The Obligatory Brian Burke Post
Unofficially, Brian Burke is the 13th General Manager of my beloved Toronto Maple Leafs. Hopefully, he'll be the man that brings the 14th Cup to Toronto.
Relative merits, weaknesses, and alternatives have been discussed pretty much ad infinitum.
I was one of the Burke detractors, but I will concede that when an organization has the chance to sign one of the top five executives in the industry they would be foolish not to.
The good news is, this hiring brings an end to the endless, and largely meaningless, media speculation surrounding Burke and the Leafs.
The bad news is, the hiring will spark endless, and largely meaningless, media speculation regarding the changes Burke might enact. And who can't wait to read about Burke's love of Canadian players and distaste for Euros?
Oh, and the opportunities for plan the parade jokes. Yeah, those are great too.
I'm not a big Brian Burke supporter either. I like the current management team of Fletcher, Coates and Nieuwendyk. The current team has already taken the team in a new direction now that will change again with this appointment. Burke's track record is not any better than Fletcher's. In the short run the change will further destabilize the franchise. In the long term will it get them to the Stanley Cup finals - who knows?
ReplyDeleteFletcher wasn't the long-term answer, simply because of his age. The guy's pretty old.
ReplyDeleteLike you said MF, the chance was there to grab one of hockey's top executives, and the club made it happen. I can take solace in that.
You were largely the reason why I soured on Burke, but I'm willing to give him a shot. Like I've said before, we're at the bottom. The only place left to go is up, and I'm confident Burke can do that.
I'm confident because, if nothing else, Burke is confident. He believes that he is the best, and that he can end the drought. Confidence can go a long way. It's a new era, and as fans, it's fun for us to be a part of it and watch how it unfolds.
Onwards and, hopefully, upwards.
That's true, confidence breeds confidence. Having said that, I felt that we were settling down into a nice direction and it'll be interesting to see what Burke changes and if his dislike of Euro players manifests itself into a mass clear out and more disruption. We can only hope that it doesn't.
ReplyDeleteMan, seven hours at work really messes up your ability to write coherent sentences.
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