Owners squawk at Forbes lists

Forbes came out with its annual list of NHL franchise values this week, and the message is that the haves still have, and the have-nots not.

Most of the 30 team owners dispute Forbes' independent assessment - Caps owner Ted Leonsis strongly disputed his team's $197-million valuation, placing them 16th out of 30; Wild owner Craig Leipold told The Sporting News, "Forbes has absolutely no idea."

But basically, the league's revenues are largely generated by a handful of teams: The Leafs, Rangers and Canadiens, 1-2-3 in the rankings, generated $177-million of operating income last year. The league had $160-million total in 2009-10, according to Forbes.

The Rangers are valued at $461-million, behind only the Leafs at $505-million. The Islanders, not surprisingly, are at 26th with a franchise value of $151-million. Leipold told The Sporting News that the hockey business is a sound one, but the real-life wheelings and dealings say otherwise for the majority of franchises.

The Leafs reportedly are for sale. The Canadiens were sold last year, albeit for an NHL-record $575-million. The Stars (ranked 10th) are on the block; the Blues and Sabres may be as well, and the rest of the teams in the bottom third of the rankings are having major financial troubles.

Woe, Canada

Canadian franchises are on relatively sound financial footing, according to Forbes, and the stronger Canadian dollar has plenty to do with that. But the on-ice product, which is what the fans truly care about, is pretty shaky in three places.

The Senators (losers of seven of nine through Friday), Leafs (4-12-4 after a 4-0-0 start) and Flames (3-6-2 in the last 11) are in big trouble. Ottawa, with second-year coach Cory Clouston, have gotten lousy goaltending and are overworking 36-year-old Sergei Gonchar, whom they have on a 35-and-over (can't be removed from the salary cap) contract at $5.5-million for two more years.

The Leafs looked like world-beaters the first week of the year, but now they've scored fewer goals than everyone except the hapless Devils and appear to be headed towards handing yet another top-five draft pick over to the Bruins from the Phil Kessel trade.

And the Flames, with the Sutter brothers at the helm, are showing why the head-scratching moves they made (dealing Dion Phaneuf, re-signing Olli Jokinen) were so reviled.

Snow gets high marks from Forbes

Also in Forbes was a list titled "Top NHL GMs For The Buck," an attempt at categorizing a general manager's success in a cap world. The list put more value on frugality than quality, which resulted in Wings GM Ken Holland being No. 3 and Penguins GM Ray Shero being No. 6.

Garth Snow made the list at No. 9, with Predators GM David Poile ranking first. Islanders fans may disagree with Forbes' assertion that Snow has "assembled respectable teams three out of four years."

Also having Brian Burke at No. 10 defies logic - the Leafs have a high payroll and zero to show for Burke's moves since taking over two seasons ago.

Oilers make a power play

Oilers owner Daryl Katz wants to build a new arena, but wants Alberta and the Canadian federal government to chip in; they don't seem too interested, so Katz had members of his front office meet with Quebec City mayor Regis Labeaume this week reportedly to discuss how Quebec plans to finance a new arena.

Not to force Edmonton's hand, of course. With so many U.S.-based franchises in the red, it was a very transparent move by the Oilers that won't create much goodwill in western Canada, particularly in the middle of the Oilers' ground-up rebuild.

Forbes' Top 10 GMs For The Buck:

1. David Poile, Predators

2. Doug Wilson, Sharks

3. Ken Holland, Wings

4. Darcy Regier, Sabres

5. Don Waddell, Thrashers

6. Ray Shero, Penguins

7. George McPhee, Caps

8. Jim Rutherford, Hurricanes

9. Garth Snow, Islanders

10. Brian Burke, Leafs