Burke Fired

[Highlander]

I don't know about you but the lookout was close to me closing the door on the Hockey scene (even though I am a Loaf junky), now with this tasteless move, a throughback to ever idiot who has ruled this team, I am very close to the edge of not watching.

If he was going to be dismissed it should have been at the end of the year..what a way to be treated. Pehaps we should all move our business to Rogers so Mr. George Cope (of Bell) can be shown the door....unceremoniously.

IF they give up Kadri or Frattin for Loungo I am definetly out.

 

[pnjunction]

Pehaps we should all move our business to Rogers so Mr. George Cope (of Bell) can be shown the door....unceremoniously.

You do know that Rogers owns more of this mess than Bell does...37.5 vs 28%.

 

[bustaheims]

You do know that Rogers owns more of this mess than Bell does...37.5 vs 28%.

Bell actually owns the same 37.5% as Rogers, they've just divided their share between their main office and their investment company. Their total share is actually owned through their holding company - which in turn owns 50% of the joint holding company that owns 75% of MLSE. Bell divided things that way so they didn't have to give up their share of the Habs.

 

[dappleganger]

Things were fuzzier under a multi-billion dollar pension fund?

Or a malevolent, criminal, grumpy old rich dude?

Seriously, outside of the Stavro years it's been pretty much a 45 year uninterrupted stretch of pure evil and even then...how many of you actually went into a Knob Hill Farms?

My laundry is in a knob hill farms basket as I'm typing this.

 

[leafsjunkie]

I shopped at the Knob Hill Farms that used to be at the 401 and Weston Rd eons ago. Always had good sales on chicken!!

 

[Bender]

I shopped at the Knob Hill Farms that used to be at the 401 and Weston Rd eons ago. Always had good sales on chicken!!

Yeah me too, since I was a kid! I thought those waterfall things near the bus stop was pretty cool too And I still have their black baskets and use them for laundry these days haha.

 

[leafsjunkie]

I can't believe you still have the baskets!

 

[Bender]

I can't believe you still have the baskets!

They're useful! We use them in some fashion when we do our tomatoes for tomato puree also haha.

 

[hockeyfan1]

A few thoughts...Corey Perry - I think BelRog will unleash the purse strings and long term deals (as much as can be done) and Perry will certainly still give us consideration, if not Getzlaff too.

It brings to mind just what or how the Leafs ownership views the team and how they will go about building a winner.  With the Burke firing, it obviously tells us that that (Burke's way) was not the direction well taken by ownership.

Of course, being corporations, Rogers & Bell are mindful that success by some stretch will look good on them as well.  A losing image or one that doesn't yield any particular results from time to passing time, is not something successful people or even corporations or even companies like to be associated with especially when their acquisition costs them plenty.

Look at Rogers with the Blue Jays.  No playoffs for several seasons, declining attendance, disinterest or general waning interest in the team, crisiticisms, etc.,etc.  Finally, ownership gave Anthopoulos the reins to go out and get whatever it takes to make the Jays a respectable and winning team with true playoff potential, at least on paper for now  until the season begins in earnest).

So, if Bell/Rogers have it in mind to give Nonis himself the reins to do whatever it takes (to their agreement) to rebuild or build a winning foundation once again, then by all means so be it.

Burke's plan for the Leafs was ironically going to be take the long route, ironic because he believed that Toronto fans wouldn't have the patience for a rebuild.  New ownership did not take kindly to Burke's managerial decision-making nor his way of handling the team in all aspects. 

It doesn't sit well when the most profitable team in the league with the richest ownership in the league incurs a big fail with the person considered to be one of the best GMs in the league. 

 

[hockeyfan1]

Things were fuzzier under a multi-billion dollar pension fund?

Or a malevolent, criminal, grumpy old rich dude?

Seriously, outside of the Stavro years it's been pretty much a 45 year uninterrupted stretch of pure evil and even then...how many of you actually went into a Knob Hill Farms?

My laundry is in a knob hill farms basket as I'm typing this.

I too have a basket from those Knob Hill Farms days.  Use it to throw paper in that goes in the recycling bin every two weeks.

That place was so huge!  But they had plenty of Greek Feta cheese in those large tins.  Where else would one find that.  Those were those days!

 

[ensco]

Burke did not respect the right of his bosses to ask legitimate questions. He bragged about it! His stance on "interference" was an open invitation for dismissal in an employee/employer relationship.

 

[nutman]

I really think the whole thing is a shame. If they were going to fire him it should have been done months ago, but...

I actually think Burke was close to having a good playoff team. He may not have made a ton of brilliant moves but he had a direction. The benefits of his plan may not have mad on ice results just yet, but I feel like theyre coming.

Not advocating for getting or not getting Luongo, but having a goaltender of that calibre would have made a huge difference last year, could definitely have avoided that disaster collapse and made the playoffs. Maybe as comfortably as 5 or 6 seed.

Considering what Burke was given to work with when he got here, I think he's done a pretty decent job and we have all lived through much worse GMs than this.

It's really a shame if the Leafs succeed this year, on top of all this. Firing a guy because he doesn't get along with management.... eeesh.

Rogers/Bell taking over all sports in Toronto seems to have taken a turn for the evil. Call me crazy but I really don't get the warm and fuzzy from corporations running my favourite franchises.

Well put, and a very good wake up call for us all as just to what were in for with these no face owners.

 

[Justin]

I really think the whole thing is a shame. If they were going to fire him it should have been done months ago, but...

I actually think Burke was close to having a good playoff team. He may not have made a ton of brilliant moves but he had a direction. The benefits of his plan may not have mad on ice results just yet, but I feel like theyre coming.

Not advocating for getting or not getting Luongo, but having a goaltender of that calibre would have made a huge difference last year, could definitely have avoided that disaster collapse and made the playoffs. Maybe as comfortably as 5 or 6 seed.

Considering what Burke was given to work with when he got here, I think he's done a pretty decent job and we have all lived through much worse GMs than this.

It's really a shame if the Leafs succeed this year, on top of all this. Firing a guy because he doesn't get along with management.... eeesh.

Rogers/Bell taking over all sports in Toronto seems to have taken a turn for the evil. Call me crazy but I really don't get the warm and fuzzy from corporations running my favourite franchises.

Well put, and a very good wake up call for us all as just to what were in for with these no face owners.

Everyone grumbled abut the teachers pensions plan. Bell and Rogers are probably worse. Lord knows they got off to a horrible start as owners.

 

[Redleaf]

I really think the whole thing is a shame. If they were going to fire him it should have been done months ago, but...

I actually think Burke was close to having a good playoff team. He may not have made a ton of brilliant moves but he had a direction. The benefits of his plan may not have mad on ice results just yet, but I feel like theyre coming.

Not advocating for getting or not getting Luongo, but having a goaltender of that calibre would have made a huge difference last year, could definitely have avoided that disaster collapse and made the playoffs. Maybe as comfortably as 5 or 6 seed.

Considering what Burke was given to work with when he got here, I think he's done a pretty decent job and we have all lived through much worse GMs than this.

It's really a shame if the Leafs succeed this year, on top of all this. Firing a guy because he doesn't get along with management.... eeesh.

Rogers/Bell taking over all sports in Toronto seems to have taken a turn for the evil. Call me crazy but I really don't get the warm and fuzzy from corporations running my favourite franchises.

It's not just the ownership of all the sports teams in Toronto, it's the ownership of the media outlets too that bothers the hell out of me. Nobody will be allowed to criticize them soon either.

 

[armche123]

Hold on...

WHAT HAPPENS TO BURKIE'S DOG HOUSE I LOVE THOSE HOT DOGS!!!!

:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

Ha! I thought of that right after I heard the news..

http://www.thestar.com/living/food/article/1313383--burkie-s-dog-house-loses-its-name

And there goes the name....

 

[Zee]

Hold on...

WHAT HAPPENS TO BURKIE'S DOG HOUSE I LOVE THOSE HOT DOGS!!!!

:'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

Ha! I thought of that right after I heard the news..

http://www.thestar.com/living/food/article/1313383--burkie-s-dog-house-loses-its-name

And there goes the name....

?I figure I?m immortalized until about 10 minutes after I get canned here, then it?s going to be somebody else?s doghouse,? he joked to the Star?s Jennifer Bain in a 2009 interview when the stand was opened.

Such prophetic words.  They took the sign down the same day they made the announcement.

 

[Jay-Mar]

Nonis should hire Burke as one of his assistants now

 

[Tigger]

Down Goes Brown has a great article on the whole thing.

Make no mistake: Brian Burke, the man, is about as admirable as they come. Oh, sure, he often came across as a thin-skinned bully, especially with the media. He also worked tirelessly for charity, was fiercely loyal in a business where few are, and carried on with an almost unimaginable strength after the death of his son Brendan. The important work done by Burke and his family to build acceptance of gay athletes has a chance to live on long after Burke?s time in Toronto has been forgotten.

But when it comes to wins and losses, none of that matters. (And please say a small prayer for Maple Leafs fans that this really is about wins and losses, and not about Burke?s ability to play nice with his new corporate masters as some have speculated, because if that?s the case, then this franchise might never win again and wouldn?t deserve to.) Burke may be a good man, but so far in Toronto, he hadn?t been a winning one.

When they say they wanted to change the 'tone' of leadership, that kind of speculation seems pretty close to me, 'winning' seemed like a secondary/tertiary issue from the presser.

 

[Jay-Mar]

Down Goes Brown has a great article on the whole thing.

Make no mistake: Brian Burke, the man, is about as admirable as they come. Oh, sure, he often came across as a thin-skinned bully, especially with the media. He also worked tirelessly for charity, was fiercely loyal in a business where few are, and carried on with an almost unimaginable strength after the death of his son Brendan. The important work done by Burke and his family to build acceptance of gay athletes has a chance to live on long after Burke?s time in Toronto has been forgotten.

But when it comes to wins and losses, none of that matters. (And please say a small prayer for Maple Leafs fans that this really is about wins and losses, and not about Burke?s ability to play nice with his new corporate masters as some have speculated, because if that?s the case, then this franchise might never win again and wouldn?t deserve to.) Burke may be a good man, but so far in Toronto, he hadn?t been a winning one.

When they say they wanted to change the 'tone' of leadership, that kind of speculation seems pretty close to me, 'winning' seemed like a secondary/tertiary issue from the presser.

I think people forget the state that John Ferguson and Cliff Flecture left this team in. The cupboards we re bare and our number 1 center was Matt Stajan, Burke in 4 years (other than the Kessel trade) has been building this team the proper way and i belive future success will be had from the blue print he laid out.

 

[Peter D.]

Burke deserves credit from moving this team along from where JFJ and Fletcher v2.0 left it. 

But I mentioned the day Burke was fired that while Burke has assembled some pretty good pieces, I don't like the construction of this team all that much.  The deemed core pieces don't scream long-term, legitimate, sustainable contender.