advanced statistics.

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