Brian Burke Presser at 12:00

[charliolemieux]

What he should do is realize the TML are no longer interested in his services .

He should take some time away from the game to clear his head and get a better perspective on what went wrong here . It seems like he's in denial and can't over the fact that there valid reasons for his dismissal .

IF it were purely hockey he should have been fired last August when the new ownership took over.

This was complete ********, and for anyone with open eyes this is a scarey precident to be set. A clash of personality.

This goes back to Ballard dictating bad trades and Ownership bulling JFJ into some ofhe worst moves in the team history. Let's hope the interference does not reach those levels.

 

[hotpaws]

Jokes on you. NOnis has been apparently running the show anyway. Enjoy your "victory".

Say what you want. He thought he was staying as hockey advisor and then found out the ****** bag BoG kept him as advisor to them. He is gone to the first job offer.


If you didn't laugh when he told Simmons off yesterday then go cheer for another team. I hear MTL needs a boost in posters.

Burke was the one who asked to stay on as an adviser and i have no idea why he thought Bell/Rogers ( the people that fired him ) would want him anywhere near the team .

Why would i laugh at Burke making a fool out of himself with an ignorant comment to Simmonds . I found it pathetic and he should have learned that crap like that was past of the reason he was fired .

This will be a much better place when the Burke supporters all leave and let the true Leaf fans discuss the hockey team .

 

[firstemperor]

Just let me know when your complacency of holding down a GM for less than 5 years has been exhausted. I'm sure you and I can have this debate in another 3-4 years when David Nonis fails, and he is in the unemployment line. You Leaf fans have become immune to firings and I don't think you realize how many quality people have been axed due to a futile player base that consistently performs below their capabilities. Maybe it's the sheer pressure of the Big Smoke, I don't know. Either way, Burke is a quality hockey guy, was my original point. Nothing more.

Either that or you belong to a subset of leaf fans who have become immune to success and have come to accept mediocrity, or since the last lockout, failure would be a better term then mediocrity.

Many GM's have winning pedigrees and come into great/dream situations and crap the bed. At the end of the day, results speak louder than any pedigree Burke or his persona may imply. I think you are forgetting the point of why it even got to this point in first place. As he said himself in his presser, he's not sitting there (i.e getting fired), if he got results. Apparently, that's become secondary these days.

The main issue with being objective in pro sports, I find anyways, is emotional attachment. We all like Burke as a person, but his job is to build a winning product, or at least build towards one. He's built peices, but I'd argue much short of expectations (based on his 4 terrible seasons). He also hasn't even moderately satisfied the winning front of things. Add on his uncharismatic, brash, and impudent demeanor with the media (an extension of his relationship to the fans, which he apparently valued less than his "professionalism" with his staff and in the termination of contracts- his words- there isn't much positives you can take from him professionally). Personally, sure, great community guy and his personality may rub off on many the right way.

 

[Im Old Gregggg]

What he should do is realize the TML are no longer interested in his services .

He should take some time away from the game to clear his head and get a better perspective on what went wrong here . It seems like he's in denial and can't over the fact that there valid reasons for his dismissal .

if the leafs arent interested in his services why did the not fire all of his henchmen NOT 1 has been let go..... if they truly wanted to rid themselves of the mark burke made they wouldnt have named nonis the gm (who according to burke did alot of the groundwork for some of his biggest deals ) NOTHING HAS CHANGED with how the philosephy of the team will be continued!!!! All they did was remove burke from speaking on the teams behalf (you can bet your bottom dollar that despite MLSE not allowing burke to be directly tied to the front office that his protige Nonis wont keep in contact/ consult with him since they were laying the groundwork TOGETHER for 4 years

These Burke haters keep clinging to the fact that he was fired to the the on ice results, it was simply a PR move that they could pin on on ice performance to hide their actual agenda. If this was a pure hockey operations firing then Burkes entire braintrust would have been shown the door.

 

[charliolemieux]

Let's go to the tape, since it keeps getting used as a comparable.



Record
2000–01 -- 4th Atlantic, 21st League, 33-43-5-1 (72 pts), 7th Goals For, 30th Goals Against
2001-02 -- 4th Atlantic, 21st League, 36-38-4-4 (80 pts), 12th Goals For, 29th Goals Against
2002-03 -- 4th Atlantic, 21st League, 32-36-10-4 (78 pts), 18th Goals For, 22nd Goals Against
2003-04 -- 4th Atlantic, 25th League, 27-40-7-8 (69 pts), 17th Goals For, 27th Goals Against

Selections (1-3 and later round notables)
2001 -- 10. Dan Blackburn, 40. Fedor Tyutin, 74. (Traded), 79. Garth Murray
2002 -- 10. (Traded), 33. Lee Falardeau, 40. (Traded), 75. (Traded), 81. Marcus Jonsaen,
2003 -- 12. Hugh Jessiman, 43. (Traded), 50. Ivan Baranka, 75. Ken Roche, 81. (Traded)
2004 -- 06. Al Montoya, 19. Lauri Korpikoski, 24. (Traded), 36. Darin Oliver, 37. (Traded), 46. (Traded), 48. Dane Byers, 50. (Traded), 51. Bruce Graham, 60. Brandon Dubinsky, 72. (Traded), 73. Zdenek Bahensky, 80. Billy Ryan, 127. Ryan Callahan

Hmm...

Jessiman could be one of the worst picks in history.

Just go look at the 2003 draft. Hockeydb.com.

Choosing Jessiman is worse than trading the 1st round draft pick for a bags of pucks.

At least a bag of puck would be useful during practice.

 

[Im Old Gregggg]

IF it were purely hockey he should have been fired last August when the new ownership took over.

This was complete ********, and for anyone with open eyes this is a scarey precident to be set. A clash of personality.

This goes back to Ballard dictating bad trades and Ownership bulling JFJ into some ofhe worst moves in the team history. Let's hope the interference does not reach those levels.

I'm with you brotha, these burke haters are missing the bigger picture ****ing blind sheep i tell ya. Regardless if they feel burke was a poor gm (which i disagree with and will be feeding those ****ers their crow in a few years when we look back at the aftermath) this shows us that the NEW ownership does not want a strong voice to call the shots, they want to put their input into how the team is being built. I dont see whats wrong with putting trust into an intelligent hockey mind (with a great managerial staff to surround himself with to boot), why would they want non hockey people micromanaging them????

Not hating on nonis but i feel he will get the JFJ treatment from ownership..... someone with a strong personalty like burke would not stand for that (and to me the most logical way of him being fired so abbruptly and keeping his entire regime)

 

[charliolemieux]

Burke was the one who asked to stay on as an adviser and i have no idea why he thought Bell/Rogers ( the people that fired him ) would want him anywhere near the team .

Why would i laugh at Burke making a fool out of himself with an ignorant comment to Simmonds . I found it pathetic and he should have learned that crap like that was past of the reason he was fired .

This will be a much better place when the Burke supporters all leave and let the true Leaf fans discuss the hockey team .

BUrke didn't make a fool of himself for his Simmons comment. This is a guy who has spread nasty innuendo about Brian for a couple of years now.

Years ago Brian would have been totally within his rights to walk out and punch the crap out of the stupid sewer dweller.

Simmons has been a complete butthole to BUrke. I cant believe you or anyone defends him.

 

[4evaBlue]

Arguing that anything is possible doesn't make it probable . There are plenty of teams that will have or now can create cap space with the 2 buyouts so we're not alone in having cap space .

The majority of the teams run on a budget, and cannot afford those buyouts outside the cap.

Lu's an aging goalie that may or may not a have few good years left in him and with his contract it's a huge gamble to take regardless of what the cost to aquire him is . I also think the asking price won't be as high with Burke now out of the picture . I think the last place Gilles wanted to trade him to would have been T.O. if Burke was still here .

Agree with the non-bolded part. The price for Luongo will continue to drop, regardless of which GM Gilles deals with, as the Canucks become more and more desperate to unload that contract. Either way, I wouldn't take that contract for free, as I don't think it's in the best long term interest of the team. If he was 5 years younger, or we were a borderline contending team, and Lu's acquisition would put us over the top, then it'd be a different debate.

DP isn't and has never been a good leader or a num 1 D regardless of what Burke thought . He's a good but not great D and we'll see how he performs with a more defensive coach in RC who will probably not allow him to continue to play a rooming style that has inflated his point totals here .

More than half of his points have come on the PP. I don't think his production will change all that much, unless his PP time gets severely limited.

 

[Im Old Gregggg]

Burke was the one who asked to stay on as an adviser and i have no idea why he thought Bell/Rogers ( the people that fired him ) would want him anywhere near the team .

Why would i laugh at Burke making a fool out of himself with an ignorant comment to Simmonds . I found it pathetic and he should have learned that crap like that was past of the reason he was fired .

This will be a much better place when the Burke supporters all leave and let the true Leaf fans discuss the hockey team .

The way toronto media criticizes everyone (especially players) is BS and that type media scrtutiny plays a role in free agents not wanting to play here.

A gutless ***** like simmons (who many people hate) deserved that jab and im proud of Burkie having the balls to say that!

 

[charliolemieux]

I'm with you brotha, these burke haters are missing the bigger picture ****ing blind sheep i tell ya. Regardless if they feel burke was a poor gm (which i disagree with and will be feeding those ****ers their crow in a few years when we look back at the aftermath) this shows us that the NEW ownership does not want a strong voice to call the shots, they want to put their input into how the team is being built. I dont see whats wrong with putting trust into an intelligent hockey mind (with a great managerial staff to surround himself with to boot), why would they want non hockey people micromanaging them????

Not hating on nonis but i feel he will get the JFJ treatment from ownership..... someone with a strong personalty like burke would not stand for that (and to me the most logical way of him being fired so abbruptly and keeping his entire regime)

Can't wait for that brotha.

Put some hot sauce on it before you shove it in.


Nonis won't put up with he JFJ treatment.

He was in shock at het presser. You could see it.

WithIn 60 days he wiill have either told ownership to piss off or he will have free reign.

Would not surprise me if Nonis is gone by April if ownership is too intrusive.

 

[charliolemieux]

Siimons defending himself.

Says rift with with BUrke started July 1, 2011. When Burke went to Afghanistan.

Agrees that team is in better shape now than in 2008. (Now anti Burkers gonna hate simmons)

Poor guy. And I missed the chance to punch him in the head. Right after a boxing match to boot so I was pumped. Sorry Leafs Nation.