Brian Burke Fired by the Leafs

spader wrote:

tim1_2 wrote:It's too bad his car window got smashed.

Yeah, that interview/article sucks.

What do you mean? If not for that interview, you wouldn't know which movie Burkie went to yesterday. This is Pulitzer-level stuff, folks.

The Cox rocks.

Burke presser tomorrow at noon ET.

TSN will have it, as I'm sure all the Bell/Rogers media outlets will too...

Burkie's awesome. I hope he lands somewhere soon.

He's the best GM they'll ever have. Inheritated an abomination and probaly could have done better but the team still has some very good pieces for the future. One goaltender away from being a good team in my opinion.
He inherited a good young talented team in Anaheim and won a cup from the building blocks of Murray after adding 2 major pieces. Future management will now benefit from his building blocks in Toronto. Fair.

LeKid wrote:He's the best GM they'll ever have. Inheritated an abomination and probaly could have done better but the team still has some very good pieces for the future. One goaltender away from being a good team in my opinion.
He inherited a good young talented team in Anaheim and won a cup from the building blocks of Murray after adding 2 major pieces. Future management will now benefit from his building blocks in Toronto. Fair.

really? i think he was short sighted. he was handed the keys to the place with permission to start a major rebuild and instead wanting to make a big splash sacrificed two top picks for a plausible(at the time) 40 goal scorer with questionable work ethics. all thru his tenure he took a half Donkey approach to a rebuild in which he shoud of maybe spent the first 2 years concentrating on by sinning overpriced free agents "a la" komisarek.
no i'd say the man personified "the ringmaster" in what a circus the maple leafs has become.
I won't lie, they did acquire a few decent prospect in the process but nothing any other GM for the leafs might have been able to pull off. New management seems to have picked up the same mentality of win now and fast but with a more poised approach they seam to want. I'm just waiting for the dog tricks to happen.

Like him or not Phil Kessel delievers big time on the ice. He played with scrubs the past 2 years and look at his numbers. If you don't find that impressive... 2 first rounders was a lot for sure but if that was not a lottery pick but instead a 9th overall 2 years (so something like Burmistrov and Hamilton + Knight) it is an ok deal for a top forward in the NHL under 23 years old.
I don't think people realize how awful the Leafs roster was before Burke arrived there. You might wanna take a look and tell me what piece had major value in there. Not a single top liner, not one top D and 0 goaltending.
He turned top 6 tweeners into Dion Phaneuf and Beauchemin into a PPG forward + a future top pairing D.
Komisarek was a weak free agent signing, probably got too much but at the end of the day they lacked toughness and he was really good in MOntreal before signing in Toronto. Heck we signed Kovalev too and that's not gonna tarnish my view on Bryan Murray.

Like I said, could have done better. I take him any day of the week over the tools over in Edmonton that are just there waiting for 1st overall picks to mature

You can't rebuild in Toronto or any other big (huge, #1, Yankees-like) market city, in any sport.

Big Ev wrote:You can't rebuild in Toronto or any other big (huge, #1, Yankees-like) market city, in any sport.

I think Burke could have done it, he had the clout and the freedom to do it.

If they had Seguin and Hamilton instead of Kessel they'd be way better off.

Burke sounded really full of it in Toronto. Pipe dreams about trading up to draft Tavares (not gonna happen), how free agency will be the Leafs draft (no one important wants to play in the circus in Toronto - unless you're a contender perhaps). You can go on and on how he never lived up to his big statements.

He should have tanked like the Oilers, the fans will show up regardless how Dung the team is. Few markets get that kind of loyalty.

Heard he took a dig a Simmons. Heh heh. Awesome.

Big Ev wrote:You can't rebuild in Toronto or any other big (huge, #1, Yankees-like) market city, in any sport.

He could have, if he had really wanted to. If he had come out on Day 1 and said "I am gonna blow this motherfucker up, tear it down and build this city a winner from scratch. But it's gonna take some time, so I'll need your patience, but I will get us there. You can count on that." The people would have ate it up like gospel and let him.

shabbs wrote:

Big Ev wrote:You can't rebuild in Toronto or any other big (huge, #1, Yankees-like) market city, in any sport.

He could have, if he had really wanted to. If he had come out on Day 1 and said "I am gonna blow this motherfucker up, tear it down and build this city a winner from scratch. But it's gonna take some time, so I'll need your patience, but I will get us there. You can count on that." The people would have ate it up like gospel and let him.

Yep he could have done it and he seemed to be one of the few NHL GMs who could sell MLSE on it, although I thought I read that he was hired specifically because he did not believe in rebuilds and would try and make the Leafs a winner ASAP.

In his last 1-2 years with the Leafs he seemed to realize the importance of drafting and developing talent but it was too late.

Interesting statistic that in his 4 years, Kadri is the only player he drafted that played any time in the NHL(and he hasn't amounted to anything yet either).

If we looked at a list of all players Murray drafted in the last 4 years who have played in the NHL it'd be a lot bigger (and more impressive).

Yeah. If he lands another GM job, will be interesting to see how he approaches it.

shabbs wrote:Yeah. If he lands another GM job, will be interesting to see how he approaches it.

Well he's already said he's not changing. If he goes to a non-traditional market he wouldn't be under as much scrutiny.

He could talk all he wants about truculence and no one will care.

Although I wonder if he now has the reputation that he is difficult to work with. He didn't waste any time rubbing the new Leafs ownership the wrong way, I imagine other NHL owners might feel the same way.

He might get a job with the NHL again.

Big Ev wrote:Burkie's awesome. I hope he lands somewhere soon.

Heard someone mention how Murray is 70, and wouldn't the BoO be something with Burke at the helm in Ottawa. I still won't like him.

wprager wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Burkie's awesome. I hope he lands somewhere soon.

Heard someone mention how Murray is 70, and wouldn't the BoO be something with Burke at the helm in Ottawa. I still won't like him.

Tim Murray will be taking over here.

Hoags wrote:

wprager wrote:

Big Ev wrote:Burkie's awesome. I hope he lands somewhere soon.

Heard someone mention how Murray is 70, and wouldn't the BoO be something with Burke at the helm in Ottawa. I still won't like him.

Tim Murray will be taking over here.

Yup. As good as gold.

99% positive T Murray will be our next GM as well.