Vancouver Sun: Burke possesses the fatal flaw of character - obnoxious arrogance

[hockeywiz542]

http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2013/...-fatal-flaw-of-character-obnoxious-arrogance/

Brian Burke did not defraud the sport he participated in and did not deceive the public and his inner circle with a lie, but Burke deceived himself and the followers of the teams he ran by believing that he was the smartest man in every room he was in. Burke believed he was the God of hockey whose every word should be immortalized in print and every action lauded as genius. When this did not occur Burke became bitter and abrasive, always in attack mode and willing to disregard the opinions of those in disagreement with him. When someone believes he has all the answers then that person has stopped growing and learning and is in the very real danger of actually regressing. This is what happened to Burke.

Whether the issues that arose in his personal life had any effect on his business side can only be answered by Burke himself. Certainly losing a son is enough to derail anyone and we can certainly understand his pain but Burke did not possess the personality that allowed those who did not know him personally to feel sorry for him. Then again Burke didn’t seem to care what we thought of him. In the end he didn’t seem to care what anyone thought of him. And this was his downfall.

Intelligent men make mistakes. Every single human being no matter how intelligent has made mistakes. Burke seemed to place himself in a category that was apart from human beings. He didn’t make mistakes. While the hockey world discussed his errors Burke would simply wave his hand through the air and dismiss contrary opinions as those belonging to people not intelligent enough to be in the same room with him.

He refused to acknowledge that trading three prospects for a good player when the club desperately needed quantity more than quality was a miscalculation. He refused to acknowledge that elevating Dion Phaneuf into exalted status and making the bold pronouncement that this was the player who would lead the Leafs down the championship road was far too much pressure for a decent player to handle. And he refused to acknowledge that his inability to acquire a frontline goaltender was an error preferring to prop up James Reimer as the answer to the Leafs net minding problems.

Brian Burke said that he made only one mistake—that of joining a team that changed ownership. Very funny. Of course during his final press conference after being fired as Leafs General Manager Burke accepted responsibility for the failures of the club, not because he believed it but because he knew that if he blamed others he would have a much harder time finding another job. Nobody would want a man in charge who blamed others for his mistakes. But then Burke’s reputation is not a secret. He lost this job because of his personality as much as for his failures as team builder. If another franchise was thinking of hiring him then it would only be because of that public persona he portrays and the thought that he could drive interest in their club. He would be more carnival barker than hockey executive. But then Burke has nobody to blame but himself—not like he would though.

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[Leafidelity]

Vancouver Sun

 

[Kyle Doobas*]

'Vancouver Sun'

if nothing else they appreciate irony

 

[charliolemieux]

Just because his name alone sells papers in three cities.

Pathetic.

 

[Tak7]

It's easy to kick a man when he's done.

It's easy with hindsight to go back and pick out the hockey decisions that didn't work out for Burke.

Good on the Vancouver Sun. Shame they are about 2 weeks too late.

 

[HellasLEAF]

I disagree with a lot of that.

And at the same time, I don't disagree with about the same.

He was arrogant, and he did make mistakes.

Let's just say, I"m fairly happy with the team and prospects he left behind. But quietly confident in Nonis going forward and not Burke.

 

[johnny_rudeboy]

Nothing new in the article.

 

[kihei]

Brian who?

 

[Stats01]

Vancouver loves to talk about the Leafs.

 

[Stats01]

I've never seen a city with such a inferiority complex as Vancouver does with it's fan base and media.

 

[Urban Explorer*]

I've never seen a city with such a inferiority complex as Vancouver does with it's fan base and media.

It's called "little brother syndrome". It's a real psychological problem.

 

[The_Chosen_One]

It's called "little brother syndrome". It's a real psychological problem.

I've noticed that when I was in Vancouver. Must say, it's rather strange considering the city is so far away. Torontonians tend to visit the neighboring cities in the Great Lake basin, especially Buffalo and Montreal.

Seems like Vancouver needs a real local rival in either Portland or Seattle.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

1.Write about Burke to distract fans from a terrible goaltending performance
2.???
3.Profit

 

[Pierre Gotye]

It's true that Burke made mistakes. It's true he's a big personality. It's true that he over promised and under-delivered.

It's also true he walked into a franchise with nothing. With very little pieces to shuffle of relative value teams across the NHL coveted. He also spent a great deal of time restocking a weak prospects system.

He also did what the media was screaming for him to do for years. Build a team by the youth movement.

If Burke didn't make the Kessel trade...impatient media would still say his reluctance to have made the Kessel trade was wrong.

Either way, Burke loses the PR/media gig.

 

[Anthrax442]

I think his only mistake was over valuing the team when he came in and thought he can rebuild on the fly. Everything else stemmed from that.

 

[I am Canadian]

This shows more how obsessed Vancouver is over Toronto...this has nothing to do with them and some reporter still feels the need to write.

 

[darrylsittler27]

Leaf fan from Vancouver.

Did you forget he used to be GM there. I'm a Leaf fan, I don't like Burke.He is full of it.Goodbye Jackazz.

 

[daveleaf]

Spot on as far as I am concerned. Most over rated executive in the history of hockey.

 

[achtungbaby]

It's easy to kick a man when he's done.

It's easy with hindsight to go back and pick out the hockey decisions that didn't work out for Burke.

Good on the Vancouver Sun. Shame they are about 2 weeks too late.

Some would argue Burke had this coming after his parting shots towards the best goaltender coach in the world. Who cares? He's gone.

 

[achtungbaby]

I've never seen a city with such a inferiority complex as Vancouver does with it's fan base and media.

You don't live in Toronto then?

 

[Defense]

This article is garbage

 

[MuchoMacho]

Burke is loyal to his players. If Burke says "yeah you know what, I really screwed up on the Kessel trade. Tyler Seguin is AMAZING" how does that make Kessel feel? If he says "Yeah, Dion came on early with great leadership skills and maybe we jumped the gun giving him the captaincy of the team" does he strip Dion of the "C"? Who deserves it more? How would that make Dion feel?

Burke not admitting to his mistakes is taken as arrogance by some, but I always took it as loyalty to his players and colleagues. I mean the guy even praised JFJ when he came to the leafs instead of taking shots at what he had to work with. IMO that's classy, not arrogant.

 

[Toasterman]

Burke is loyal to his players. If Burke says "yeah you know what, I really screwed up on the Kessel trade. Tyler Seguin is AMAZING" how does that make Kessel feel? If he says "Yeah, Dion came on early with great leadership skills and maybe we jumped the gun giving him the captaincy of the team" does he strip Dion of the "C"? Who deserves it more? How would that make Dion feel?

Burke not admitting to his mistakes is taken as arrogance by some, but I always took it as loyalty to his players and colleagues. I mean the guy even praised JFJ when he came to the leafs instead of taking shots at what he had to work with. IMO that's classy, not arrogant.

Just look at the loyalty he sowed to the Leafs after they fired him as GM.

Also, almost all the big pieces in Vancouver that currently make them a contender were brought in by Burke.

Lou's current mess of a contract that the team so wishes to rid itself of? Via their current GM.

 

[ITM]

Burke is loyal to his players. If Burke says "yeah you know what, I really screwed up on the Kessel trade. Tyler Seguin is AMAZING" how does that make Kessel feel? If he says "Yeah, Dion came on early with great leadership skills and maybe we jumped the gun giving him the captaincy of the team" does he strip Dion of the "C"? Who deserves it more? How would that make Dion feel?

Burke not admitting to his mistakes is taken as arrogance by some, but I always took it as loyalty to his players and colleagues. I mean the guy even praised JFJ when he came to the leafs instead of taking shots at what he had to work with. IMO that's classy, not arrogant.

And to add I think what was being sought after was a sense of shame. And full credit to Burke for not exhibiting shame where it wasn't required. He's taken responsibility for his actions, and as noted above, always gave credit where it was due and seemed to pride himself on implimenting small changes that created a dynamic, supportive environment to work in.

If the man repeats ad nauseum that he and his staff discussed "what if" and Taylor Hall in the same session as a real possibility, that's not arrogance that he doesn't provide a mea culpa, that's stating facts of the matter and at the time...To which I believe he did admit he misjudged the talent of the team at the time of the deal, which is a far cry from decrying the deal.

Brian Burke absolutely employed confidence and at times arrogance, but he did so in areas that must be called virtuous. Not throwing people under the bus, shielding players and pointing out the positive, attempting to revise public perception concerning past regime contributions, etc...is a heck of a laudable thing to be arrogant about.

Why on Earth should he be polite about defending what he believed was in the best interest of The Toronto Maple Leafs if he felt criticism was unjustified?

He sure seemed to delegate a great deal of the portfolio to very capable specialists, improved the infrastructure to that of the best of the league, built the AHL, prospect pipeline, traded for (Kessel, Phaneuf,Lupul,Van Reimsdyk,Gardiner...?) five first round talents while giving up two, etc, etc....I get the gist of the article I just think like so many articles and per Burke's unapologetic disposition, that the critics in question just didn't get the sum of his accomplishment opposite his inheritance.

We'll see if a successful semester of hockey with Burke's pieces switches faces yet again.

 

[Shoebottom]

Totally agree with that article. Burke was a carnival barker with three ex-GMs doing his work for him. He took Toronto for a ride, he promised and hyped, but in the end the ride never lived up to the hype. Deal with it...