tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

My Take On The Firing Of Brian Burke

Let me start out by saying that Rogers and Bell Communications, the new owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs, have the right to select who they want to run their hockey operations. It is true that the Maple Leafs under Burke's leadership has not made the playoffs. It is also true that the goaltending position has been unstable with Burke in charge along with the lack of a first-line center. If these were the reasons why Burke was fired then so be it. But by there actions and information as presented in this morning's Globe & Mail, hockey reasons were the lipstick that ownership put on this pig.

As reported in the Globe & Mail, the Bell Communications portion of the ownership group did not want Burke being the face of the franchise. You see Burke doesn't take any crap by the media and that obviously rubbed the media conglomerates the wrong way. In addition, according to the article, Bell wasn't happy with the way Burke conducted himself not only with the media but in general. I'm not sure what that meant as the article is very vague on this matter.

If this was about the hockey performance of the Maple Leafs, then why would Burke's entire management team be kept in place? Many speculated that Dave Nonis would be given the job on an interim basis. However, that is not the case. So Burke's right hand man is now the 14th general manager of the team with no interim tag attached. Clearly, the direction of the team was not the issue. This was about image.

The fact that the direction of the franchise appears not to be changing, in my opinion, is a good thing because this team is headed in the right direction. While Burke's free agent signings were not good, his trades have certainly improved a farm system that was barren when he came to Toronto and the team's contract obligations heading into next season will give them plenty of cap space to compete for free agents as some teams will have to drop players because of the salary cap.

As a result, as Nonis said yesterday, down the road people will realize that Burke set this team up for long term success. I'm convinced that if Burke coddled the members of the media then he would still be GM today. The other issue that no one wants to address is the fact that Brian Burke is an American. I remember when he was hired there being outrage on the part of some fans that the most storied franchise in English-speaking Canada was now being managed by an American. The defense of Ron Wilson (American citizen) by Burke and the acquisitions of Mike Komissarek & Phil Kessel (both Americans) added to the angst of some fans. The tipping point of course was Don Cherry's rant that Burke had something against Ontario boys and that was a reason why the Leafs were not making the playoffs. And of course, whatever Grapes says must be true.

Many times on this blog I have said that the young talent the Leafs have right now is the best it has ever had since the early 70's when the like of Darryl Sittler, Lanny McDonald, etc. came up through the ranks. The fact that the Toronto Marlies went to the Calder Cup Finals last season and are in first place this season bears this out. While fans and media alike have advocated patience and building through the draft, somehow they will not acknowledge the young talent that has been amassed and that patience is required for these kids to develop. Yes Burke got Kessel for Tyler Seguin and Doug Hamilton. But the question I have for everyone is this: would Tyler Seguin be the cornerstone of this franchise?? Who would have Seguin centered if he was selected by Toronto?? He is not the number one center in Boston and obviously did not have the pressure of being the saviour in Boston as he would in Toronto. The other thing that is constantly overlooked, Kessel today is only 25 years old. It's not like Burke acquired a 30 year old for that draft pick.

In the end, the Maple Leafs record on the ice certainly would justify Burke's firing and I can't argue with that even though I believe Burke had the team moving in the right direction. However, his dismissal had nothing to do with hockey and for that this whole thing is a joke. Good luck to Dave Nonis. Hopefully, he will be around for awhile provided he doesn't ruffle any feathers, particularly those in the media and Don Cherry.