> is there a structural reason why they can't get the talent to win? You might call the salary cap a structural reason, in that unlike the Yankees/rich basebal

> is there a structural reason why they can't get the talent to win? You might call the salary cap a structural reason, in that unlike the Yankees/rich baseball teams, you can't really buy talent, you basically have to draft it. Not to say that teams aren't on an equal footing, but the Leafs might be in a very different spot with no cap. Take Mike Babcock, who was recently hired as head coach. Because they weren't limited by the cap, the Leafs were able gave him an insanely high contract (more than twice the next highest paid coach in the league). Now imagine if they could spend like that on players. The other non-internal factor that's often cited is the Toronto media. Leafs players are put under an enormous spotlight, and given way more scrutiny than any other team's players. This has sometimes lead to players not even wanting to play for Toronto.