The Brian Burke Thread

[Tigger]

Yeah, well hindsight is wonderful that way, at the time Komisarek, Armstrong and Beauchemin weren't seen quite like that. Beauchemin was obviously flipped for a good return, Army had a litany of relatively unpredictable injuries and Komisarek seems like a shell of the player he was in Montreal.

Orr, Lebda, Hanson... that's kind of nothing to really complain about.

Connolly, well that was a tough chew but the Leafs really needed a centre. It wasn't a terrible risk given the roster and a two year deal isn't much to worry about either.

It didn't turn out but to say it was a huge mistake at the time was probably a minority pov, aside from Connolly.

Alone that's hardly something to get fired over.

 

[Kin]

That'd be terrific if a GM's job was to look good in hindsight.

 

[Tigger]

That'd be terrific if a GM's job was to look good in hindsight.

You know very well that's not what I was saying.

 

[Kin]

It genuinely did sound like you were defending Burke's FA signings by saying they didn't look so bad at the time. If that's not the case, my bad.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Tuesday, 11 AM for Burke's presser.

 

[Heroic Shrimp]

So when is Burke's year-end presser?  It's about time he comes out of hiding and faces the music.

Mirtle says tomorrow.

I'm actually surprised it isn't going to be Wednesday morning, unless he's planning it after they know where the Leafs will draft.  Not that "hey, we won the lottery and get to draft 1st" would be much to hang your hat on with this disappointing season but man would it ever come across a little nicer than drafting 5th.

Given that the odds of drafting 6th are twice as great as the odds of drafting 1st, he's arguably wise to have his presser first.  There's still that tiny bit of lottery hope going into the presser that is 92% likely to be disappointment by 8:30pm.

 

[maplesyrup]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEMjeYPfqSg[/youtube]

 

[Zee]

And there it is again. Burke just said he could have made the playoffs last year AND this year if he had just traded away a bunch of young guys for 30 year olds. Unreal.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

And there it is again. Burke just said he could have made the playoffs last year AND this year if he had just traded away a bunch of young guys for 30 year olds. Unreal.

I don't see why it bothers you.  Burke blusters and exaggerates and has forever.

 

[bustaheims]

And there it is again. Burke just said he could have made the playoffs last year AND this year if he had just traded away a bunch of young guys for 30 year olds. Unreal.

I don't see why it bothers you.  Burke blusters and exaggerates and has forever.

Also, who's to say it's not potentially true? He could have made those kinds of deals - I have no doubts about that - and, yeah, those moves might have been enough to put the team in the playoffs.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

And there it is again. Burke just said he could have made the playoffs last year AND this year if he had just traded away a bunch of young guys for 30 year olds. Unreal.

I don't see why it bothers you.  Burke blusters and exaggerates and has forever.

Also, who's to say it's not potentially true? He could have made those kinds of deals - I have no doubts about that - and, yeah, those moves might have been enough to put the team in the playoffs.

Did seem to work in Florida...

 

[Andy007]

And there it is again. Burke just said he could have made the playoffs last year AND this year if he had just traded away a bunch of young guys for 30 year olds. Unreal.

I don't see why it bothers you.  Burke blusters and exaggerates and has forever.

Well this is the Brian Burke thread and it is a pretty ridiculous quote.

I do find it interesting that Burke keeps pontificating about potential deals and what-ifs. So if he is sure he could have made the playoffs, maybe he should have dealt for some 30 year olds? I don't get what all of these woulda-shoulda's are supposed to do; are we, as fans, supposed to be thankful for some of these non-trades?

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

And there it is again. Burke just said he could have made the playoffs last year AND this year if he had just traded away a bunch of young guys for 30 year olds. Unreal.

I don't see why it bothers you.  Burke blusters and exaggerates and has forever.

Well this is the Brian Burke thread and it is a pretty ridiculous quote.

Not really.  Might be true, might not, we don't really know. 

I know what thread it is, hence why I suggested it shouldn't be surprising to hear something like that from Burke.  It's been his MO for years.

 

[bustaheims]

I do find it interesting that Burke keeps pontificating about potential deals and what-ifs. So if he is sure he could have made the playoffs, maybe he should have dealt for some 30 year olds? I don't get what all of these woulda-shoulda's are supposed to do; are we, as fans, supposed to be thankful for some of these non-trades?

He's made the reasoning there pretty clear - the goal isn't just to make the playoffs and hope things work out, it's to build a team that's capable of winning a championship. Trading youth and picks for 30 year olds more likely gets you the former, patience is what helps get you the latter.

 

[maplesyrup]

#1 Priority this off-season;  "Bigger."

 

[Zee]

#1 Priority this off-season;  "Bigger."

Bigger. He's said that 4 straight years now. Why didn't someone ask "Brian you have been saying the Leafs need to get bigger since 2008, why aren't they bigger already?"

 

[Corn Flake]

#1 Priority this off-season;  "Bigger."

Bigger. He's said that 4 straight years now. Why didn't someone ask "Brian you have been saying the Leafs need to get bigger since 2008, why aren't they bigger already?"

He also admitted both at the Wilson firing and today that he and Ron didn't see eye to eye on this area.  So in part, he was giving the coach what he was asking for in terms of skill over size.  He now has a coach who wants size.  Bottom line is to deal with some of the bigger teams in the East, they have to get bigger and meaner in the top six.

 

[Andy007]

I do find it interesting that Burke keeps pontificating about potential deals and what-ifs. So if he is sure he could have made the playoffs, maybe he should have dealt for some 30 year olds? I don't get what all of these woulda-shoulda's are supposed to do; are we, as fans, supposed to be thankful for some of these non-trades?

He's made the reasoning there pretty clear - the goal isn't just to make the playoffs and hope things work out, it's to build a team that's capable of winning a championship. Trading youth and picks for 30 year olds more likely gets you the former, patience is what helps get you the latter.

Great and if that's the plan stick to it and stress the importance of drafting and patience. I don't see the need for all of these quips about potential 1st rounders, picks and imaginary playoffs.

 

[Corn Flake]

And there it is again. Burke just said he could have made the playoffs last year AND this year if he had just traded away a bunch of young guys for 30 year olds. Unreal.

I don't see why it bothers you.  Burke blusters and exaggerates and has forever.

Also, who's to say it's not potentially true? He could have made those kinds of deals - I have no doubts about that - and, yeah, those moves might have been enough to put the team in the playoffs.

Did seem to work in Florida...

Sure did to make the playoffs, but they don't really strike me as a team that will be a contender with what they have, or anytime soon.  They have Huberdeau coming, which is nice.  After that...

 

[Zee]

The other idiotic thing Burke said was continuing to dismiss the "Pittsburgh model" as being all about winning the lottery and picking Crosby. Never mind the fact that the entire core of their team is first round picks (Malkin, Staal, Fleury) and that Crosby missed most of the year yet the Pens were still a force, it's all about the fluke of getting Crosby.

When you have a GM who refuses to acknowledge maybe another approach actually works, I really don't know what to say.