WeHaveMoreCupsThanYou
I will get banned again soon, worry not.
And Hughes is wrong. The Leafs are owned and operated by a board of directors who don't really give a shit about wins and losses anywhere but on a balance sheet. They want the team to succeed on the ice inasmuch as it drives revenues. Otherwise it doesn't care. And because Leafs fans and media are so slavishly devoted and easily placated the franchise is "winning" where it counts before a puck is ever dropped. Win or lose that team is a license to print money. There is no real incentive to make big changes when the current model is working so well.
If and when losing on the ice starts to negatively impact the bottom line, then real changes will happen and then the GM will be in a truly tough spot to win or die. But right now it's just a parlor game. MLSE is flush with cash and there's never an empty seat no matter how well or badly the team performs.
By contrast, and even though there are other owners, Geoff Molson is the face of the franchise in Montreal and when the team doesn't win enough it's not a reflection on "ownership", it's a reflection on Geoff Molson personally. So anyone who has to report to him is on the hot seat from the get-go because both they and he are known quantities among the fan and media base. There's no faceless "Board" to hide behind. And while Habs fans love their team they don't love them in the same unconditional way that Leafs fans love their team. A Habs fan's love is conditional and transactional and based largely on how much and how often the team wins. When that doesn't happen enough, it impacts the bottom line. Seats go unsold and fans get angry, not philosophical, if they perceive that not enough is being done to fix it.
The pressure in Montreal is real. The pressure in Toronto is largely performative. It's the difference between using a stunt man to jump off a bridge versus using CGI to make it appear as though someone jumped off a bridge. In short, Dubas' job looks hard. Hughes' job actually is hard.
