{coyotes} Canadian teams top Forbes' most valuable list

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Nov 25 (Reuters) - Canadian teams dominated the top end of Forbes' annual list of the National Hockey League's (NHL) most valuable franchises on Monday with the Toronto Maple Leafs leading the pack for an eighth consecutive year.

For the first time since Forbes began tracking NHL team valuations in 1998, three of the league's five most valuable franchises are Canadian.

The Toronto Maple Leafs were deemed the most valuable at $1.15 billion, a 15 percent jump from last year, while the Montreal Canadiens ($775 million) and Vancouver Canucks ($700 million) were third and fourth, respectively, in the survey.

The New York Rangers ($850 million) were second on the list while the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks ($625 million) rounded out the top five.

The NHL's 30 teams are worth an average $413 million, a 46 percent rise over last year but still below the average values of franchises in the other major North American sports leagues.

Forbes has previously said teams in the National Football League are worth an average of $1.17 billion, followed by teams in Major League Baseball ($744 million) and the National Basketball Association ($509 million).

Browse The List www.forbes.com/nhl

Rank	Team	Current Value ($mil)	1-Yr Value Change (%)	Debt/Value (%)	Revenue ($mil)	Operating Income ($mil)
1	Toronto Maple Leafs	1 150	15	14	142	48,7
2	New York Rangers	850	13	0	131	27,3
3	Montreal Canadiens	775	35	37	127	29,6
4	Vancouver Canucks	700	105	14	101	15,8
5	Chicago Blackhawks	625	79	0	115	25,6
6	Boston Bruins	600	72	18	114	18,5
7	Philadelphia Flyers	500	49	13	95	6,0
8	Pittsburgh Penguins	480	67	21	107	20,9
9	Detroit Red Wings	470	36	0	96	10,5
10	Los Angeles Kings	450	63	28	98	8,2
11	Calgary Flames	420	71	8	89	11,5
12	Washington Capitals	414	66	31	83	8,0
13	San Jose Sharks	405	82	0	84	2,1
14	Edmonton Oilers	400	78	25	80	10,3
15	Ottawa Senators	380	73	39	83	6,8
16	Winnipeg Jets	340	70	38	79	6,3
17	Colorado Avalanche	337	60	3	67	0,3
18	Dallas Stars	333	39	45	79	1,6
19	Minnesota Wild	330	51	34	81	-13,6
20	New Jersey Devils	320	56	81	78	-4,2
21	Anaheim Ducks	300	56	23	73	-3,9
22	Buffalo Sabres	250	43	32	76	-1,0
23	Florida Panthers	240	41	50	69	-7,7
24	Nashville Predators	205	23	41	71	-0,8
25	Phoenix Coyotes	200	49	62	67	-8,9
26	New York Islanders	195	26	51	61	-1,2
27	Carolina Hurricanes	187	15	59	71	-3,4
28	St Louis Blues	185	42	35	72	-2,5
29	Tampa Bay Lightning	180	3	25	72	-5,4
30	Columbus Blue Jackets	175	21	43	69	4,9

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