Kukla's Korner Hockey
Entries with the tag: brian+burke
Evening Line
by Paul on 01/31/12 at 06:28 PM ET
Comments (6)
“I have to admit I (as coach of the Boston Bruins) lost twice to Montreal in the finals and lost again to Montreal in the semi-finals seventh game in overtime but maybe Ron (MacLean) is right because since (Burke) has been with the Leafs he hasn’t lost a playoff game.”
-Don Cherry of Hockey Night in Canada. More on the Burke/Cherry feud that seems to be escalating from Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL Media, Hockey Broadcasting, CBC HNIC | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Don+Cherry,
Burke vs. Cherry
by Paul on 01/28/12 at 10:26 AM ET
Comments (5)
from Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun,
Has Toronto Maple Leafs boss Brian Burke had enough of Don Cherry?
An insider told QMI Agency Burke is tired of Cherry criticizing his team — in particular, his coach — and he is contemplating asking for a meeting with CBC brass to complain.
“He is furious at the comment Cherry made about Ron Wilson not applauding for the troops and for other things too,” said an insider. “He is fiercely loyal to his guys.”
On Jan. 14, Cherry mentioned during a broadcast that visiting New York Ranger coach John Tortorella applauded when the troops were introduced at a recent Armed Forced appreciation game at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
He also called a clapping Leafs assistant coach Rob Zettler “a good Canadian boy.”
But he said Wilson and other coaches “couldn’t have cared less.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL Media, Hockey Broadcasting, CBC HNIC | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Don+Cherry,
The Art Of Trading
by Paul on 01/26/12 at 12:59 PM ET
Comments (0)
from Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post,
Burke tells the crowd at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management about the perils of trading, explaining part of the relationship that exists among general managers around the NHL:
“The good news is, if you make enough good trades, people forget about the horses— trades that you’ve made. People ask me, ‘what’s the worst trade you’ve made?’ And I would have to think hard about that, but I could tell you a couple real bad ones.”
He paused for a beat.
“A second-round pick in Vancouver for Vadim Sharifijanov.”
Burke paused again.
“That’s right. Everyone’s going, ‘who?’ Exactly. That’s pretty good evidence. I just told you it’s a bad trade. Now, it’s a bad trade. We overrated this player, we overpaid for him, but we fixed it. Right away, we said, ‘OK, we’re wrong.’ We got rid of the guy, put someone in the lineup who could help us more. We never recovered from that particular mistake, but we didn’t dwell on it and say, ‘maybe he’ll turn into a player.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Afternoon Line
by Paul on 01/11/12 at 05:52 PM ET
Comments (3)
“Yes, players dumb enough to participate in polls designed to crap on fellow NHLPA members are not very bright. They can all go defecate in their chapeaus. I am thrilled to have both players on my team.
“And by the way? Anyone who wants to tell Dion that in person should fly to Ottawa in about two weeks.”
-Brian Burke, President and GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs on the recent Sports Illustrated poll on overrated players. More from Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Typical Burke Response
by Paul on 01/06/12 at 12:58 PM ET
Comments (6)
from Ken Campbell of The Hockey News,
Only someone of Brian Burke’s ilk would see the possible extinction of one-dimensional enforcers like Colton Orr from the NHL as “a dangerous time in our game,” and one that, “makes me sick to my stomach.”
What should have Burke’s stomach churning even more is that he so badly misread where the game was going that by the end of next season he will have paid $4 million to a player who has been, for all intents and purposes, utterly useless as an NHL player. In his 133-game career with the Maple Leafs, Orr has averaged just 6.1 minutes per game in ice time. This season he played just five games and a total of 22 minutes and 24 seconds, roughly what teammates Dion Phaneuf and Carl Gunnarsson play in one game.
But instead of acknowledging his mistake, Burke instead unleashed his venom on the direction of the game and the insidious “rats” he claims are ruining the sport. If only players such as Orr, who cleared waivers and will likely never play in the NHL again, were permitted to plod around the ice, all would be well in the world.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Reaction Continues To Burke’s Statement Today
by Paul on 01/05/12 at 07:15 PM ET
Comments (0)
added 8:00pm, Watch the Burke press conference below…
from Damien Cox of The Spin,
What I heard was a requiem for a heavyweight.
Nothing wrong with that.
What I also heard was a dedicated, long-time hockey guy lamenting the way the business used to be, the way the game used to be.
Nothing wrong with that.
That’s what I heard behind all the words Brian Burke uttered today while announcing the team’s decision to send enforcer Colton Orr to the minors after he had cleared waivers.
Let me repeat that. After the Leafs CHOSE to send Orr down. Nobody made Burke do it. It wasn’t about a cap consideration. If Orr was so beloved and his role so important, the Leafs could have kept him.
from Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail,
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke Worried “The Rats” Are Taking Over The Game
by Paul on 01/05/12 at 12:43 PM ET
Comments (23)
from the CP at TSN,
On a day the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager sent enforcer Colton Orr to the American Hockey League, he bemoaned the fact there doesn’t appear room for such players in today’s game.
Burke says he fears “the rats” are taking over the sport.
League disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan has been busy handling suspensions over the last week and Burke believes it’s largely a result of a lack of on-ice accountability.
a bit more
added 12:49pm, via Sportsnet,
The Toronto Maple Leafs general manager addressed the media on Thursday, one day after the team put Colton Orr on waivers. The diminishing role of enforcers in the league is something that concerns Burke and he feels players are no longer able to police themselves.
“If a player with the character of Colton Orr can’t contribute in this league, I don’t like where the game is going,” Burke told media.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Brian Burke On Extending The Contract Of Ron Wilson
by Paul on 12/27/11 at 08:44 AM ET
Comments (0)
from Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun,
“When the coach goes into the cage, he needs the chair and the whip, not just one of them,” Burke said of providing the contract insurance.
“When people are clamouring for a coaching change, there are visible signs it’s time to change. Agents are calling and complaining that players aren’t going to play for him, there are unnamed players, we call ’em snipers, taking their shots. There has been none of that (with Wilson). I had players come to me last year, saying: ‘Don’t change the coach’. This is a coach who has earned this extension. It’s not charity, it’s not a gift.”
Burke would not hear of getting egg on his face should he pay Wilson and the Leafs miss playoffs again — “Ask me that at the end of the year, I’m not interested in hypotheticals’ — but refused comment on Wilson’s term and salary. It’s likely that one year would be too little and three too much.
“From last year’s all-star break (in early February), to this year, our record is 36-22-10. That’s the first period I really feel it’s appropriate to hold the coaching staff accountable. Up to then, I feel I didn’t give them good enough players.
“I’ve said all along to Ronny, until the point comes where I think we can compete for a playoff spot, then I expect more. I think now the burden has shifted to the coaches. It’s time to extend him.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Ron+Wilson,
Is Burke Really An Embarrassment?
by Paul on 12/06/11 at 05:39 AM ET
Comments (6)
from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,
Brian Burke is out of control. He doesn’t just want to run the Toronto Maple Leafs. He wants to run the newspapers. He wants to tell editors what columnists and radio voices can and cannot write or say. He wants to control what you read, what you think, what you perceive to be the truth.
He wants to be the face of the Leafs, the only voice. In between, he wants to settle grudges with fist fights — fine message from a middle-aged man with a Harvard degree.
And in this season of hockey revival, where all should be smiles and chuckles, he is becoming something of a local embarrassment.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Evening Line
by Paul on 12/05/11 at 11:43 PM ET
Comments (12)
“It was typical Gary Bettman. It’s like a Chicago election in the 1930s. Not that it’s fixed, but you have a pretty good sense what’s going to happen beforehand.”
-Brian Burke, President and GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs on how the realignment decision was basically a done deal before the BOG meeting started.
More realignment talk from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star.
Filed in: NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Gary+Bettman,
Would You Have Paid To See A Kevin Lowe/Brian Burke Barnyard Battle?
by Paul on 12/02/11 at 11:28 AM ET
Comments (1)
Burke set three dates up in Lake Placid, watch the video to find out the results.
The pay to see was not part of the battle plan, that is just me writing a headline to grab your attention.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Kevin+Lowe,
Maple Leafs Forging New Identity
by Alanah McGinley on 09/22/11 at 01:13 PM ET
Comments (0)
From Sports Network via Ottawa Sun:
When Brian Burke came to Toronto three years ago he made it clear that his version of the Maple Leafs wouldn’t be pushed around. The guy who made a career out of constructing big, bruising hockey teams was going to muscle up an organization that had gone soft.
After using a similar recipe with success in places like Vancouver and Anaheim, the plan was a simple one. The first two lines would be scoring lines and the third and fourth lines would be the intimidation crew.
Now, three years into his tenure it seems that in some ways that mantra has changed.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: brian+burke,
Burke Refuses To Offer Contracts Which Appear To Circumvent The Cap
by Paul on 07/06/11 at 11:17 AM ET
Comments (24)
from James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail,
“We lost out on the Brad Richards sweepstakes for two reasons. One, we didn’t offer as much money as other teams and more importantly we didn’t structure the contract like other teams did.
“These deals that are front-loaded and have small amounts at the back end in my opinion are designed to circumvent the salary cap. I won’t do them, I never had, I’m not going to. And that’s why we were unable to sign Brad Richards.
“I wish him well. He’s a good guy. But that’s not a contract structure we’re interested in.”
a bit more...
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brad+Richards, Brian+Burke,
Simmons Was Doing His Job
by Paul on 07/05/11 at 08:55 PM ET
Comments (13)
from Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun,
Many felt he shouldn’t have the made the trip.
My colleague Steve Simmons shared that opinion. And for writing as much, he’s been branded the lowest form of life ... ever!
Some of the emails and twitter messages Sy received are shockingly vile. And believe me, I know vile. Try taking a shot at Mike Weir sometime.
For questioning Burke’s trip on Free Agent Day, Simmons has been called every bad name imaginable. And some you just could never imagine.
And for what? For doing his job.
For writing what many people were thinking.
That’s the point. He wrote what many people, particularly Leafs fans, were thinking.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Steve+Simmons,
Burke Reacts To Steve Simmons Column
by Paul on 07/04/11 at 09:44 PM ET
Comments (22)
from Michael Traikos of the National Post,
Insults, taunts, slurs — he takes them all with a grain of salt. But when a Toronto columnist criticized the GM’s decision to visit the Canadian troops in Afghanistan on the same day that NHL free agency began last week, Burke said Monday he was “deeply offended.”
“They ask you to go,” said Burke, who was joined on the trip by Leafs defenceman Luke Schenn. “It’s not like you call them and say, ‘Hey, it would be good PR if I went to Afghanistan.’ I didn’t tell anyone I went and I didn’t talk to anyone when I got back. I did it because it was the right thing to do.”
In a Toronto Sun column, Steve Simmons wrote that Burke affected the team’s ability to sign prized free agent Brad Richards by not being in Toronto.
Along with several other teams, the Leafs sent a management team consisting of vice-president of hockey operations Dave Nonis, assistant general manager Claude Loiselle and special advisor Cliff Fletcher to personally meet with Richards and his agent in Mississauga on July 1. While Burke was not physically there, he said he was in direct communication with his staff.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke Should Have Stayed Home Or Maybe Not
by Paul on 07/02/11 at 08:16 AM ET
Comments (10)
from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,
There is nothing wrong with the president and general manager of the Maple Leafs taking a public relations trip to Afghanistan. But there is everything wrong with his timing in this case.
You don’t, if you’re running the Leafs, if you’re struggling to make a lousy team better, if you haven’t been in the playoffs yet under your watch — even if it is a Canada Day trip for the Canadian troops — go to Kandahar on July 1. You just don’t.
You find another time to make the trip. You do it next week or next month. You do it when it doesn’t affect anything about the building of your hockey team.
from Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun,
Senior vice-president David Nonis was at the Air Canada Centre as point man Friday, but insisted Burke was in constant communication despite the time difference and took a swipe at critics of his superior’s trip.
“There was no issue at all getting hold of Brian, whether it was by text or on his cell,” Nonis said. “In fact the cell service in Kandahar is better than it is in most parts of this city.
“I know there were some comments made that there was a handicap not having Brian here today. First of all, unless you guys reported he wasn’t here, there wasn’t an agent in the world who would have known. It had absolutely no bearing on what we did or didn’t do.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke Far Away From The UFA Action
by Paul on 06/30/11 at 07:53 AM ET
Comments (1)
from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,
Brian Burke doesn’t have to be in Afghanistan today.
Heck, there’s undoubtedly hardcore Maple Leaf fans who probably think he shouldn’t be, but instead should be at home manning the phones and getting ready to knock on Brad Richards’ front door on Friday when the NHL free agent season opens.
Instead, the Leaf president and general manager is with our Canadian troops in Kandahar, and that’s where he’ll be when Richards and other unrestricted free agents officially become available looking to make themselves extraordinary rich, or richer.
That Burke will be overseas spending time with Canadian men and women serving for anything but personal wealth, well, that’s a intriguing contrast.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke Not A Fan Of The Four-Letter Network
by Paul on 06/21/11 at 09:00 AM ET
Comments (9)
from Sean Fitz-Gerald,
Fielding the same question three or four times in a span of 30 minutes distilled Brian Burke’s reaction down to its essence, as the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs defended the franchise from an ESPN study listing it among the least-rewarding in North America.
The Leafs ranked 120th of 122 professional sports teams judged in ESPN The Magazine’s annual Ultimate Standings, based on categories such as “Bang For The Buck,” as well as fan relations, affordability and championship titles. Teams in the NHL, NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball were mixed into the results.
“I don’t think ESPN knows squat about Canada,” Burke said. “I don’t think they know squat about hockey.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Don’t Challenge Burke On His Integrity
by Paul on 06/09/11 at 10:07 AM ET
Comments (18)
from Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun,
Attention, Mike Murphy.
Brian Burke’s phone is on 24/7 if you want to give him another ring.
And if anyone doesn’t like it, they can go jump, as the locals here say, in the “hah-bah.”
The two men took some heat this week when Murphy, during his deliberations on the potential punishment of the Vancouver Canucks’ Aaron Rome, publicly admitted that he consulted Burke over the protocol used to issue a suspension in a Stanley Cup final.
The revelation caused many critics, mainly centred in British Columbia, to cry foul, citing that Burke had a conflict of interest because, among other things, he had been fired by the Canucks. They also wagged an accusing finger at Burke, now the general manager of the Maple Leafs, for his alleged interest in the Sedins a couple of years ago when the twins were on the verge of becoming unrestricted free agents.
Burke delivered a strong message to all the cospiracy theorists out there when he was asked about the controversy at the NHL general managers’ meetings Wednesday in Boston.
“I could care less what people say,” Burke said. “I don’t give a damn about that stuff. If you want to question my trades, fine. But don’t question my integrity….
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke Consulted In Rome Suspension - Canucks Furious
by Paul on 06/07/11 at 07:28 PM ET
Comments (10)
from Matthew Sekeres of the Globe and Mail,
The Vancouver Canucks were furious with the four-game suspension handed down by the NHL to defenceman Aaron Rome Tuesday.
One day after head coach Alain Vigneault and captain Henrik Sedin admitted Rome’s hit on Boston Bruins forward Nathan Horton was late, the Canucks were singing a different tune, more defiant in their characterization of the hit, and outraged at the league.
And there’s good reason for that. Several of them, in fact.
For starters was Mike Murphy’s admission that he consulted with Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, a former NHL disciplinarian, before arriving at his decision. The mere mention of Burke’s name elicits anger from the Canucks, because his relationship with team owner Francesco Aquilini is toxic.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Vancouver Canucks, NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Leafs Want to Swing a Deal
by Alanah McGinley on 06/04/11 at 02:20 PM ET
Comments (1)
From Fox News:
The word is out. Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke is looking to swing a deal.
Burke informed the media at the NHL Scouting Combine on Saturday that he would be willing to trade one of his two first-round picks and a second-round selection (No. 39 overall) to move up in what he feels is as deep a draft as there’s been in some time.
“We’re trying to move up, but haven’t had any luck yet ... it’s still pretty early,” Burke said. “We own the 25th pick (from Philadelphia) and either a 29 or 30 from Boston (depending on the result of Stanley Cup Final), and we’re trying to package 39 and one of those first-rounders.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: brian+burke, nhl+draft, scouting+combine,
Burke Being Burke
by Paul on 04/12/11 at 03:28 PM ET
Comments (4)
from Terry Koshan of the Toronto Sun,
What about the perceived consensus in the public that if a coach fails to make the playoffs in three consecutive years, there should be a coaching change?
“We don’t run this team by consensus,” Burke said. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what the consensus is.”
more from Burke…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Video- Three Spins On The Spin-A-Rama Move
by Paul on 03/16/11 at 04:29 PM ET
Comments (2)
Steve Yzerman, Brian Burke, and Ray Shero seem to have different views of the shootout move.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Ray+Shero, Steve+Yzerman,
Does Toronto Need A Brash Burke?
by Paul on 02/23/11 at 10:42 AM ET
Comments (2)
from Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail,
...is Burke’s agitated media style effective in the manic Toronto hockey market? In Anaheim, where hockey is the equivalent of crickets chirping, Burke’s bluster was a necessary noise to stir up interest in the Ducks. In Toronto, crickets chirping at the ACC warrants 24-point type. In that climate, Burke’s carny act only inflames the nerve endings of an already agitated fan base. He must keep topping himself, forever churning his roster.
Hence the three-year Tomas Kaberle departure watch in which the modest defenceman ascended to Carmelo Anthony stratosphere as Burke sought to trade him. The protracted Favre-ian melodrama left the city and its media exhausted by the time Kaberle was eventually dismissed to Boston last week.
The question: Does Burke’s over-wrought media style - tie askew, eyes burning with caffeined intensity - help or does it only beget more agitation?
more plus some Heritage Classic talk…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Phil Kessel Was The Last Player Sitting - Do You Care?
by Paul on 01/29/11 at 01:03 PM ET
Comments (14)
This tweet from Darren Dreger gives us Brian Burke’s thoughts on Kessel being picked last in the ASG Draft last night..
Brian Burke suggests last 5 players of the ASG draft should be drawn out of a hat. Doesn’t like negative focus on Kessel.
Now we know how Burke feels, or do we? Last night on Sportsnet…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: 2011+All-Star+Game, Brian+Burke, Phil+Kessel,
The Whole Burke
by Paul on 01/27/11 at 11:41 PM ET
Comments (0)
from Jeff Blair of the Globe and Mail,
Look: you sign Burke to run your team and you get the whole package. You get the loyalty and sentimentality and the requisite amount of blarney. You get the philosophical accoutrements: the “personal” Christmas trade freeze that supersedes the league’s own mandated Dec. 19-27 roster freeze; the unwillingness to extend offer sheets to restricted free agents; and the willingness to stick his nose in his peers’ business, such as when he testified on the NHL’s behalf in its arbitration hearing against the New Jersey Devils regarding the signing of Ilya Kovalchuk.
Burke supported the league’s case that Kovalchuk’s contract was a deliberate circumvention of the league’s salary cap, and when our own James Mirtle asked him, essentially, whether the general manager of the deep-pocketed Maple Leafs wasn’t obligated to do some circumventing of his own, he replied:
“I don’t mind being on an island … where I believe there’s a principle involved. These deals constituted cap circumvention, and I have steadfastly refused to do them.”
That is vintage Burke, and reveals why the perception that the Toronto media is somehow soft on him is a non-starter. First, Burke’s culpability in putting together a toxic mix of marginal talents and timid, under-performing defencemen has been oft-referenced, as is his culpability in trading for Phil The Thrill and unleashing the three-headed goaltender dragon.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
LLL - Burke Has Done a Lot of Good
by Shiv on 01/22/11 at 01:29 PM ET
Comments (5)
Brian Burke has done a lot of good.
He really has.
He found a way to turn Jason Blake into Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
He brought in Dion Phaneuf, Fredrik Sjostrom and Keith Aulie for Matt Stajan, Nicklas Hagman and Ian White.
He has slowly replenished a once depleted prospect pool to feature the likes of Kadri, Caputi, Reimer, D’Amigo, Ross, Rynnas, McKegg, Brunnstrom – many of whom he landed without giving up a material asset.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Morning Line
by Paul on 01/01/11 at 09:29 AM ET
Comments (0)
“Playing for Ron Wilson, there has not been a lack of effort. When we lose, it has not been a coaching issue.
“Going into the New Year, the positive thing I see is that we’ve been playing well pretty much for 50-54 minutes per game. But we always seem to have these clumps of mistakes which cost us. I thought we played a good game (Dec. 16) in Calgary. We were tied. Then they scored three goals in about a minute and that was it.
“We are one of three or four youngest teams in the league. Like I said, we play good hockey for most nights but just have these poor spurts. That’s no excuse. That’s like saying: ‘Other than the (obvious), Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?’ ”
-Toronto Maple leafs GM Brian Burke. More on the Leafs from Mike Zeisberger of the Toronto Sun.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke Keeps Saying Yes
by Paul on 12/21/10 at 09:57 AM ET
Comments (1)
from Mary Rogan of GQ,
Still, Burke desperately wishes he didn’t have to do any of this. He doesn’t want to cry in front of teenage boys. He doesn’t want to stare at the overflowing basket of unopened sympathy cards sitting on his desk. He doesn’t want to tell Brendan’s story to strangers. All he really wants to do is something he’s the best at in the NHL: managing a professional hockey team and winning a fistful of games along the way.
Mostly, though, he doesn’t want to believe he’s the worst possible person for the job that Brendan started, but he knows it’s true. He’s built a career on not blowing sunshine up his own ass and pretending he’s good at something he’s not. He knows that everything he needs now, to carry this water for Brendan, he doesn’t have. Brendan had it, the poise and natural charm, the easy passage between two worlds. Brendan was perfect for the job. Brendan went first. Now he has to go second.
more, a long read but recommended….
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, Hockey Related Stories | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
The Time Bomb in Toronto
by Shiv on 12/18/10 at 12:32 PM ET
Comments (3)
There is a time bomb ticking away in Toronto. And its inevitability is…well, inevitable.
The Leafs’ Cup drought is going to extend beyond 50 years. How could it not?
The Leafs exist in a world with Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. Pavel Datsyuk and Jonathan Toews. Eric Staal and Ryan Getzlaf. Mike Richards and Steven Stamkos.
Datsyuk is the only player above not drafted in the first-round. But ask any GM in the NHL about which forward they would pick first to win the Stanley Cup today and Datsyuk would surely chalk up a few votes, regardless of how obvious a choice Crosby or Ovechkin may seem.
Tonight the Leafs head into GM Place in Vancouver to take on a team that has 10 former 1st Rounders in their line up. Ironically, two of those 1st Rounders happen to be Henrik and Daniel Sedin, a duo that Brian Burke went out of his way to secure in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Ron+Wilson,
Video- Burke Discusses The State Of The Leafs
by Paul on 12/14/10 at 05:13 PM ET
Comments (0)
via Sportsnet,
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Where Did Burke Go Wrong?
by Paul on 12/11/10 at 10:13 AM ET
Comments (2)
from Ken Campbell of The Hockey News,
Burke has gone wrong in the way he has grossly misjudged the hockey market in Toronto. He bought into all the age-old and misguided notions about this organization and its fan base, and in doing so, used that observation to make a flurry of ill-advised moves.
Shortly after Burke was hired in 2008, he opined that, “The guy that turns this team around and wins a championship here, they’re going to name schools after him.” A search of the hundreds of schools in the Toronto area failed to come up with a Conn Smythe Elementary or Punch Imlach Secondary and the way the Leafs are headed, it’s probably fair to say the Toronto District Board of Education won’t be breaking ground on the Brian Burke Middle School anytime soon.
And that’s because for all his smarts and his ability to change cultures, Burke believed the same myths that have been perpetuated by this organization for far too long. He was brought in to make the organization a winner and was seduced into believing the rebuild had to be done quickly. And nothing could have been further from the truth.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke Now Quoting Shakespeare
by Paul on 12/04/10 at 10:34 AM ET
Comments (5)
from Ron MacLean of CBC,
I was hoping to have Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke join me to answer question we’ve been raising on the show, but he declined.
I asked if I could give the exact quote he gave me for his decision to opt out. He said no. After giving him my views on the importance of the dialogue, Brian said “Explain it, then. I have no obligation here. Write and say whatever you want.” That would be fine, except that saying and writing what we want is the reason Brian’s not coming on the show.He made it clear he did not like what has been said on our show. I explained a few bits about the balance we’ve brought, and explained the value of his appearance to our show and his fans.
Brian quipped, “Methinks, the lady doth protest too much”. Got me there. Funny it was on his mind in the hours after his vote of confidence for Ron Wilson.
more from Ron on today’s HNIC…
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL Media, Hockey Broadcasting, CBC HNIC | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Ron+MacLean,
Burke’s Two Year Anniversary
by Paul on 11/28/10 at 07:35 PM ET
Comments (0)
from James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail,
Introduced as the Maple Leafs GM on Nov. 29, 2008, Burke’s plan to rebuild on the fly can charitably be called a work in progress two years in.
The Leafs have yet to make the playoffs, don’t have a first-round pick until 2012 and, after bottoming out in 29th place in the 30-team NHL a year ago with 74 points, are on pace for just 71 this season.
After two ugly losses this past weekend, Toronto has a 65-75-24 record under Burke, and his team-building strategy has been curiously at odds with what has worked for most franchises since the NHL’s salary cap was introduced.
With that in mind, here’s a look back at the good, the bad and the ugly of Burke’s first two years as Leafs GM.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
“My Dad Hates Losing”- Katie Burke
by Paul on 11/19/10 at 11:41 PM ET
Comments (3)
As Brian Burke prepared to mark his 1,000th game as a general manager in the National Hockey League this weekend, his daughter Katie Burke wrote to The Globe and Mail in response to media columnist Bruce Dowbiggin’s article on Friday. Dowbiggin reported a debate as to whether the media in Toronto is holding back criticism of the Maple Leafs General Manager out of sympathy, as Brian Burke continues to grieve the loss of his son Brendan in a car accident last year.
As Brian’s oldest daughter, I wanted to take a moment to clarify some of the assumptions made in the ongoing conversation within the Toronto media:
First and foremost, my dad hates losing. Hates it. He hates losing at Scrabble, he hates losing a bet, and he really hates losing hockey games.
Growing up, the first thing you told any friend who attended a hockey game with you was that if the team lost, they would be well advised not to speak to my dad after the game. I can guarantee you that there is nothing the media could write or say about the Leafs’ performance that my dad hasn’t thought himself, and no one is more critical of his own work than my father.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Take It Easy On Brian Burke?
by Paul on 11/18/10 at 10:48 PM ET
Comments (3)
from Bruce Dowbiggin of the Globe and Mail,
With the Maple Leafs floundering, it’s hard not to find fault – okay, a lot of fault – with the lack of progress since Burke grabbed the wheel. But The Fan 590’s Howard Berger has blogged that Burke’s heart doesn’t seem in his work since his son’s death, a suggestion Burke rejects.
So should media mitigate the barbs? Thursday on Andrew Krystal in the Morning on The Fan in Toronto, Krystal interviewed Todd Kays, co-author of Sports Psychology for Dummies. Krystal confessed he was having a hard time dissing Burke in light of his grief. So what’s a talking head supposed to do?
Kays’s response was simple. While we must be sensitive to people’s grief, the Ohio State University professor said the world moves on. “At some point, life goes back on. That’s the sad thing that when somebody dies in our lives, we think the whole world should stop. The reality is, it doesn’t.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
No Email Trail In Burke’s Days With The NHL
by Paul on 11/18/10 at 02:58 PM ET
Comments (5)
from Scott Burnside of ESPN,
Brian Burke figured if there had been e-mail when he was the lord of the NHL’s office of discipline, the current firestorm over Colin Campbell’s indelicate messages to staffers would look like a single sparkler on a windy day.
“I felt exactly like Colie felt,” Burke told ESPN.com on Wednesday. “There were divers and clowns in our league and I called them that.”
The only difference is Campbell provided such assessment in electronic mail that lived on long past the moment that spawned the comments which ultimately ended up as evidence in a wrongful dismissal suit and fodder for the media.
“If I’d used e-mail, I’d have used the same language,” said Burke, who was vice president and director of hockey operations for the NHL from 1993-98. “Only I didn’t get caught because there was no e-mail trail.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Colin+Campbell,
Morning Line
by Paul on 11/09/10 at 08:46 AM ET
Comments (6)
“Talking about a coaching challenge in response to one goal is like killing a house fly with a bazooka.
“All of a sudden, we’re talking about a rule change because of one goal. Our group gets paid to not panic on rule changes and not overreact. This, to me, seems like an overreaction of the highest magnitude.”
-Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke. More from Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL Talk | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Home Town Fans Booing Phaneuf
by Paul on 11/02/10 at 01:39 PM ET
Comments (6)
from Bob McKenzie of TSN,
Brian Burke is a fervent believer that when fans purchase a ticket to a sporting event, those fans are entitled to boo or cheer or express themselves in any way they see fit, so long as it’s not vulgar or racist.
That said, the Toronto Maple Leaf general manager is also a big believer in freedom of speech and he said it is “disgraceful” that some fans at the Air Canada Centre on Saturday night booed Leafs’ captain Dion Phaneuf.
“Are they entitled to do it?” Burke said, “Sure, they are. And I honestly don’t believe it was a lot of them. It doesn’t take many fans booing to be heard so I think we’re talking about a very small number, but my opinion is that it’s disgraceful to boo Dion Phaneuf for everything he has done for this franchise, on and off the ice, in a very short period of time.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Dion+Phaneuf,
Burke’s Madness
by Paul on 10/28/10 at 12:02 PM ET
Comments (3)
from Chris Richards of the Deep End at the Vancouver Province,
Nobody manipulates the media and uses it to motivate his team quite like Brian Burke. While Gillis employs sleep-tracking methods, dietary controls and cutting edge training techniques, Burke takes the old school approach and threatens people with their jobs to make them play to their full potential. Two weeks in to the season and Burke is already bandying about trade rumours to reporters, saying he has had a couple very “solid” offers recently. This is all presumably to light a fire under his team after they dropped a couple of contests following their ridiculously successful start to the season. Nothing to get a team motivated like the fear of getting shipped to Carolina.
In the past I have been critical of Burke’s methods. You don’t see any other GM in the league on the highlights as much as Burke, probably not all of them combined, and after awhile it seems like he is doing some of the yapping to feed his own ego.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
The Face Of The Leafs
by Paul on 10/18/10 at 08:50 AM ET
Comments (0)
from Roy MacGregor of the Globe and Mail,
The general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs turned 55 early this summer. His once red hair – bulrushes for follicles – has turned the colour of spring ice. His big, glowing Irish face remains set in what appears to be constant fury, belying both the wit that lies not far beneath the surface and the sentimental sob that hides somewhat deeper. He is almost as complicated as his job description.
In a team that polarizes fans – lionized and loved by half the country, resented and ridiculed by the other half – Burke, far more than any individual player, has become the face of hockey’s most powerful franchise.
And given that the Leafs began the season as the NHL’s hottest club – currently sitting 4-0-0 – that polarization has risen to levels not even imagined by the Ignatieffs and Harpers of the country.
Burke is, for hockey circles, a bit of an enigma: an American who prefers Canadians; a journeyman player who chose school over dreaming; a man who is both gruff and articulate in a culture known for politeness and clichés.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke Always Learning
by Paul on 10/09/10 at 08:53 PM ET
Comments (0)
from Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star,
Brian Burke’s approach to making the Leafs a respected contender is simple. He soaks up something important from almost everyone he meets, and seeks out those he can learn from. Some of the most important lessons he’s picked up along the way: be decisive, realize assets come in many forms, and while you can’t always be compassionate, fairness is not negotiable….
“I called Bill Polian (Indianapolis Colts president). This is eight or nine years ago probably, well before we had a salary cap. I said, ‘We’re going toward a salary cap, I know we’re going to have one.’ I (didn’t) have the first idea how to handle a salary cap, how to manage a salary cap and I certainly don’t want to learn on the fly. I don’t want to hit the ground walking on this. If they put in a cap, what do I do? He said, ‘C’mon in. Talk to our cap guys.’ So I spent the better part of a day going over how they manage the cap.”
“Later on in the day, I’m sitting in Bill’s office and he had a depth chart and there was a little red box on three of the offensive linemen. I said, ‘What’s the little red box?’ He said, ‘They’re all unrestricted free agents.’ Of course, I’m thinking old system NHL where you’ve got to get something for everybody. And I went, ‘Oh my God, what are you going to do?’ and he looked at me like I had two heads. ‘What do you mean, what am I going to do? I’m going to replace them.’ I said, ‘You’re not going to get anything for them?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to get back all the cap space….
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke Talks Leafs
by Paul on 10/05/10 at 04:50 PM ET
Comments (1)
Make sure to catch Burke’s remark about the Toronto Sun at the 1:40 mark of the video.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Evening Line
by Paul on 09/27/10 at 07:59 PM ET
Comments (0)
“This business is all about parades and jewelry. If you get those things, you don’t have to explain one thing.”
-Brian Burke, GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs. More from Burke and the Leafs by Damien Cox of the Toronto Star.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
What’s The Cure For This Disease?
by Paul on 09/21/10 at 02:06 PM ET
Comments (0)
from of Vinay Menon the Toronto Star,
Then Burke starts talking about something he calls “blue and white disease.” And suddenly, as a lifelong Leafs fan, I question my devotion.
“The absolute insistence on winning was not here,” says Burke, who put together the Anaheim Ducks club that won the Stanley Cup in 2007. “If you need to be a championship team, success has to be something that’s desirable and attainable at any price. I really believe when I got here that the team had blue and white disease.”
This sickness, he explains, is caused by contradictions and market realities. No matter how poorly the team has played the organization thrived as the NHL’s most lucrative franchise. Win or lose, to be a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs meant you were paid handsomely, in the media and league spotlight, and lionized in the public as a demigod.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Top Gun Burke
by Paul on 09/03/10 at 01:24 PM ET
Comments (6)
from TSN Video,
Leafs GM Brian Burke took a ride in an CF-18 and talks about the once in a lifetime experience.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Think Rationally About The Olympics
by Paul on 08/25/10 at 05:32 PM ET
Comments (0)
So says Brian Burke.
Filed in: NHL Teams, NHL Talk, Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Winter+Olympics,
Evening Line
by Paul on 07/26/10 at 08:44 PM ET
Comments (2)
“No one is going to be able to prove circumvention until one of these guys retires and by then we’ll be in a new CBA. But I’m comfortable that a number of these players are, in fact, going to walk.
“I don’t believe these players are going to play in their mid-40s. And I don’t believe they’re going to play for what they’re making in those final years. So it defies logic. It may not defy the CBA. But it defies logic to think that players are going to serve the term of all these contracts. So that’s why we don’t do them. And a number of teams don’t do them. If the league thinks that this is one that they need to look into, then we support that.”
-Brian Burke on what he calls “back-diving deals”. More from Michael Traikos of the National Post.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL Talk, NHLPA | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke vs. Cherry - Who Wins?
by Paul on 06/04/10 at 06:40 AM ET
Comments (2)
from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,
The two loudest and most stubborn men in hockey are claiming that all is well in their apparent war of words, while evidence to the contrary may indicate the opposite.
One day after Brian Burke said he was “sour, I can tell you that” about comments made about his Toronto Maple Leafs on Don Cherry’s Coach’s Corner segment on Hockey Night In Canada, Burke said he spoke to Cherry Thursday afternoon by telephone and indicated that “it’s no big deal, I promise.”
After Wednesday’s general managers meetings in downtown Philadelphia, Burke, the president and general manager of the Maple Leafs, appeared put out about what Cherry has been saying about the Leafs and Burke on Hockey Night and indicated he would have something to say after the Stanley Cup final was over.
Never one to hold back, Burke said: “We have been getting a lot of shots on Hockey Night In Canada and I don’t think the Stanley Cup finals is the appropriate place to start throwing hand grenades back.”
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, NHL Media, Hockey Broadcasting, CBC HNIC | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Don+Cherry,
Report- Burke Will Continue His GM Job For Team USA
by Paul on 04/11/10 at 04:00 PM ET
Comments (0)
from Scott Burnside of ESPN,
Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke will reprise his role from the Vancouver Olympics as team GM for the United States at this spring’s World Championships, a source connected to USA Hockey said.
The U.S. management team and coaching staff for the World Championships, to be held in Germany in May, is expected to be named later this week, with Burke as GM and New York Islanders coach Scott Gordon as coach, the source said.
Filed in: Non-NHL Hockey, International Hockey | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: Brian+Burke, Team+USA,
