Brian Burke "floored" by dismissal as Toronto GM

[Metal God]

In an exclusive interview with Damien Cox of the Toronto Star, Brian Burke said he was "floored" after he was told he was fired as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"I was floored, and I still am stunned. I've never been fired before," he said about Wednesday's announcement. "How am I doing? I'm doing OK.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=649831&print=true

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[SprDaVE]

Burke is under contract to the Leafs for the rest of this season and next, and he fully intends to help his former assistant, Dave Nonis, as a consultant, a job he says he suggested to chairman Larry Tanenbaum and Anselmi when they relieved him of his GM duties.

"I think I can help," he said. "I've been at this for a while. I have my name on the Stanley Cup. I'll do whatever I can. I wish Dave [Nonis] and the Toronto Maple Leafs all the success in the world," he said. "I'll do my best to help them win."

Good for him.

I was expected a war of words to come out of this but Burke took the high road. He's taking it a lot better than I thought he would.

Good stuff.

 

[tacoburrito]

who doesn't like a little b-ball? ill tell you who.
men with over developed breasts.

 

[Metal God]

who doesn't like a little b-ball? ill tell you who.
men with over developed breasts.

Lol. You listen to way too much sports radio.

 

[Penalty Kill Icing*]

Exit interview (or PC was it? I forgot) at noon tomorrow.

Reported by TSN1050

 

[tacoburrito]

Lol. You listen to way too much sports radio.

well when you refuse to pay for cable you dont have much of a choice around here =D

 

[ULF_55]

Good for him.

I was expected a war of words to come out of this but Burke took the high road. He's taking it a lot better than I thought he would.

Good stuff.

Have to see the bigger picture, and $6 million is a pretty big picture.

 

[ConnorTO]

very classy

 

[tacoburrito]

Have to see the bigger picture, and $6 million is a pretty big picture.

yea hes not gonna give that up to go work at sportsnet to spill the beans

 

[Bleed Blue and White]

Good for Burkie. I have nothing but respect for him. I really hope that he gets another job wherever he wants one someday. I'm disappointed that his tenure here didn't work out the way we (and no doubt he) wanted it to, but he's still a fantastic hockey mind and he deserves to be recognized as such. The way this went down, it wasn't right. I think MLSE is the only organization in pro sports that would have handled this situation in the manner that they did.

 

[7even]

Classy guy. Getting fired sucks. I didn't like how he never committed to either a full retool or a full rebuild, so hopefully Nonis is a little more decisive than him. I hope his "senior advisor" position or whatever isn't just fluff -- at the end of the day, he's one of the better trading GMs in the game today. I was never worried when I heard we made a trade with Burke at the helm.

Glad to see he's taking it in stride, but I wouldn't expect anything less from Old Man Burke. Hope he stays in Toronto and continues his charity/You Can Play work.

 

[Confucius]

Have to see the bigger picture, and $6 million is a pretty big picture.

Exactly!

 

[Suntouchable13]

yea hes not gonna give that up to go work at sportsnet to spill the beans

What beans? If he really had something against MLSE he wouldn't have stayed as a consultant. I think people make up some fictional animosity that might exist between him and MLSE.

 

[Rude Dog]

It's too bad he never got the chance to finish what he started. Many may disagree, but I still believe given the chance he would have silenced the haters.

 

[Bleed Blue and White]

It's too bad he never got the chance to finish what he started. Many may disagree, but I still believe given the chance he would have silenced the haters.

I agree with you. I firmly believe, and time will tell if this is right, that when we are good again Burke's fingerprints will be all over the team. Just like in Vancouver.

 

[K19*]

It's weird how they're keeping him around. He and Nonis will still be in touch. It seems like nothing has changed.

 

[Tak7]

Good for him.

I was expected a war of words to come out of this but Burke took the high road. He's taking it a lot better than I thought he would.

Good stuff.

Pull the wool from over your eyes and wake up.

It doesn't benefit Burke at all to bad mouth the organization, but you can be sure that the stubborn, proud man is pissed and probably full of negative things he wants to say about the organization.

Also - the role he's taken within the organization (senior advisor), is a phantom role designed to ensure Burke gets paid while the organization doesn't have to pay severance. He's not going to do a damn thing for the team, and they know that.

 

[Stevie28]

Burke sticks around, drama ensues, he takes GM back, and wins cup with leafs. wouldnt that be a story?

 

[Clark4Ever]

The cold hearted mentality of this type of corporate environment might haunt this organization down the road.

Two of the most successful and respected executives in the NHL in Pat Quinn and Brian Burke discarded like yesterday's trash under very questionable circumstances by MLSE in the last several years.

I'm sure other GMs have taken notice.

 

[7even]

It's weird how they're keeping him around. He and Nonis will still be in touch. It seems like nothing has changed.

Ayup. Which makes it seem like whatever reason they had to fire Burke was either a personal one, or one otherwise unrelated to hockey. Which does not instill much confidence in me moving forward under this ownership group.

 

[Stephen]

The cold hearted mentality of this type of corporate environment might haunt this organization down the road.

Two of the most successful and respected executives in the NHL in Pat Quinn and Brian Burke discarded like yesterday's trash under very questionable circumstances by MLSE in the last several years.

I'm sure other GMs have taken notice.

There's 30 NHL jobs in the world as NHL GM.

 

[Oskar The Groucho]

I m Floored he traded 2 1st round pick and a 2nd round pick for Phil Kessel instead of 2009 7th overall and Thomas Kaberle or at all

 

[Mess]

It's weird how they're keeping him around. He and Nonis will still be in touch. It seems like nothing has changed.

That was Burke's suggestion but at the PC, they made it pretty clear that he will be reporting to the BOG as a consultant and not the hockey operations side of things..

If MLSE wanted Burke influencing Nonis as GM they would have left him as Leafs President. I suppose they can't prevent Nonis from speaking to him, or even asking advice on a trade potential "if he would do it" but this will not be a daily occurrence either.

Burke is simply still around because he is still being paid by MLSE, but he will be collecting most of those cheques while sitting around at home, not coming into the office for work.

 

[Confucius]

That was Burke's suggestion but at the PC, they made it pretty clear that he will be reporting to the BOG as a consultant and not the hockey operations side of things..

If MLSE wanted Burke influencing Nonis as GM they would have left him as Leafs President. I suppose they can't prevent Nonis from speaking to him, or even asking advice on a trade potential "if he would do it" but this will not be a daily occurrence either.

Burke is simply still around because he is still being paid by MLSE, but he will be collecting most of those cheques while sitting around at home, not coming into the office for work.

Absolutely, if Burke gets an offer from someone else they'll let him go. They aren't going to pay him and watch him go somewhere else though.

 

[thom]

Poor Brian and his 15 million dollars.The same Brian who with the former Premier of Bc cambell threatened the tax payer by saying if the canucks were not given a tax brake they could move?