Brian Burke "floored" by dismissal as Toronto GM

[hotpaws]

Needs to be quoted again and again.

I feel like the heart of the Leafs has been ripped out.

Let's hope the rest of the organization Burke has built rallies to continue his efforts in the right direction without the politics of corporate ownership.

A little dramatic don't you think ?

Burke wasn't the Leafs and he won't be missed . His constant rantings were a distraction for the team and served no purpose other than to feed his massive ego .

 

[sangreale]

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

Doesn't he get his money no matter what?

 

[sangreale]

A little dramatic don't you think ?

Burke wasn't the Leafs and he won't be missed . His constant rantings were a distraction for the team and served no purpose other than to feed his massive ego .

Now that is a little dramatic also. However, I have always been concerned about his "perspective" when it came to managing both the team and his own pride. And I agree with you that the org saw it the same way.

 

[Leafidelity]

A little dramatic don't you think ?

Burke wasn't the Leafs and he won't be missed . His constant rantings were a distraction for the team and served no purpose other than to feed his massive ego .

His massive ego was directly replaced by Rogers/Bell massive ego. These are two companies known for slapping their name on anything they can.

 

[hotpaws]

Now that is a little dramatic also. However, I have always been concerned about his "perspective" when it came to managing both the team and his own pride. And I agree with you that the org saw it the same way.

When Nonis came out and said he wants to work in the background and let the team be the focal point it was easy to see why Burke was dismissed . The new owners seem to want a GM to operate like AA of the Jays and i don't blame them .

 

[hotpaws]

His massive ego was directly replaced by Rogers/Bell massive ego.

Punch , you've always been confused by thinking Burke was bigger than the team and some sort of untouchable . Burke and his supporters found out he's just another employee and just like any other employee he's replaceable .

Rogers/Bell are the majority owners and as the majority owners it's there right to put in place the people who they think will effectively run thier business . If Burke thought he could bully them or shrugg them off then he was badly mistaken , these people didn't get to where they are by taking crap from underlings .

And just for the record , everyone is accountable ( even the CEO's of these companies ) and when they forget this they do so at their own peril .

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Brian Burke is a man of integrity. This is a real low blow by the Board at MLSE. It could be argued that firing him over on-ice performance is justified, however the timing of this move is inexcusable. The ownership group has blindsided the entire hockey operations side of the organization from top management to coaching staff, to the players themselves. Not to mention the fans.

The Leafs were in absolute shambles before Burke took over. They were poorly prepared and failed to adapt to the new salary cap. The Leafs were a perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse under Pat Quinn in the pre cap lockout era. They could spend freely and worry less about drafting and minor league player development. However after the 2004 lockout the Leafs continued to try and ride the old core of McCabe, Tucker, Sundin, Belfour etc while adding through free agency Lindros, Allison, O'neill, Czerkawski, Kubina, Blake, instead of shifting organizational philosophies to a 'build from within' mentality.

As Fletcher took over for Ferguson, he found himself completely handcuffed by the no trade clauses held by almost all core players. Years of mortgaging the future had caught up to the Leafs. There was no legitimate top end talent in the minor league system to replace the aging veteran core, and they could not trade the core for assets because of the NTC's. There wasn't even much in the way of major pro talent whatsoever in the Leafs' farm at the time, top young players in the organization being Robbie Earl, John Mitchell, Pogge. The 2003 through 2005 drafts yielded almost nothing for the Leafs. John Mitchell, Jeremy Williams and Anton Stralman. And indirectly Andrew Raycroft, who the Leafs traded 2005 first rounder Tuuka Rask for. Combine that rich draft history with a 'firesale' in which Antropov, Kaberle, Moore, Ponikarovsky are your main attractions, and its easy to see why the Leafs' future was in such bad shape.

The critics of Brian Burke need to do more research on how bad of a state the Leafs were in at the time. They were an absolute wreck. The Kessel trade is Burke's defining moment, and in my opinion it isn't a definitive 'loss' for the Leafs. That can't be determined yet. Yes the Leafs haven't made the playoffs since Burke took over, but where exactly were the impact players supposed to come from? The NHL isnt a video game, you cannot just easily add star players. Im amazed he was able to get Phaneuf. He has done well in terms of asset management. This will prove true even moreso this year, as Nonis hopefully retains assets from trading Burke-acquired players like Bozak, Connolly, Lombardi and Franson.

Im sad that more people do not see it, but the Leafs roster is built very intelligently. It just so happens that the two missing pieces are very hard to obtain. The organizational depth is strong, however. It disappoints me that Brian Burke was not given the opportunity to mould this roster into its final shape, especially considering that there are enough assets to make a major trade, and enough cap space to facilitate adding a star player through free agency. It just seems so fickle to fire him, and it is downright stupid to do this to your organization right before the season, especially when Burke is so highly regarded. Its demoralizing.

Terrific post.

 

[Leafidelity]

Punch , you've always been confused by thinking Burke was bigger than the team and some sort of untouchable . Burke and his supporters found out he's just another employee and just like any other employee he's replaceable .

Rogers/Bell are the majority owners and as the majority owners it's there right to put in place the people who they think will effectively run thier business . If Burke thought he could bully them or shrugg them off then he was badly mistaken , these people didn't get to where they are by taking crap from underlings .

And just for the record , everyone is accountable ( even the CEO's of these companies ) and when they forget this they do so at their own peril .

You know what? If they wanted to bring in a new vision - I'd be ok. I'd disagree like I do now, but it wouldn't smell of the same **** that this does. You don't change management two weeks before your product launches in any business venture.

I liked Burke and think he did some great things, but it's about the Maple Leafs first and foremost. This doesn't seem like it was done with the best interest of the Maple Leafs in mind, it seems like it was done with the best interest of the Rogers/Bell group in mind. And I like Nonis.

Cliff Fletcher had a trade for Gretzky vetoed by Steve Stavros. Lets hope something of that sort doesn't happen again.

 

[New Liskeard]

Brian Burke is a man of integrity. This is a real low blow by the Board at MLSE. It could be argued that firing him over on-ice performance is justified, however the timing of this move is inexcusable. The ownership group has blindsided the entire hockey operations side of the organization from top management to coaching staff, to the players themselves. Not to mention the fans.

The Leafs were in absolute shambles before Burke took over. They were poorly prepared and failed to adapt to the new salary cap. The Leafs were a perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse under Pat Quinn in the pre cap lockout era. They could spend freely and worry less about drafting and minor league player development. However after the 2004 lockout the Leafs continued to try and ride the old core of McCabe, Tucker, Sundin, Belfour etc while adding through free agency Lindros, Allison, O'neill, Czerkawski, Kubina, Blake, instead of shifting organizational philosophies to a 'build from within' mentality.

As Fletcher took over for Ferguson, he found himself completely handcuffed by the no trade clauses held by almost all core players. Years of mortgaging the future had caught up to the Leafs. There was no legitimate top end talent in the minor league system to replace the aging veteran core, and they could not trade the core for assets because of the NTC's. There wasn't even much in the way of major pro talent whatsoever in the Leafs' farm at the time, top young players in the organization being Robbie Earl, John Mitchell, Pogge. The 2003 through 2005 drafts yielded almost nothing for the Leafs. John Mitchell, Jeremy Williams and Anton Stralman. And indirectly Andrew Raycroft, who the Leafs traded 2005 first rounder Tuuka Rask for. Combine that rich draft history with a 'firesale' in which Antropov, Kaberle, Moore, Ponikarovsky are your main attractions, and its easy to see why the Leafs' future was in such bad shape.

The critics of Brian Burke need to do more research on how bad of a state the Leafs were in at the time. They were an absolute wreck. The Kessel trade is Burke's defining moment, and in my opinion it isn't a definitive 'loss' for the Leafs. That can't be determined yet. Yes the Leafs haven't made the playoffs since Burke took over, but where exactly were the impact players supposed to come from? The NHL isnt a video game, you cannot just easily add star players. Im amazed he was able to get Phaneuf. He has done well in terms of asset management. This will prove true even moreso this year, as Nonis hopefully retains assets from trading Burke-acquired players like Bozak, Connolly, Lombardi and Franson.

Im sad that more people do not see it, but the Leafs roster is built very intelligently. It just so happens that the two missing pieces are very hard to obtain. The organizational depth is strong, however. It disappoints me that Brian Burke was not given the opportunity to mould this roster into its final shape, especially considering that there are enough assets to make a major trade, and enough cap space to facilitate adding a star player through free agency. It just seems so fickle to fire him, and it is downright stupid to do this to your organization right before the season, especially when Burke is so highly regarded. Its demoralizing.

You speak the truth and the facts. Excellent post and well done.

 

[New Liskeard]

Burke has always been a class act, not surprised that hasn't changed.

His personality will be sorely missed.

I can't recall, any other Leaf manager that was as engaged and commited to the community and charitable endeavours as Burke was. Class act is right; wish more people would follow suit.

 

[Giuseppe Sallo]

Wonder what he will say at the press conference... "Hey Bob McCown, you're a chump stain!"

 

[hotpaws]

You know what? If they wanted to bring in a new vision - I'd be ok. I'd disagree like I do now, but it wouldn't smell of the same **** that this does. You don't change management two weeks before your product launches in any business venture.

I liked Burke and think he did some great things, but it's about the Maple Leafs first and foremost. This doesn't seem like it was done with the best interest of the Maple Leafs in mind, it seems like it was done with the best interest of the Rogers/Bell group in mind. And I like Nonis.

With an ownership group like this it'll take longer to make these type of decisions . For all we know Bell wanted to fire him as soon as they took over and the other two owners were blocking the move . While i also found the timing odd i do believe that if the decision was made to replace Burke then the sooner it was done the better .

Burke was his biggest enemy here , he just couldn't shut his trap and it did nothing to help the team . There was rumours from the summer about him being replaced and the fact that he was so quiet leads one to believe there was somthing going on behind the scenes .

I've always liked the way Nonis handled himself and i believe this serves well when dealing with other GM's . We'll see how he performs and that's how we should all judge him .

I just hope they give him at least 3 years and he isn't a transition guy just because of the timing of Burkes firing .

 

[sangreale]

I had another thought which makes me take pause and won't make the Luongo fans happy. This is an abrupt and significant move. Why did this not occur earlier? What recent act by Burke would have precipitated such a move. I am thinking that Burke going to the board with a Luongo proposal might have done the trick. Perhaps the board sees a problem with taking on a Luongo contract in light of the "Luongo" clause in it.

 

[achtungbaby]

Good on Burke. For all the "hater" tags that got loosely thrown around these parts, I never hated the man. I don't even know enough about him outside of his carefully released photo ops to feel one way or another about him. I simply didn't like the way he ran the Toronto Maple Leafs during his tenure here.

All the best to you Brian.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Brian Burke is a man of integrity. This is a real low blow by the Board at MLSE. It could be argued that firing him over on-ice performance is justified, however the timing of this move is inexcusable. The ownership group has blindsided the entire hockey operations side of the organization from top management to coaching staff, to the players themselves. Not to mention the fans.

The Leafs were in absolute shambles before Burke took over. They were poorly prepared and failed to adapt to the new salary cap. The Leafs were a perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse under Pat Quinn in the pre cap lockout era. They could spend freely and worry less about drafting and minor league player development. However after the 2004 lockout the Leafs continued to try and ride the old core of McCabe, Tucker, Sundin, Belfour etc while adding through free agency Lindros, Allison, O'neill, Czerkawski, Kubina, Blake, instead of shifting organizational philosophies to a 'build from within' mentality.

As Fletcher took over for Ferguson, he found himself completely handcuffed by the no trade clauses held by almost all core players. Years of mortgaging the future had caught up to the Leafs. There was no legitimate top end talent in the minor league system to replace the aging veteran core, and they could not trade the core for assets because of the NTC's. There wasn't even much in the way of major pro talent whatsoever in the Leafs' farm at the time, top young players in the organization being Robbie Earl, John Mitchell, Pogge. The 2003 through 2005 drafts yielded almost nothing for the Leafs. John Mitchell, Jeremy Williams and Anton Stralman. And indirectly Andrew Raycroft, who the Leafs traded 2005 first rounder Tuuka Rask for. Combine that rich draft history with a 'firesale' in which Antropov, Kaberle, Moore, Ponikarovsky are your main attractions, and its easy to see why the Leafs' future was in such bad shape.

The critics of Brian Burke need to do more research on how bad of a state the Leafs were in at the time. They were an absolute wreck. The Kessel trade is Burke's defining moment, and in my opinion it isn't a definitive 'loss' for the Leafs. That can't be determined yet. Yes the Leafs haven't made the playoffs since Burke took over, but where exactly were the impact players supposed to come from? The NHL isnt a video game, you cannot just easily add star players. Im amazed he was able to get Phaneuf. He has done well in terms of asset management. This will prove true even moreso this year, as Nonis hopefully retains assets from trading Burke-acquired players like Bozak, Connolly, Lombardi and Franson.

Im sad that more people do not see it, but the Leafs roster is built very intelligently. It just so happens that the two missing pieces are very hard to obtain. The organizational depth is strong, however. It disappoints me that Brian Burke was not given the opportunity to mould this roster into its final shape, especially considering that there are enough assets to make a major trade, and enough cap space to facilitate adding a star player through free agency. It just seems so fickle to fire him, and it is downright stupid to do this to your organization right before the season, especially when Burke is so highly regarded. Its demoralizing.

Post of the year.

I agree 100%

 

[achtungbaby]

You know what? If they wanted to bring in a new vision - I'd be ok. I'd disagree like I do now, but it wouldn't smell of the same **** that this does. You don't change management two weeks before your product launches in any business venture.

I liked Burke and think he did some great things, but it's about the Maple Leafs first and foremost. This doesn't seem like it was done with the best interest of the Maple Leafs in mind, it seems like it was done with the best interest of the Rogers/Bell group in mind. And I like Nonis.

Cliff Fletcher had a trade for Gretzky vetoed by Steve Stavros. Lets hope something of that sort doesn't happen again.

I believe Gretzky was coming here as a free agent in that scene. Read his book.

 

[tp71]

I believe Gretzky was coming here as a free agent in that scene. Read his book.

I believe you're right. Gretzky was supposed to be a Leaf as a Free Agent and Stavros vetoed it as it would cost too much.

 

[dsf]

A little dramatic don't you think ?

Burke wasn't the Leafs and he won't be missed . His constant rantings were a distraction for the team and served no purpose other than to feed his massive ego .

not dramatic at all, that's what it feels like. i am no burke defender - he's made his mistakes. this was just not the way to do things and not the right time.

 

[achtungbaby]

I believe you're right. Gretzky was supposed to be a Leaf as a Free Agent and Stavros vetoed it as it would cost too much.

The guy couldn't afford it even though the great one didn't care how much, or how long his salary was diferred(sp? Long night). Or so the story goes...

 

[Crispy Crust]

With an ownership group like this it'll take longer to make these type of decisions . For all we know Bell wanted to fire him as soon as they took over and the other two owners were blocking the move . While i also found the timing odd i do believe that if the decision was made to replace Burke then the sooner it was done the better .

Burke was his biggest enemy here , he just couldn't shut his trap and it did nothing to help the team . There was rumours from the summer about him being replaced and the fact that he was so quiet leads one to believe there was somthing going on behind the scenes .

I've always liked the way Nonis handled himself and i believe this serves well when dealing with other GM's . We'll see how he performs and that's how we should all judge him .

I just hope they give him at least 3 years and he isn't a transition guy just because of the timing of Burkes firing .

Agreed.

 

[Kurisu]

Brian Burke is a man of integrity. This is a real low blow by the Board at MLSE. It could be argued that firing him over on-ice performance is justified, however the timing of this move is inexcusable. The ownership group has blindsided the entire hockey operations side of the organization from top management to coaching staff, to the players themselves. Not to mention the fans.

The Leafs were in absolute shambles before Burke took over. They were poorly prepared and failed to adapt to the new salary cap. The Leafs were a perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse under Pat Quinn in the pre cap lockout era. They could spend freely and worry less about drafting and minor league player development. However after the 2004 lockout the Leafs continued to try and ride the old core of McCabe, Tucker, Sundin, Belfour etc while adding through free agency Lindros, Allison, O'neill, Czerkawski, Kubina, Blake, instead of shifting organizational philosophies to a 'build from within' mentality.

As Fletcher took over for Ferguson, he found himself completely handcuffed by the no trade clauses held by almost all core players. Years of mortgaging the future had caught up to the Leafs. There was no legitimate top end talent in the minor league system to replace the aging veteran core, and they could not trade the core for assets because of the NTC's. There wasn't even much in the way of major pro talent whatsoever in the Leafs' farm at the time, top young players in the organization being Robbie Earl, John Mitchell, Pogge. The 2003 through 2005 drafts yielded almost nothing for the Leafs. John Mitchell, Jeremy Williams and Anton Stralman. And indirectly Andrew Raycroft, who the Leafs traded 2005 first rounder Tuuka Rask for. Combine that rich draft history with a 'firesale' in which Antropov, Kaberle, Moore, Ponikarovsky are your main attractions, and its easy to see why the Leafs' future was in such bad shape.

The critics of Brian Burke need to do more research on how bad of a state the Leafs were in at the time. They were an absolute wreck. The Kessel trade is Burke's defining moment, and in my opinion it isn't a definitive 'loss' for the Leafs. That can't be determined yet. Yes the Leafs haven't made the playoffs since Burke took over, but where exactly were the impact players supposed to come from? The NHL isnt a video game, you cannot just easily add star players. Im amazed he was able to get Phaneuf. He has done well in terms of asset management. This will prove true even moreso this year, as Nonis hopefully retains assets from trading Burke-acquired players like Bozak, Connolly, Lombardi and Franson.

Im sad that more people do not see it, but the Leafs roster is built very intelligently. It just so happens that the two missing pieces are very hard to obtain. The organizational depth is strong, however. It disappoints me that Brian Burke was not given the opportunity to mould this roster into its final shape, especially considering that there are enough assets to make a major trade, and enough cap space to facilitate adding a star player through free agency. It just seems so fickle to fire him, and it is downright stupid to do this to your organization right before the season, especially when Burke is so highly regarded. Its demoralizing.

100% agree. Funny only 1 or 2 guys (and it's always the 2 same people arguing and being pessimistic all the time in the leafs board) that don't see this.

 

[sangreale]

Brian Burke is a man of integrity. This is a real low blow by the Board at MLSE. It could be argued that firing him over on-ice performance is justified, however the timing of this move is inexcusable. The ownership group has blindsided the entire hockey operations side of the organization from top management to coaching staff, to the players themselves. Not to mention the fans.

The Leafs were in absolute shambles before Burke took over. They were poorly prepared and failed to adapt to the new salary cap. The Leafs were a perennial Eastern Conference powerhouse under Pat Quinn in the pre cap lockout era. They could spend freely and worry less about drafting and minor league player development. However after the 2004 lockout the Leafs continued to try and ride the old core of McCabe, Tucker, Sundin, Belfour etc while adding through free agency Lindros, Allison, O'neill, Czerkawski, Kubina, Blake, instead of shifting organizational philosophies to a 'build from within' mentality.

As Fletcher took over for Ferguson, he found himself completely handcuffed by the no trade clauses held by almost all core players. Years of mortgaging the future had caught up to the Leafs. There was no legitimate top end talent in the minor league system to replace the aging veteran core, and they could not trade the core for assets because of the NTC's. There wasn't even much in the way of major pro talent whatsoever in the Leafs' farm at the time, top young players in the organization being Robbie Earl, John Mitchell, Pogge. The 2003 through 2005 drafts yielded almost nothing for the Leafs. John Mitchell, Jeremy Williams and Anton Stralman. And indirectly Andrew Raycroft, who the Leafs traded 2005 first rounder Tuuka Rask for. Combine that rich draft history with a 'firesale' in which Antropov, Kaberle, Moore, Ponikarovsky are your main attractions, and its easy to see why the Leafs' future was in such bad shape.

The critics of Brian Burke need to do more research on how bad of a state the Leafs were in at the time. They were an absolute wreck. The Kessel trade is Burke's defining moment, and in my opinion it isn't a definitive 'loss' for the Leafs. That can't be determined yet. Yes the Leafs haven't made the playoffs since Burke took over, but where exactly were the impact players supposed to come from? The NHL isnt a video game, you cannot just easily add star players. Im amazed he was able to get Phaneuf. He has done well in terms of asset management. This will prove true even moreso this year, as Nonis hopefully retains assets from trading Burke-acquired players like Bozak, Connolly, Lombardi and Franson.

Im sad that more people do not see it, but the Leafs roster is built very intelligently. It just so happens that the two missing pieces are very hard to obtain. The organizational depth is strong, however. It disappoints me that Brian Burke was not given the opportunity to mould this roster into its final shape, especially considering that there are enough assets to make a major trade, and enough cap space to facilitate adding a star player through free agency. It just seems so fickle to fire him, and it is downright stupid to do this to your organization right before the season, especially when Burke is so highly regarded. Its demoralizing.

On a personal level Burke seems a man of integrity and he has added a certain depth to the organization that I cannot recall ever seeing. However to suggest that this team is missing just 2 significant pieces is ludicrous.

 

[7even]

I'm floored Leaf fans still call him Thomas sometimes.

Bazing.

 

[Sokil]

Leaf homers like fourofakindfowl have very selective memory. Apparently thinks were really bad before Burke got here, and this is true. But they seem to forget that we've literally been a worse team, through and through, since he came in. You can name-drop all day line combos to make the team look better on paper, but the end result is we're worse now than when he came in. Our farm is no better, our roster is no better. We haven't had a legit goaltender since Ed Belfour and it's been 8 years for F's sake.

and because of Burke, we'll likely finish near the bottom again this season. Thanks Burke. You did so much for us.


Ya schmuck.

 

[Sokil]

On a personal level Burke seems a man of integrity and he has added a certain depth to the organization that I cannot recall ever seeing. However to suggest that this team is missing just 2 significant pieces is ludicrous.

top C, another top line winger, entire new top D pairing, and a #1 goaltender

then we can talk about at least trying to compete. We're 5 core pieces away. Pretty much an entire starting lineup