Kukla's Korner Hockey
Entries with the tag: brian+burke
What’s The Cure For This Disease?
by Paul on 09/21/10 at 03:06 PM ET
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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.
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Top Gun Burke
by Paul on 09/03/10 at 02:24 PM ET
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from TSN Video,
Leafs GM Brian Burke took a ride in an CF-18 and talks about the once in a lifetime experience.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Think Rationally About The Olympics
by Paul on 08/25/10 at 06:32 PM ET
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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 09:44 PM ET
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“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 07:40 AM ET
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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 05:00 PM ET
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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.
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Tags: Brian+Burke, Team+USA,
Burke Has A Long Way To Go With The Leafs
by Paul on 04/09/10 at 08:07 PM ET
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from James Mirtle of the Globe and Mail,
With four years remaining on his contract in Toronto, Burke’s well-earned reputation in Vancouver and Anaheim may now be in jeopardy as early as next season, and it rests with an unorthodox plan to fast-track the Leafs’ rebuild, eschew the draft and use his team’s financial advantages whenever possible.
While there have been positive signs the past two months, there’s also a long way to go and a salary-cap crunch this summer as tight as any in the league. The Leafs will again be a work in progress next season and, quite likely, be a long shot to make the postseason.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
The “Bear Hug” Proposal
by Paul on 04/01/10 at 09:01 PM ET
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from Darren Dreger of TSN,
Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke is convinced a good hug may go a long way to curbing a constant safety issue in the NHL - hitting from behind.
Burke is lobbying the league to allow what he calls a “bear hug,” where a player, usually a defenseman, is allowed to wrap his arms around the targeted player, for a fleeting moment, while he takes him into the boards.
Burke says this change would avoid the “billiard-ball” force hits that exist now where all of the force is transferred directly from the “hitter” to the “hittee.”
continued...
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Inside Hockey With Brian Burke
by Paul on 03/06/10 at 09:24 PM ET
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Elliotte Friedman of HNIC interviews Brian Burke and discusses both Team USA and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
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Tags: Brian+Burke, Team+USA,
Evening Line
by Paul on 02/27/10 at 10:18 PM ET
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“I’ve been in the room when owners have said, ‘We’re not going to the Olympics,. Some of our markets are challenged, attendance-wise. To close our doors and say, thanks for your patronage, come back in two-and-a-half weeks. ... If any other business did that, people would be giving them the award for imbecility.”
-Team USA General Manager Brian Burke. More from Burke on this topic from Mark Whicker of the OC Register.
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Burke’s World
by Paul on 02/25/10 at 04:42 PM ET
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from Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated,
There is nothing small in Brian Burke’s world. He does not use small words. He does not say the pressure on Team Canada at the Olympics is intense; he says it is “glacial, unremitting, unrelenting.” He does not say that he prefers his NHL teams—over the last 18 years he has been the G.M. in Hartford, Vancouver, Anaheim and now Toronto—to be tough or even robust; they must have the “proper levels of pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence.” In macho throwdowns, Burke’s thesaurus is bigger than your thesaurus.
He does not make small trades. While other G.M.‘s tinker, swapping second-round draft choices for third-line rent-a-centers, Burke swings deals that bring 24-year-old franchise defenseman Dion Phaneuf and $7 million goaltender Jean-Sébastien Giguère to the Maple Leafs.
Burke does not have spats. He has epic Shakespearean feuds. In 2007, when Edmonton G.M. Kevin Lowe extended an offer sheet to winger Dustin Penner, a restricted free agent on Burke’s Stanley Cup—champion team in Anaheim, Burke lambasted the move and said, “If I had run my team into the sewer like [Lowe did], I wouldn’t throw a grenade at the other 29 teams.”
And now Burke’s grief matches the enormity of everything else in his life. On snow-slicked U.S. Highway 35 in Indiana, his 21-year-old son, Brendan, student manager of the top-ranked Miami (Ohio) hockey team, died in a car accident on Friday, Feb. 5.
read on (recommended)...
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Tags: Brian+Burke, Team+USA,
Evening Line
by Paul on 02/14/10 at 10:10 PM ET
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“We’re getting screwed on the schedule because we’re in Canada. I mean, it makes sense. They want Canada in the prime-time slot.
“Magically, when we play them, we’re in the 4:30 (PT) slot. How did that happen?”
Team USA General Manager Brian Burke. More from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail at CTVOlympics.
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Tags: Brian+Burke, Team+USA,
Burke’s Heart Heavy With Sorrow
by Paul on 02/12/10 at 10:41 PM ET
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from Mark Zwolinski of the Toronto Star,
Leafs general manager Brian Burke thanked the thousands of people, some of whom he has never met, for the support they showed for him and his family in the very difficult days following the death of his son, Brendan, in a traffic accident last week.
“The NHL family is at its best in a time of loss, and I’ll be thankful for that forever,” Burke said in St. Louis where the Leafs were playing. He was addressing the media for the first time since his son passed away from injuries suffered when his vehicle went out of control on snowy roads in Wayne County, Indiana.
“What was amazing too was letters, even from people I never met, wishing us well and showing their support.”
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Leafs Have Some Positive Signs
by Paul on 11/19/09 at 12:40 PM ET
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from Joe O’Conner of the National Post,
Burke’s goal going into the season was to make the playoffs, and the general manager believed he had the team to do it. That team has three wins in 19 games and, as it reaches the quarter-pole of the NHL season, is tied with Carolina for last place overall, with 11 points.
“How would I rate the season? Obviously, it is incomplete,” Burke said. “There are certain aspects of our play that have not lived up to our expectations, or even close to it, and there are some other positive signs.”
On the bright side for Burke is the Leafs’ work ethic, their conditioning, and the players’ willingness to stick up for one another like they did in Ottawa two nights ago, in a fight-filled contest featuring ample amounts of the truculence the GM holds dear.
Burke said the culture around Toronto has changed from passivity to a willingness to push back. And he went on to praise the power play, which is among the best in the league; his old college pal and Leafs head coach, Ron Wilson, for getting the team prepared to compete game in and game out; and Phil Kessel, for being the prize he thought he was getting when he traded two first round draft picks to Boston to land him.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Morning Line
by Paul on 10/24/09 at 08:25 AM ET
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“He’s the best goalie in the game right now, though he might have had some recent problems. He’s the best goalie in the NHL and he’s a great player. My point is that a lot of great players don’t sell tickets. I don’t think (Detroit’s multiple Norris Trophy winner) Nicklas Lidstrom sells tickets and he’s a lock first-ballot Hall of Famer. I think my team’s the same — we don’t have anybody who sells tickets. A player like Pavel Bure sold a lot of tickets.”
-Brian Burke speaking about Roberto Luongo. Via Jim Jamieson at the White Towel.
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All That Whining In Vancouver
by Paul on 10/24/09 at 07:34 AM ET
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from Matthew Sekeres of the Globe and Mail,
Despite an NHL-imposed gag order to cease and desist from public comments, Toronto Maple Leafs president and general manager Brian Burke painted the rival Vancouver Canucks as whiners and tattletales yesterday.
Burke, the former Canucks GM who is returning to his former haunt for the first time since assuming leadership of the Maple Leafs in November, admitted yesterday that he erred in allowing a team-produced video – in which he floats inaccurate trade rumours about Vancouver players – to appear on the club’s website. But Burke also insinuated the Canucks are responsible for the brouhaha, and that the whole incident could have been settled privately had Vancouver GM Mike Gillis called him and not the NHL head office.
“All the commentary on this has come out of Vancouver,” Burke said on the eve of a showdown between the teams at GM Place tonight. “Not a word out of Toronto.”
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A Look At Burke & Gainey
by Paul on 10/17/09 at 12:23 PM ET
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from Jack Todd of the Montreal Gazette,
Two weeks into this fledgling NHL season and it’s like being told you’ve just won a month’s vacation in Tahiti - with Louise Harel.
You don’t know whether to laugh or cry.
If you’re a partisan of Les Habitants, you want to weep.
But if you also happen to hate the Maple Leafs, you’re collapsing in hysterical giggles every time someone hits the punch line: “Brian Burke.”
As this tale of two cities unfolds (and it’s important to remember that the season is still so young it has to be burped after every game) the rapidly eroding fortunes of the Leafs and Habs are a big part of the early-season story line.
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Tags: Bob+Gainey, Brian+Burke,
Burke Believes In His Group
by Paul on 10/14/09 at 12:25 PM ET
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from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,
...even today, Burke has no qualms about the price he paid to get Kessel out of Boston last month—a pair of first-round picks and a second-rounder.
“Well, if I had known we’d be 0-6, I still would have done that trade,” Burke told ESPN.com on Wednesday. “I can’t draft a player who is going have that kind of impact this year in this draft. This is about being better this year. But I’m not annoyed at any reaction from the fans. When you’re 0-6, you should be grateful they’re still coming to the games.”
Because the Bruins do own that first-round pick this year, you can forget the Leafs pulling the plug early, if at all. No point making that pick look even better for Boston. Instead, I suspect Burke will continue to try to improve this team. One NHL GM told ESPN.com on Tuesday the Leafs boss had contacted him and undoubtedly others. But when your team is winless in six games to start the season, great deals are hard to find.
“The ones that are calling, it’s not a helpful group,” Burke said of talks with other GMs. “I haven’t got anything but anchors thrown at me. We’re not in a hurry. If I didn’t think this group could get the job done, I’d be more concerned. But I believe in the group.”
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Be Quiet Burke
by Paul on 09/30/09 at 09:26 AM ET
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from Jason Botchford of The White Towel,
In a new special on Leafs TV called Behind the Draft 2009, Burke is essentially caught rumour mongering. In the documentary-styled, multi-chapter feature, which was filmed at June’s NHL Draft, the general manager, who has described members of the media as “maggots” and “scumbags,” makes an unsubstantiated, admittedly speculative claim, alleging the Canucks made a strong push for Victor Hedman. He is the Swedish defenceman who the Tampa Bay Lightning drafted second overall.
Burke is filmed in June at the beginning of the draft in the Leafs war room where he is seen addressing his scouting staff. “Vancouver has made a major effort to get the second pick out of Tampa Bay,” says Burke on Part 1 of the series which can be seen on the Leafs’ web site. “We heard they offered, again this is all second hand so we don’t know if it’s true. We heard they offered (Alex) Burrows, (Kevin) Bieksa and their own pick. Those are two pretty good players.”
He’s right. They are two pretty good players whose inclusion in the alleged deal make the rumour sound pretty outlandish.
It’s one thing for Burke to make the comment in his war room. That’s fair game. It’s another entirely to allow it to air.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
As Ducks GM, Burke Offered Steve Moore A Contract To Play
by Paul on 09/25/09 at 09:08 PM ET
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from CBC Sports,
Brian Burke offered injured player Steve Moore an opportunity to resume his hockey career while both sides were still embroiled in a lawsuit in Colorado, according to documents obtained by CBC News.
Moore has not played since getting hit from behind by Vancouver Canucks forward Todd Bertuzzi while a member of the Colorado Avalanche in a March 8, 2004 game.
Burke was Vancouver’s general manager at the time of the incident, but the Aug. 12, 2005, offer letter was made while he was serving as GM for Anaheim. It was a two-way contract offer that would have paid Moore $475,000 US in the NHL and $75,000 if the player suited up for Portland, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Ducks.
“In my opinion, Steve had progressed to the level of a competent minor league forward who would fill on occasion in the event of injury,” Burke said in the letter, directed to Larry Kelly, Moore’s agent.
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Tags: Brian+Burke, Steve+Moore,
What Do You Know, Burke Wants Team USA To Hit
by Paul on 09/24/09 at 09:32 PM ET
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from Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal,
Brian Burke, the general manager of the U.S. Olympic hockey program, has a new plan to win gold in Vancouver. Forget the graceful, athletic style of play that dominates on Olympic ice. He’s planning to conquer the world the old-fashioned way: by hitting people….
With his shock of gray-white hair, red face and brash New England accent, Mr. Burke more resembles a dockworker on Boston Harbor than someone who makes his living in the NHL’s executive suites. Every four years, he says, hockey fans stop him in the streets after the Olympics to proclaim their love for the international style and convey their hopes that the NHL will switch to a larger rink. Mr. Burke has no use for them.
“I tell them to go watch a game in the Czech league, where every shot comes from 12, 14 feet away from the net and no one checks anyone the whole damn game,” he said. “It drives me absolutely nuts.”
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Tags: Brian+Burke, Team+USA,
Afternoon Line
by Paul on 08/17/09 at 02:10 PM ET
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“I don’t know any other sport that closes its door for 2½ weeks in the middle of the season. What I’d like to see is this become a Summer Olympic Games [sport]....”
-Brian Burke speaking about the Olympics as it relates to Ice Hockey. More from Burke at the Globe and Mail.
added 5:14pm, from Mick Kern of NHL Home Ice,
But whatever you do, leave the sport of hockey in the Winter Olympics. If the NHL teams and players wanna take their puck and go home, let them. We don’t need any more manufactured drama, nor does the league need to shut down its product during two weeks of the worst month of the year.
Then again, having NHL stars play in the Olympics means there’s no NHL All-Star Game that season.
Hmm, let me reconsider this.
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Tags: Brian+Burke, Winter+Olympics,
Burke Talking Tough
by Paul on 08/05/09 at 07:54 AM ET
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from Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun,
Burke said he is “excited” to see what Kaberle can do with some of the veteran defencemen he acquired, particularly Mike Komisarek and Francois Beauchemin.
“Say your first (defensive unit) is Kaberle and Komisarek,” Burke said. “Kaberle is not picking his teeth out of the glass all night (anymore). I’m excited about that.
“There’s some notion that everyone has to be tough on a hockey team. They don’t. You have to surround your skill guys with enough size and toughness that they can play their game. And I think that’s what we’ve done.”
Burke reiterated his belief that the club’s so-called skill players—Mikhail Grabovski, Jason Blake, etc—could enjoy excellent seasons because they now are surrounded with sandpaper.
“I believe that toughness and fear are contagious,” the GM said. “And I count on improved performance from some of those kids just because we’re bigger and meaner.”
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke Talks CBA
by Paul on 07/27/09 at 01:35 PM ET
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from Adam Proteau of The Hockey News,
“We absolutely need to look at term limits,” Burke told THN.com Friday afternoon, before embarking on a week-long west coast vacation with his wife. “I personally do not believe some players have any intention of fulfilling some of these long-term contracts.”
Another rule Burke has lobbied to change for some time is the so-called “four-recall rule,” which limits NHL teams to just four player promotions from their American League affiliate after the trade deadline – as long as that AHL affiliate is still in contention for a playoff spot or playing in the post-season; if their affiliate is out of the playoff mix, there is no limit as to the number of players an NHL team can call up.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burks Always On
by Paul on 07/09/09 at 08:50 AM ET
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from Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun,
He will hang up the “Gone Fishing” sign and head for a remote part of B.C. next week with some of his hockey pals, but if you know Brian Burke, you can bet he is never completely closed for business.
It’s been an active and productive week for the Maple Leafs general manager and, by anyone’s measure, no team has done more to re-tool its roster.
By virtue of their stoutly bolstered defence, the Leafs are already a markedly different team in both style and substance. Add the acquisition of free-agent goaltender Jonas Gustavsson this week and the Leafs shouldn’t be anywhere near the liability they were in their own end this past season.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Afternoon Line
by Paul on 07/07/09 at 02:51 PM ET
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“We’re not doing a traditional model here, people should figure that out. You look at the pre-cap rebuilding jobs, you look at Ottawa and you look at Pittsburgh, and basically the philosophy was, ‘Let’s finish dead last or next to dead last for 4-5 years and get top picks and we’ll turn it around.’ I don’t see any reason to repeat that here. I don’t think our fans here would be that patient. As long as they see a plan, I think they’ll be patient for a retooling, but not a demolition.
“Stripping down to the chassis and rebuilding it is certainly not what ownership has asked me to do. We’re not rebuilding here, we’re retooling.”
-Leafs GM Brian Burke. More on Burke and the Leafs from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN.
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Evening Lines
by Paul on 06/26/09 at 11:16 PM ET
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“I will tell you this – the best hockey fans on the planet are not in Montreal, they’re in Toronto. When we host this event in a couple years this will seem like child’s play for the booing they get in Toronto.”
“Could we have moved up? Easily, we could have done it easily, we could have done it on the floor, we could have done it two weeks ago – if we put Luke Schenn in the deal. To me that’s a step backwards for our franchise.
“My ego’s not that big I’ve got to get up there in the first two picks every couple years. I think for the Toronto Maple Leafs we made a prudent decision to keep the kid that I think will be our captain in a couple years.”
-Brian Burke. More from Chris Johnston of the CP via the Toronto Star.
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Tags: brian+burke,
Burke Getting Heckled
by Paul on 06/26/09 at 04:38 PM ET
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via Arthur Staple of In the Crease at Newsday,
The Leafs GM is already in the Bell Centre, along with a few hundred fans who are heckling the snot out of Burke. This is not Leafs country.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke Not Interested In Heatley
by Paul on 06/17/09 at 03:28 PM ET
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from TSN,
Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke let it be known that the Leafs will not be in on the Dany Heatley sweepstakes, and he pulled no punches along the way.
In a phone interview with Deb Placey and Billy Jaffe on NHL Live! broadcast on the NHL network, Burke stated that the Leafs had no interest in the two-time 50 goal scorer, largely because of the way he has chosen to handle his trade request.
“We’re not going to be in on that,” Burke stated. “He’s a good player but I have certain guidelines on how players ask for trades.”
I was listening to the interview and one thing not mentioned in the above story is Burke was asked about the Phoenix/Hamilton issue. Burke said he cannot discuss right now, the league is handling the issue, but once he gets the OK to talk about it, NHL Live should book him for an hour, because he has a lot to say on that topic.
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Tags: Brian+Burke, Dany+Heatley,
Leafs “Moving On” from Cujo
by Alanah McGinley on 06/09/09 at 03:25 PM ET
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From TSN:
The Toronto Maple Leafs will not bring Curtis Joseph back for the 2009-10 season, reports the Toronto Sun.
General manager Brian Burke told the newspaper the Maple Leafs will look for another option as their backup goaltender in the coming season.
“Great service as a Leaf,” Burke told the Sun on Monday. “But we are moving on.”
*Original report from the Toronto Sun is here
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Tags: brian+burke, curtis+joseph,
Burke Talks Next Year
by Paul on 04/02/09 at 08:48 AM ET
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Instead of pointing to the numerous Brian Burke stories today, I thought I would just post the video of Burke talking about his future plans for the Leafs.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
A Shot At Cox, Then A Shot Back
by Paul on 03/30/09 at 08:56 AM ET
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from Damien Cox of The Spin at the Toronto Star,
Got blasted by Don Cherry on Coach’s Corner on Saturday night for having an “agenda” to get fighting out of hockey.
Guilty. If they put that on my tombstone, I’ll be okay with that.
Don’t get me wrong. Grapes may not like me, but I like him fine. Have suggested several times he belongs in the broadcaster’s wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame, so I think I’m on the record as having respect for his accomplishments as a broadcaster. As a junior coach, not so much.
All I can say is I haven’t made a dime off pushing the notion that fighting has no place in hockey.
more, including a youtube of Coach’s Corner and additional hockey topics discussed, one which is the Brian Burke parody Twitter.
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Tags: Brian+Burke, Don+Cherry,
Brian Burke On Chris Pronger
by Paul on 02/04/09 at 06:25 PM ET
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Brian Burke appeared on Fan590 about an hour ago. Burke talked Leafs and then was asked about the Pronger to Toronto rumors. His response, “He is not coming here, not a chance.”
Burke then went on to say the package Anaheim GM Bob Murray would get for Pronger is a “#1 pick and a kid.” I found it a bit interesting Burke did not say if he is traded, but instead just said this is the type of package Anaheim will get for Pronger.
You can listen here and the Pronger topic starts at the 7:20 mark..
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Tags: Brian+Burke, Chris+Pronger,
Burke On Fighting
by Paul on 01/22/09 at 10:34 AM ET
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from Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun,
Taking fighting out of the National Hockey League will “rip the fabric out of the game” and empower “the growing rat factor in our league,” Brian Burke says with emotion but not apology.
He is not about to change his view on fighting in hockey.
He believes in it. He welcomes it.
“First off, it’s an important part of our game historically,” said Burke, the president and general manager of the Maple Leafs. “It’s not like I came into the NHL five years ago. I see no reason to change that. That’s No. 1.
“To me, fighting is the mechanism that allows players to regulate the level of violence in the game ... There are already a number of players in our league who flaunt the system. Fighting brings accountability to that ... To me, there is a growing rat factor in our league right now. You know who those players are. I don’t have to name them. But do you want to turn the league over to them?”
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Afternoon Line
by Paul on 12/18/08 at 02:00 PM ET
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“I would have flown around the globe to be there last night. I was extremely disappointed to have been excluded.”
-Brian Burke speaking about the Trevor Linden ceremony last night. A little more at the Vancouver Sun.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Leafs Now Have Hope With Burke In Charge
by Paul on 12/12/08 at 07:56 AM ET
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from John Vogl of the Buffalo News,
The scene, to be acted out tonight, usually goes like this: Toronto fans, plentiful in number, will file into HSBC Arena. They’ll be loud. For a while, they’ll be boisterous. Then, when their team lets them down, they’ll trudge back across the border.
But even if the Maple Leafs follow form and lose to Buffalo tonight, Sabres fans might see a sly smile spread across the faces of their rivals. It’s because, thanks to Brian Burke, they have hope.
Leafs Nation has been dreaming of Burke for years, and the wish was granted Nov. 29 when he assumed the roles of president and general manager. The highly regarded hockey guru, who built a Stanley Cup winner in Anaheim, was hired to bring the Centre of the Hockey Universe back to the top of the hockey world.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Kindler, Gentler, Brian Burke
by Alanah McGinley on 12/08/08 at 12:10 PM ET
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From Jay Feaster at The Hockey News,
Brian Burke arrived in Toronto to great fanfare and he wasted little time before demonstrating why he is a media favorite. From quipping that former Leafs captain Mats Sundin has “two dollars less than God” and thus won’t be making a decision based on money, to stating that the Leafs’ third and fourth lines need to bring “belligerence” and “testosterone,” etc., Burkie blew into town like a perfect storm.
While that is the Brian Burke the public and media often see, I want to give you a glimpse into the “other” Brian Burke some of us inside the game are fortunate enough to know: in short, the “kinder and gentler” Burkie.
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Tags: brian+burke, jay+feaster,
Evening Line
by Paul on 12/04/08 at 07:23 PM ET
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Brian Burke’s certification as Maple Leafs monarch has plural positives for Toronto. For the first time since the Conn Smythe-Punch Imlach Eras, Toronto boasts a commanding leader who gives a face to the franchise.
Smythe and Imlach have 10 Stanley Cups between them. Now an eleventh will be possible once Burke gets the house in order; and that will only take a year.
-Stan Fishchler at the Hockey Journal where you can read more hockey notes from The Maven.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Ask a Stupid Question…
by Alanah McGinley on 12/01/08 at 02:38 PM ET
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From Mike Ulmer of the Toronto Maple Leafs:
I was curious about the ramifications of the relationship between Ron Wilson and Brian Burke. They go back, as you may have heard, to their first week of school at Providence College in Rhode Island.
“There’s a reason best friends often don’t date,” I said. “You two have never run an NHL team together. Are you worried that the pressures of the job will affect the friendship?”
First, guys don’t like it when you refer to their business relationship as “a date.” Wilson let that one go, which was kind.
Second, this is a classic cart-before-the-horse question.
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Tags: brian+burke, ron+wilson,
Covering Burke Could Be A Story
by Paul on 11/29/08 at 05:13 PM ET
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from Tom Harringon of CBC Sports,
Five years ago, I began doing research for a possible documentary on Burke for Sports Journal, the current affairs program I hosted for seven years. My interest was peaked after reading about a Vancouver radio host who made a lewd, suggestive remark about the wife of then-Canucks star Todd Bertuzzi.
Burke was outraged. He revoked accreditation for the station’s hockey reporters and pulled the club’s advertising from the station. The host was fired.
I contacted a wide range of reporters who covered the team on a regular basis to find out what was behind Burke’s actions. Whether they worked for newspapers, radio or television stations, one after the other told stories of Burke’s interfering, often intimidating style….
A producer described being invited to lunch by Burke then facing a verbal attack in front of stunned patrons. A hockey columnist said Burke met with his publisher on several occasions, demanding they dismiss the writer because of the thrust of his columns.
Others recalled scenes of Burke chewing out a reporter in the hallway outside the Canucks dressing room, in front of colleagues, with language that would make Andrew Dice Clay blush.
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Breaking Down The Burke Drafts
by Paul on 11/29/08 at 09:17 AM ET
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from Paul Hunter of the Toronto Star,
Those calling, or hoping, for new general manager Brian Burke to ratchet up the Maple Leafs’ rebuilding process by dumping veterans for draft picks, might be wise to tone down their enthusiasm.
During his years in Vancouver, Burke and his staff were not exactly draft day geniuses.
We all know that the entry draft is a guessing game at the best of times; an educated guessing game but a crap shoot nonetheless. And twice during his time heading up the Canucks, Burke completely crapped out on draft day.
Toronto will officially introduce Burke today at 2pm ET and you can watch at the Leafs site.
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Watching & Talking Burke
by Paul on 11/28/08 at 03:08 PM ET
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from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,
Just how Burke goes about getting the Leafs on the winning track will be the most compelling part of watching the new regime operate — who stays and who goes among players and front-office staff.
However, it will be interesting to see how Burke handles the communication demands in a market that’s unlike any he’s ever worked in before; and in an era with more information sources than ever before.
Burke’s never been afraid to try new things. The year his Ducks won the Stanley Cup, he wrote a trading-deadline diary for USA Today that was astonishingly good reading. Even if only referenced players who were actually traded (so as not to compromise the relationship between teams and players who were talked about, but not moved), his candor wasn’t especially well-received by every member of the general manager’s fraternity.
more plus many other NHL topics…
Update 3:19pm ET: (Alanah) Just a note… if you scroll to the bottom of Duhatschek’s article, you’ll see a note about HHOF broadcaster Jiggs McDonald being trapped in Bangkok along with many other Canadians. For more info on that and how their family and many others need help, you can check out this post I put up earlier as well.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke & Leafs Reach Agreement
by Alanah McGinley on 11/27/08 at 05:58 PM ET
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From David Shoalts at the Globe & Mail:
The Toronto Maple Leafs and Brian Burke have reached an agreement on a contract, which is still not official because he has not signed it, and he could be presented to the hockey public as the team’s new president and general manager on Friday.
A source familiar with the negotiations indicated that the only thing that remains to be done is to get Burke’s signature on the contract, which is expected to happen on Friday. Burke has been in Boston all week with his family to celebrate the U.S. Thanksgiving and did not plan to travel to Toronto until Friday.
Update 6:00pm ET: From TSN, the deal is signed—
The Brian Burke saga has finally reached it’s conclusion as Burke has officially signed his contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs and will become the team’s President and general manager.
The Toronto Sun is reporting that Burke signed the papers at his home in Boston prior to his Thanksgiving dinner.
Update 6:17pm ET: TSN has changed their report at the same link. It now states the deal is not signed:
Burke says he’s been told the deal is done, however he hasn’t reviewed or signed the contract as of yet.
Nothing is expected to be finalized until Friday.
Sportsnet.ca reports it’s a 6 year deal but that the announcement isn’t expected till Saturday.
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Burke Close To President/GM Title Of the Leafs
by Paul on 11/25/08 at 02:06 PM ET
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from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail,
Brian Burke and Gord Kirke are in the final lap of negotiations that will see Burke introduced as president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs in time for a big splash on the Hockey Night In Canada broadcast of their game with the Philadelphia Flyers.
It is still too early to say Burke is officially signed, but at this point there is no reason to believe the remaining details, which involve the power structure under Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment president Richard Peddie, cannot be worked out. If so, Burke will likely be introduced as the new Leaf boss on Friday or Saturday.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Burke & His Team
by Paul on 11/20/08 at 12:29 PM ET
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from The Spin, the blog of Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,
If Burke does sign on this weekend, it appears increasingly likely he won’t be coming alone. His visit to Vancouver this week will include a meeting with Dave Nonis, who worked with Burke in B.C. and was hired by Burke to work in Anaheim during the summer. Nonis had meetings with the Leafs last summer over their vacant executive position, but couldn’t come to an agreement, so clearly he’s already seriously considered re-locating east.
How that would affect the Leaf front office isn’t clear. Fletcher would likely stay on a consultant capacity at least until the end of the 19-month contract he signed last January, and Joe Nieuwendyk appears likely to be part of a Burke team. Burke didn’t immediately clean house when he took over in Vancouver or Anaheim, so he may be content with bringing Nonis in without dumping those already working in Toronto.
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The Burke Plan
by Paul on 11/15/08 at 08:50 AM ET
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from Damien Cox of the Toronto Star,
For starters, Burke doesn’t despise small players, but he doesn’t want many of ‘em. Maybe one or two. Maybe Mikhail Grabovski can stick around, but not Grabovski and Alex Steen and Jiri Tlusty and Jason Blake and Matt Stajan.
He doesn’t terribly mind Europeans. Right now, the Ducks have two, Teemu Selanne and Sammy Pahlsson.
The Leafs have 11 Europeans, only two of whom, Niklas Hagman and Jonas Frogren, really fit into Burke’s gritty ideal of an NHL player.
The Ducks led the NHL in fighting majors two years ago when they won the Stanley Cup and are second this season with 18 scraps already. Nine Ducks have been in at least one scrap.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
NHL: Burke Can Start Talking to Teams
by Alanah McGinley on 11/14/08 at 03:23 PM ET
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From TSN:
Anaheim Ducks CEO Michael Schulman filed paperwork with the National Hockey League earlier today that would grant all teams permission to speak with former GM Brian Burke.
The league approved the documents and Burke is now free to speak to any team who inquires about his services.
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Tags: brian+burke,
Morning Line
by Paul on 11/13/08 at 07:52 AM ET
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“If the right deal comes up in a week, I’m going in a week. My goal would be to be working by U.S. Thanksgiving [Nov. 27] and that’s only two weeks away.”
-Brian Burke. More from David Shoalts of the Globe and Mail.
added 7:59am, from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,
Burke walks it and he talks it. Boston is a franchise now with some momentum, but it needs more, especially in a consumer market grown drunk on, and conditioned to, championships (see Foxborough, Fenway, and the co-resident on Causeway Street).
Without question, Burke is the guy to help talk it up, grab media attention (his back-and-forths with NESN’s Mike Milbury would be appointment TV), and add the overall roster toughness to reclaim the sizzle and magic that has been lost on Causeway Street for nearly a generation.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Get Your Offers Ready
by Paul on 11/12/08 at 08:48 PM ET
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from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,
In a day of returning phone calls to his dozens of friends and associates on press row – after all, Brian Burke did a stint as an analyst for TSN during the NHL lockout – the most interesting piece of information that he shared was the fact that the Anaheim Ducks would circulate a letter, in one week’s time, permitting him to seek employment elsewhere in the league….
The Ducks did Burke a big favor by delaying, for one week, his pending free agency. In effect, it gives all the potential suitors for his services – the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Boston Bruins, the New York Rangers and maybe one or two others as well – seven days to prepare their offers.
added 9:04pm, from Mark Whicker of the OC Register,
Sometimes two and two do make four, and sometimes rumor becomes real. But Burke knows he’ll be trading low-voltage comfort for a 24/7 fishbowl in Toronto.
He also knows what lies ahead for the man who brings Toronto a Cup. Do they have knighthood in Canada?
“They’d be naming schools after the guy who wins there,” Burke once said.
They ought to name the upper rows of Honda Center seats after Burke. Thanks to him, and his wide-angle perspective, people actually sit there.
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Tags: Brian+Burke,
Brian Burke Gone from Anaheim
by Alanah McGinley on 11/12/08 at 01:49 PM ET
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By way of TSN‘s text message breaking news updates, I just received this message:
“Brian Burke is out as the GM of the Anaheim Ducks. Bob Murray is taking over.”
TSN has that much info up on their site now as well. Updates to follow shortly. News conference scheduled for this afternoon.
Update 2:24pm ET: From the Toronto Star, this comment—
The Star’s Damien Cox reports that Burke will stay on as a consultant with the Ducks until the end of this season.
Update 2:40pm ET: More added to the TSN story—
Sources say Burke will, in this advisory capacity, have the ability to freely negotiate future employment opportunities as a GM in the NHL.
That would pave the way for Burke to be hired as president and GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the days, weeks or months ahead, if the Leafs and Burke so desire. And there is strong reason to believe that is precisely what will happen.
Update 4:05pm ET: Press release from the Ducks available here.
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Tags: bob+murray, brian+burke,
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