NHL's Most Successful Teams in 2008

Last Thursday, BizJournals came out with their "most successful" teams in the 2008 calendar year. Here's how they did it along with the time frame they used:

"Half of a team’s score was determined by its level of success on the field, court or ice. Bizjournals’ formula considered each franchise’s win-loss record, average margin of victory (or defeat), and playoff results.

The other half was determined by a team’s relative success in business. The formula analyzed average home attendance, the percentage of available seats sold for home games, and the increase (or decline) in a franchise’s value from 2007 to 2008. The latter was based on annual estimates published by Forbes magazine.

The study was confined to the 2008 calendar year. Statistics for the 2007-08 NBA and NHL seasons after Dec. 31, 2007, were combined with 2008-09 statistics through Dec. 31, 2008. Playoff results for the NFL, NBA and NHL came from the first half of 2008, since their 2008-09 playoffs had not begun as of the end of the year."

Three NHL Clubs were included in the top and bottom 10. Below is the list of where NHL teams rank (overall rank in parentheses):

1. Montreal Canadiens (4)
2. Detroit Red Wings (7)
3. Pittsburgh Penguins (10)
4. San Jose Sharks (12)
5. Philadelphia Flyers (18)
6. Chicago Blackhawks (24)
7. Calgary Flames (27)
8. New York Rangers (31)
9. Minnesota Wild (33)
10. Washington Capitals (41)
11. Anaheim Ducks (47)
12. Buffalo Sabres (48)
13. Vancouver Canucks (53)
14. Dallas Stars (55)
15. Boston Bruins (60)
16. Edmonton Oilers (61)
17. Toronto Maple Leafs (64)
18. Ottawa Senators (68)
19. Colorado Avalanche (74)
20. New Jersey Devils (79)
21. Carolina Hurricanes (89)
22. Nashville Predators (90)
23. St. Louis Blues (94)
24. Los Angeles Kings (96)
25. Tampa Bay Lightning (97)
26. Florida Panthers (102)
27. Phoenix Coyotes (107)
28. Columbus Blue Jackets (114)
29. Atlanta Thrashers (119)
30. New York Islanders (121)

And a look at how NHL clubs stack up against the other three leagues' teams:



As you can see, the NHL is very average across the board, which is a good thing to me. As is evident here as well, the NBA is top and bottom heavy, just like their attendance ranks as we found out in our last NHL v. NBA attendance tussle. One other thing, is the MLB not doing as well as many think it is?

Along with winning (duh), BizJournals found that attendance was a very key part of being a successful franchise:

"Championship teams that played before full houses did best in bizjournals’ ratings."

So maybe I'm not wasting my time with all these crazy graphs...

Come on back tomorrow.