Kukla's Korner Hockey
Burke’s Problems
by Paul on 10/22/09 at 01:33 PM ET
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from Jim Kelley of Sportsnet,
It should also fall on Burke to recognize that truculence is not a synonym for skill and that if you’re going to add toughness to allow your skilled players to play better, you better have the skilled players that will benefit from the added option. The Leafs didn’t have those players -or at least enough of them-before Burke got to Toronto. They don’t have them now.
If you want to stretch fact to the edge of opinion, I would argue that Burke is also wrong in assessing the Kessel deal with Boston. His argument is that he couldn’t get a player of that age and skill level for less than the three draft picks (two firsts and a second) he surrendered to the Bruins.
I admire and respect a man who stands by a belief, but that’s not the same as doing whatever is necessary to get what’s necessary to survive and prosper. I don’t steal, but I can’t say I never would, not if there’s a loaf of bread available and my family was starving. A person does what he or she has to do. Burke knows that, every man does.
And no matter how he chooses to defend the Kessel trade, he overpaid. He paid a price for Kessel with the idea that he wouldn’t be paying with the possibility of a first overall selection in the 2010 Entry Draft. It seemed both logical and defensible at the time, but it wasn’t exactly a given. Burke bet that he made enough moves in the free-agent market to assure he won’t put the franchise in that position. The standings could change, but for now at least it appears he could lose that bet.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
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