The Brian Burke Thread

[proteus2000]

For a guy that espouses a big team, Burke is in a world of hurt in getting that type of squad put together. Hopefully some of the guys he drafted who fit that type of player and a couple of prospects he traded for pan out...that is their best hope, not trading for some 32 year old with 5 yrs remaining on a contract.

I agree, it's going to take time. You have to play the waiting game and see if players like Tyler Biggs among others, will be effective NHLers.

One point I agree on with Burke is that he says he's not trading youth for veterans. He's harped on this in the media several times, and I hope he sticks to it. It is not cost-effective to try and fill the many holes on the Leafs through trades or UFA signings alone. I disagree with Burke though, when he talks about the 1st rounders on the Leafs right now. I remember similar talk about the Phoenix Coyotes of 10 or so years ago. I realize Burke needs some selling points about the current Leafs, but there are likely good reasons why some of these players aren't with the teams that drafted them.

The way forward for the Leafs is to draft and develop most of their core. I think you would not only be in a solid position cap-wise, but it may address the issue of performance under pressure in Toronto.

If young players get gradually conditioned to playing in the Toronto environment, they should tend to not think much of it after a while. In contrast, the big UFA signings or traded for players are usually put on a pedestal for a short time, until their heads are called for.

Of course, the key trades and signings will play a big part, but I think you first need a team that can win without these players.

He doesn't have a choice with the way the market played out- teams held on tight to their good young players by signing them to long contracts before they became UFAs. FA is weak and they don't have the assets to get a few big strong players this way, particularly a couple in the top 6/one top center. I wish him luck in his wheelings and dealings, but I think he will end up depending on some of his current guys to develop into legitimate hockey players.

 

[Sudafederov]

Burke in Sochi

http://www.brucetalley.com/blog/2012/4/29/brian-burke-hockey-legend-and-nhl-general-manager-visits-soc.html

 

[Zee]

A month and a half or so until the draft.  I'm already tired of the playoffs and want to get going on off-season moves.

 

[Knobby]

A month and a half or so until the draft.  I'm already tired of the playoffs and want to get going on off-season moves.

You got it, I am soooooooo bored with these playoff series. I really could give 2 f**ks who wins. Lets get on with the Leafs off season moves.

 

[KW Sluggo]

A month and a half or so until the draft.  I'm already tired of the playoffs and want to get going on off-season moves.

You got it, I am soooooooo bored with these playoff series. I really could give 2 f**ks who wins. Lets get on with the Leafs off season moves.

Agreed, but this is the price we Leaf fans must pay (annually it seems) for a management team that cannot get us into the playoffs.

Maybe when more of us feel this way there will be less support and fewer apologists for management that cannot get the job done.

 

[Bender]

A month and a half or so until the draft.  I'm already tired of the playoffs and want to get going on off-season moves.

You got it, I am soooooooo bored with these playoff series. I really could give 2 f**ks who wins. Lets get on with the Leafs off season moves.

Agreed, but this is the price we Leaf fans must pay (annually it seems) for a management team that cannot get us into the playoffs.

Maybe when more of us feel this way there will be less support and fewer apologists for management that cannot get the job done.

:

Apologists aren't keeping Burke from getting fired imo. So if you have people defending Burke it's entirely irrelevant. He's going to stay as long as management sees fit. People will fill the seats inevitably, but if you think that that is keeping Burke afloat, I think you're mistaken. They did let JFJ go and a slew of other GMs. I think it's crazy that people think that MLSE is in the business of not building a winner and yet still spends to the cap.

 

[moon111]

I'm less excited about the draft this year because I don't see it as a 'fix' for the Leafs.  How awesome is that?  Prospect to Marlies, Marlies to the Leafs.  An actual system in place.  Unlike JFJ who's damage is still being felt, Burke's legacy will be positive for years to come.  Hopefully the organization does something with that, unlike Vancouver that's let that go to waste.

 

[Tigger]

A month and a half or so until the draft.  I'm already tired of the playoffs and want to get going on off-season moves.

You got it, I am soooooooo bored with these playoff series. I really could give 2 f**ks who wins. Lets get on with the Leafs off season moves.

Far be it from me to say anyone should like hockey but I've enjoyed the playoffs, especially the Marlies run.

 

[Nightfawl]

It's not Burke but its the next best thing...Nonis. And he talks about some of the off season on the Fan590.

Basically what we can tell from this interview is that we will not be starting the season with Reimer and Scrivens. We will get a veteran starter. And that the Leafs will be looking at the trade market for an upgrade at Forward.

Oh...and its Nonis' Birthday. Enjoy!

http://www.fan590.com/media.jsp?content=20120525_080811_1040

 

[hockeyfan1]

I remember some exciting Leafs hockey of the Sittler era in my youth, but those Leafs were no match for the mighty Habs or the Flyers.

Ah yeah, those two teams always gave the Leafs fits.  The Leafs handled the Flyers well at least in the fisticuffs department.  I'll never forget all those brawls with the bully Flyers.

The "Flying Frenchmen" always proved too much to handle at playoff time.  I remember after the Leafs defeated the surging Islanders in that 1979 quarter-final on Lanny McDonald's OT goal, ( with the Isles Chico Reach in net), Leafs then coach Roger Nielson's defensive system proved no match against the mighty talented Habs.  That was a huge disappointment, having gone from a high to a low.  Still, those were fun days to watch the games!

 

[Sudafederov]

You knew this was coming, a qualifier for Burke's 8th place comments...

Burke: Kings Not A Typical 8th Place Team

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2012/05/25/brian_burke_maple_leafs_not_comparable_to_la_kings/

I like this part:

"This L.A. team, this eighth seed, is a pretty special eighth seed," Burke told Sportsnet?s Damien Cox in a Toronto Star article. "It might be the best eighth seed of the past 20 years.

--

Why stop at "pretty special" eighth seed?  I would have gone full out and called them a magical eighth seed.

 

[Tigger]

Brian and the beanstalk?

LA finished the regular season under expectation, seems like a fair point to me.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

It was mentioned in one of their series threads, but LA could have been as high as 3rd in the last week of the season if they had won a couple games, so it's true that they aren't really what you'd consider an '8th seed' if you're expecting them to be significantly worse than any of the other 7 teams above them.  Looking at the roster now, it's hard to believe they struggled to score as much as they did, but really they were a team built to be much better than their record indicated, but it is also a reality of the parity in the league (at least in the West) that a team that good is the 8th seed.

Without an elite goalie, I doubt Toronto could have done the same.  There's a nice gap between the 2 clubs.

 

[Kin]

It was mentioned in one of their series threads, but LA could have been as high as 3rd in the last week of the season if they had won a couple games, so it's true that they aren't really what you'd consider an '8th seed' if you're expecting them to be significantly worse than any of the other 7 teams above them.

That's a little misleading though. The Kings had 95 points. The Senators, the other 8 seed, had 92. Last year the 8 seeds had 93 and 97 points. The Kings point total was pretty typical of an 8th seed. The only reason they were close to a three seed is the division winner seeding nonsense and the Pacific being a bad division. That's as meaningful as pointing out that the Sens were 2 points behind their 3 seed also.

 

[bustaheims]

Without an elite goalie, I doubt Toronto could have done the same.  There's a nice gap between the 2 clubs.

I think that's the biggest difference here. LA has a Vezina finalist on their side. That's something that goes a long way towards being successful in the playoffs and something most 8th seeds don't have going for them.

 

[Tigger]

Without an elite goalie, I doubt Toronto could have done the same.  There's a nice gap between the 2 clubs.

If what Dudley meant by 3 pieces was, say, Quick, Kopitar and Brown, yeah that's a gap, not to mention Doughty.

 

[Kin]

I think that's the biggest difference here. LA has a Vezina finalist on their side. That's something that goes a long way towards being successful in the playoffs and something most 8th seeds don't have going for them.

I don't think that carries a ton of water after what we've seen this year and post-lockout in general. Having a top notch goalie goes a long way towards a deep playoff run but that's just because an elite goalie is a big ingredient in a team being any good.

But, really, a lot that happened this year happened on the backs of good, not great, goalies. Washington with Holtby, Phoenix with Smith, even Anderson almost took his team near another 1 vs. 8 upset. Teams going on good playoff runs without superstars in net is not a rare occurrence.

 

[cw]

You knew this was coming, a qualifier for Burke's 8th place comments...

Burke: Kings Not A Typical 8th Place Team

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/2012/05/25/brian_burke_maple_leafs_not_comparable_to_la_kings/

I like this part:

"This L.A. team, this eighth seed, is a pretty special eighth seed," Burke told Sportsnet?s Damien Cox in a Toronto Star article. "It might be the best eighth seed of the past 20 years.

--

Why stop at "pretty special" eighth seed?  I would have gone full out and called them a magical eighth seed.

Let's turn that around. The Kings added one player: Jeff Carter via trade on Feb 23.

Who here thinks the Leafs are one Jeff Carter away from being a favorite in the Cup final?

Here's a few differences:
- the Kings have a good starting goalie, the Leafs don't
- the Kings can play team defence, the Leafs can't
- the Kings have a #1 center, the Leafs don't
- the Kings underachieved during the season, the Leafs didn't or did not by much

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

The Pacific wasn't that bad a division - one of 3 with more than 2 teams make the playoffs, 4 of 5 teams with 40+ wins.  Just didn't have the huge point totals, but was a pretty solid division, even with Anaheim's brutal start.

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

Every round I've watched this year, I've imagined how the Leafs would stack up against each opponent.  Every time I would go through this silly exercise, I wound up laughing hysterically.