Most Profitable Sports Franchises


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Most Profitable Sports Franchises

Most Profitable Sports Franchises

The announcement shouldn't come as much of a surprise as Dion Phaneuf had long been rumoured to be in the running for the vacant captaincy position since arriving to Toronto in a trade with Calgary late last season. Phaneuf is the team's 18th captain and 22nd in franchise history. He is also the third former Calgary Flame in history to become a Maple Leafs captain, following both Doug Gilmour and Rob Ramage.

Phaneuf is GM Brian Burke's Hand Picked Man

This is the same Phaneuf that was reportedly too immature to stay in Calgary, a known problem in the dressing room. Yet less than half a year since the trade, almost six months to be exact, the Maple Leafs have given Phaneuf the honorary responsibility of leading their team. The only problem is that this isn't your regular franchise, Toronto happens to be one of the most renowned NHL organizations ever. The Maple Leafs really didn't have much of a choice, other than maybe to forgo announcing a captain for another year or even longer until they found someone more suitable for the job. Will Phaneuf be up to the task? We'll see.

But for any successful organization, especially one in rebuilding mode, there needs to be a definite leader, someone the players can feel comfortable going to if there are any questions or concerns. The qualities Leafs general manager Brian Burke seems to want in a player, Phaneuf has, so, perhaps, it was a no-brainer. Burke is happy, and Phaneuf seems to be happy so it could conceivably become a long-lasting relationship.