Maple Leafs Most Valuable

Forbes Magazine has released their annual list of the most valuable NHL franchises. And for the third straight year the Toronto Maple Leafs topped the list. Interestingly enough, the Leafs have missed the playoffs for three straight years. Coincidence? Yeah, it actually probably is.

The Leafs are estimated to be worth a whopping $448 million, which is an increase in value by 9 percent from last year. They were easily valued ahead of the New York Rangers in Forbes' annual rankings. The Rangers are worth $411 million.

Third on the list were the Montreal Canadiens at $334 million, followed by the Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings ($303 million) and the Philadelphia Flyers ($275 million).

But the biggest increase in value was made by the Pittsburgh Penguins, who made the Stanley Cup finals last spring and boast stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin (that sort of thing usually helps). Pittsburgh is worth $195 million, up a whopping 26 percent.

Stinking up the joint at the bottom of the list were Columbus ($157 million), the New York Islanders ($154 million), and Phoenix ($142 million). The Coyotes were the only team to go down in worth, by 3 percent.

Interesting stat for all your stats nerds, according to Forbes the average team value was $220 million. By comparison, the average for NFL teams this season was $1 billion.

Forbes also points out that the 2007-08 season was the National Hockey League's most successful since Forbes began tracking team values 10 years ago. Fueled by higher ticket prices and a stronger Canadian dollar, revenue increased 13%, to an average of $92 million per team, while operating income (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, ed. note: Huh?) rose 48%, to $4.7 million per team.

So the strong Canadian economy jacked up league wide revenue and two of the top three most valuable teams are Canadian. But you know what, I'm going to put on Gary Bettman hat and say that it's still a pretty dumb idea to put more teams in Canada. *Note the sarcasm.*

To see what each team is valued at, check out forbes.com/nhl

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