Okay, so I know the short answer is -- Harold Ballard. Ballard almost single-handedly crippled the franchise from the late 70s onward.
But beyond that...? I mean, other franchises have had terrible ownership but still managed to hire competent people and occasionally have good teams during long dry-spells. However, the Leafs in the 80s represent a stunning nadir of high-profile-team with low-quality-play. It was just sad.
Check out the Leafs' win-% between 1981 and 1989:
.350
.425
.381
.300
.356
.438
.325
.388
The low-point was 1984-85, when they finished with 48 points, allowing 358 goals against. Borje Salming went from a +45 in 1977 to a -34 in 1984.
It was one long period of ineptness. But it's not like their drafting was that bad -- in this period they drafted Gary Leeman, Russ Courtnall, Alan Bester, Al Iafrate, Todd Gill, Wendel Clark and Vince Damphousse (just during 1982 to 1986) and all of those players played for them, and were decent prospects (at least 4 of them being future All Stars). Yet it wasn't until 1993 (when few of these players remained) that they actually finished over .500 in the standings -- after 13 straight seasons of finishing below that (they did reach .500 exactly in 1990, but they fell back to losing records for two more seasons).
But despite half-decent drafting, their coaching/player development must have sucked. For example, in 1980, they drafted defenceman Craig Muni. Six years later, despite some good play when he was brought up from the minors, they still didn't think he was worthy of their inept pro-team. But who thought he could play for them? The Oilers. He joined Edmonton right away, became a regular, and won 3 Cups in 4 years.
What are your memories of the Leafs in the 80s? And more importantly, why were they so damn bad for so long?
But beyond that...? I mean, other franchises have had terrible ownership but still managed to hire competent people and occasionally have good teams during long dry-spells. However, the Leafs in the 80s represent a stunning nadir of high-profile-team with low-quality-play. It was just sad.
Check out the Leafs' win-% between 1981 and 1989:
.350
.425
.381
.300
.356
.438
.325
.388
The low-point was 1984-85, when they finished with 48 points, allowing 358 goals against. Borje Salming went from a +45 in 1977 to a -34 in 1984.
It was one long period of ineptness. But it's not like their drafting was that bad -- in this period they drafted Gary Leeman, Russ Courtnall, Alan Bester, Al Iafrate, Todd Gill, Wendel Clark and Vince Damphousse (just during 1982 to 1986) and all of those players played for them, and were decent prospects (at least 4 of them being future All Stars). Yet it wasn't until 1993 (when few of these players remained) that they actually finished over .500 in the standings -- after 13 straight seasons of finishing below that (they did reach .500 exactly in 1990, but they fell back to losing records for two more seasons).
But despite half-decent drafting, their coaching/player development must have sucked. For example, in 1980, they drafted defenceman Craig Muni. Six years later, despite some good play when he was brought up from the minors, they still didn't think he was worthy of their inept pro-team. But who thought he could play for them? The Oilers. He joined Edmonton right away, became a regular, and won 3 Cups in 4 years.
What are your memories of the Leafs in the 80s? And more importantly, why were they so damn bad for so long?