The Brian Burke Thread

[Zee]

http://ww3.tvo.org/video/178645/brian-burke-business-hockey

Excellent and insightful interview. Thanks for sharing!

The only thing that bothers me is his "entertainment business" shtick. Nothing is more entertaining than wins, even if that means boring "trap" hockey.

I think he was referring more to the competition he faces for people's entertainment dollars, which he is correct about. Part of his job is to steal away dollars that may be going toward a movie, theatre or concert, and instead get those same people to come see a Leaf game instead.

I understand that, but the question was asked if the Leafs could win playing a more "boring" brand of hockey would be want to do it and he said "no".  He thinks they can playing "exciting" hockey and win as well. 

In terms of competing with movies, tv shows, other sports, the Leafs would have no problem earning everyone's dollar if they were one of the best teams in the league, "boring style" or not.  That's my point, build a successful team and you'll win the entertainment war.

 

[maplesyrup]

I like Burke too but man, he sure gets a lot of love in this town for what he's given us. I wonder he appreciates just how lucky he is.

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

I like Burke too but man, he sure gets a lot of love in this town for what he's given us. I wonder he appreciates just how lucky he is.

Well, November 29 will be four years he was hired in Toronto.  The team was in quite a shambles.  Only thing I can really complain about Burke was going into last season with Reimer and Gus.

 

[Corn Flake]

http://ww3.tvo.org/video/178645/brian-burke-business-hockey

Excellent and insightful interview. Thanks for sharing!

Man, Burke looks like he's gotten about 10 hours sleep in the past 4 years. 

edit: "We have a lot of building blocks in place.  If we can upgrade the goaltending, then we are a playoff team."

Alrighty then.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

edit: "We have a lot of building blocks in place.  If we can upgrade the goaltending, then we are a playoff team."

Alrighty then.

I think it's fair to say our goaltending lost us at least 5 games single-handily last season. Average goaltending would have probably gotten us into the playoffs.

 

[We_Miss_Sundin]

I feel like he gets way too much respect and praise considering he hasn't delivered a playoff team in the time he has been here.  If I hear him say that "Reimer is the real deal" one more time I'm gonna yack....

 

[Bender]

http://ww3.tvo.org/video/178645/brian-burke-business-hockey

Excellent and insightful interview. Thanks for sharing!

The only thing that bothers me is his "entertainment business" shtick. Nothing is more entertaining than wins, even if that means boring "trap" hockey.

I think he was referring more to the competition he faces for people's entertainment dollars, which he is correct about. Part of his job is to steal away dollars that may be going toward a movie, theatre or concert, and instead get those same people to come see a Leaf game instead.

I understand that, but the question was asked if the Leafs could win playing a more "boring" brand of hockey would be want to do it and he said "no".  He thinks they can playing "exciting" hockey and win as well. 

In terms of competing with movies, tv shows, other sports, the Leafs would have no problem earning everyone's dollar if they were one of the best teams in the league, "boring style" or not.  That's my point, build a successful team and you'll win the entertainment war.

I think you missed the part where he stated that he doesn't believe that winning and being entertaining are mutually exclusive.

 

[Corn Flake]

edit: "We have a lot of building blocks in place.  If we can upgrade the goaltending, then we are a playoff team."

Alrighty then.

I think it's fair to say our goaltending lost us at least 5 games single-handily last season. Average goaltending would have probably gotten us into the playoffs.

Plus when you layer on top their shaky play drained the confidence of the rest of the team, layering on probably another 5 losses just during that 3-18 ride in Feb/March.

 

[moon111]

JFJ caused allot of damage trying to make everyone happy.  Burke has put in a development system in place with some of the best coaches you could ask for.  People are complaining it hasn't paid off yet?  Thankfully Burke doesn't listen as well as JFJ.

 

[jonlleafs]

I feel like he gets way too much respect and praise considering he hasn't delivered a playoff team in the time he has been here.  If I hear him say that "Reimer is the real deal" one more time I'm gonna yack....

Well, I think people are waaaay tooo impatient and think he can make a contender in such a short period of time.  Do you forget how bad JFJ messed up this franchise?  Or has that memory been repressed?  We didn't have a single blue chip prospect (Kulemin sure, but he's not top end).  We had a bunch of old veterans and terrible goaltending.  I think Burke has done an amazing job since he's come here stocking up the cupboards so that we're successful for years not just one playoff series.  If we were to relax and give him 7-10yrs, I am confident we'd have a solid contender and we'd have so many prospects that we'd have to ship them out to upgrade certain positions that were already good.

 

[Kin]

Well, I think people are waaaay tooo impatient and think he can make a contender in such a short period of time.

But it was Burke who started things off by saying that he didn't believe in a five year rebuilding process. It's Burke who talks about gunning for the playoffs every year. Burke is the guy who talks about how Pittsburgh built their team as if it were a cosmic accident.

You can't blame people for criticizing Burke for failing at his own stated goals. We're headed into year four of Burke's time here and, like it or not, he has a track record. His record in free agency is not very good. His record with trades can, at best, be called hit and miss. In terms of the draft/prospects...obviously there's going to be no clear answer there but I think the general perspective on the Leafs farm system is that it's good, has depth, but not great and lacking in star power. That's not a great record after four years when there's no NHL success to go along with it.

 

[Zee]

Well, I think people are waaaay tooo impatient and think he can make a contender in such a short period of time.

But it was Burke who started things off by saying that he didn't believe in a five year rebuilding process. It's Burke who talks about gunning for the playoffs every year. Burke is the guy who talks about how Pittsburgh built their team as if it were a cosmic accident.

You can't blame people for criticizing Burke for failing at his own stated goals. We're headed into year four of Burke's time here and, like it or not, he has a track record. His record in free agency is not very good. His record with trades can, at best, be called hit and miss. In terms of the draft/prospects...obviously there's going to be no clear answer there but I think the general perspective on the Leafs farm system is that it's good, has depth, but not great and lacking in star power. That's not a great record after four years when there's no NHL success to go along with it.

It's true, had Burke come in and said "this team is a mess we'll need to go minimum 4-5 years of pain before things get better" I think people wouldn't be all over him right now.  He's made his own bed.

 

[BlueWhiteBlood]

Well, I think people are waaaay tooo impatient and think he can make a contender in such a short period of time.

But it was Burke who started things off by saying that he didn't believe in a five year rebuilding process. It's Burke who talks about gunning for the playoffs every year. Burke is the guy who talks about how Pittsburgh built their team as if it were a cosmic accident.

You can't blame people for criticizing Burke for failing at his own stated goals. We're headed into year four of Burke's time here and, like it or not, he has a track record. His record in free agency is not very good. His record with trades can, at best, be called hit and miss. In terms of the draft/prospects...obviously there's going to be no clear answer there but I think the general perspective on the Leafs farm system is that it's good, has depth, but not great and lacking in star power. That's not a great record after four years when there's no NHL success to go along with it.

It's true, had Burke come in and said "this team is a mess we'll need to go minimum 4-5 years of pain before things get better" I think people wouldn't be all over him right now.  He's made his own bed.

I see both of your points here. Surely we saw this a couple of years ago, as we were talking about Burke having to adjust on the fly. I was over it a while ago. It has turned into more of a rebuild, than a retool this much is obvious.

We can sit back and criticize Burke for not doing it exactly how he said, but I see no point in that really, the point has already been made. Our prospect system is strong, he'll just have to focus on higher end talent moving forward, but it's much better.

I also see the point that the system and team were older and a mess when he got here. So I think he's done a fairly good job in this regard, you would have needed better assets at the start to be further ahead than he is now IMO.

 

[rdowdall]

They had Paul Maurice on the team 1200 last night.  He talked about how Toronto is a very different environment to the other Canadian cities.  He says the prolonged absence of winning has affected the team to a certain degree.  In Toronto they always want you to be two steps ahead of where you currently are, and they are always trying to find ways to speed the process up, because they have gone so long without winning.  It was a pretty cool interview.

 

[Erndog]

They had Paul Maurice on the team 1200 last night.  He talked about how Toronto is a very different environment to the other Canadian cities.  He says the prolonged absence of not winning has affected the team to a certain degree.  In Toronto they always want you to be two steps ahead of where you currently are, and they are always trying to find ways to speed the process up, because they have gone so long without winning.  It was a pretty cool interview.

I heard it.  It was good. 

He also said that the immense pressure our young guys go through is a lot different than most other cities.  He said before you even play your first game you have 2 weeks of articles written about you and how you're supposed to be a saviour.

He also said that we (fans) expect too much from our young players and that its okay to just be just "good."  He mentioned Luke Schenn specifically.  Said that he's going to be a good "#3/4/5 d-man" but that we expect more when we really shouldn't. 

 

[rdowdall]

They had Paul Maurice on the team 1200 last night.  He talked about how Toronto is a very different environment to the other Canadian cities.  He says the prolonged absence of not winning has affected the team to a certain degree.  In Toronto they always want you to be two steps ahead of where you currently are, and they are always trying to find ways to speed the process up, because they have gone so long without winning.  It was a pretty cool interview.

I heard it.  It was good. 

He also said that the immense pressure our young guys go through is a lot different than most other cities.  He said before you even play your first game you have 2 weeks of articles written about you and how you're supposed to be a saviour.

He also said that we (fans) expect too much from our young players and that its okay to just be just "good."  He mentioned Luke Schenn specifically.  Said that he's going to be a good "#3/4/5 d-man" but that we expect more when we really shouldn't.

Yeah, I found that part interesting.  He basically said that our young players aren't allowed to be "good" young players, they have to be better than that.

You know, that might be an element to the Kessel deal that we often forget.  If we look at how Kadri and Schenn have been treated, and the amount press dedicated to them and how they are not living up to their billings, can you imagine what would happen if there was a #1 or #2 overall pick coming in to Toronto?  That pressure would be immense.  That kid would have to change the face of the franchise immediately.  Not sure there are too many 18 year old players out there that could do that.

 

[Madferret]

They had Paul Maurice on the team 1200 last night.  He talked about how Toronto is a very different environment to the other Canadian cities.  He says the prolonged absence of not winning has affected the team to a certain degree.  In Toronto they always want you to be two steps ahead of where you currently are, and they are always trying to find ways to speed the process up, because they have gone so long without winning.  It was a pretty cool interview.

I heard it.  It was good. 

He also said that the immense pressure our young guys go through is a lot different than most other cities.  He said before you even play your first game you have 2 weeks of articles written about you and how you're supposed to be a saviour.

He also said that we (fans) expect too much from our young players and that its okay to just be just "good."  He mentioned Luke Schenn specifically.  Said that he's going to be a good "#3/4/5 d-man" but that we expect more when we really shouldn't.

He also said he feels sorry for whoever the Leafs take with the #5 pick. McGuire was also pretty blunt about the Leafs chances of trading / signing anyone of significance this summer.

 

[bustaheims]

McGuire was also pretty blunt about the Leafs chances of trading / signing anyone of significance this summer.

Of course, he was. When McGuire is on any radio station outside of Toronto, he's super-negative about the Leafs. When he's on a radio station in Toronto, he's relatively positive about them. I wouldn't put any stock into what he's saying.

 

[Madferret]

McGuire was also pretty blunt about the Leafs chances of trading / signing anyone of significance this summer.

Of course, he was. When McGuire is on any radio station outside of Toronto, he's super-negative about the Leafs. When he's on a radio station in Toronto, he's relatively positive about them. I wouldn't put any stock into what he's saying.

I don't need McGuire to tell me nothing of significance is going to happen with the Leafs this summer - this isn't my first dance. It's not yours either you should know better by now.

 

[bustaheims]

I don't need McGuire to tell me nothing of significance is going to happen with the Leafs this summer - this isn't my first dance. It's not yours either you should know better by now.

I'm not saying that he's wrong, just that him saying anything about it means nothing to me, because, well, he's an idiot.