Forbes NHL Team Valuations Released. Maples Leafs Most Valuable

Michael Ozanian and Kurt Badenhausen have compiled their annual valuations of all 30 franchises in the National Hockey League for Forbes magazine, with the Toronto Maple Leafs ranked as the #1 most valuable at $448 million, a 9 percent increase in value from the year prior while posting a mind-boggling $66.4 million in operating income, a measure of profit. As reported by Forbes: 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) rose 48%, to $4.7 million per team. A stronger loonie helps teams north of the border, because they take in revenue in Canadian dollars, but pay their players in U.S. currency. Last season the value of the Canadian dollar increased 15% relative to the U.S. dollar. The aver...