Waiting for a Blast of Burke

The Grey Cup is over, and the cold winds of November have already delivered snow and harsh reality to the city and the Maple Leafs.

Despite the best efforts of some hard-working, hopeful players, facts are facts and talent, both individual and organizational, will eventually rise to the top in a league as difficult and competitive as the NHL.

Seven losses in nine games and the NHL's third worst defensive record have sunk the Leafs in the NHL standings. No longer, one should think, will folks blithely extoll the virtues of this team as a wonderful surprise, admirable for its work ethic and enthusiasm. That, folks, is the bare minimum for any team searching for success in the NHL, and giving this team so much early season credit for trying really hard just shows you how expectations have plummeted in hockey's Centre of the Universe.

That's okay. This is what was expected, and rabid Leaf fans just got a little excited, thinking Luke Schenn and Mikhail Grabovski were good enough that the team would get to skip three or four steps on the route back to competitiveness.

But surely even MLSE understands that now, this week, is the time to crown Brian Burke. The dreams of Richard Peddie, that he could hang on to the team presidency and ride the coattails of the amazingly popular Cliff Fletcher indefinitely, are over.

Burke's not perfect, and he may not turn this team into a winner. Nobody comes with guarantees.

(Ed. Note: Burke did not fly to Toronto as expected today after arriving in Boston to find the furnace in his home broken. It's unclear whether he will make it to the GTA in the next day or so.)

But after five years of basically wandering in the hinterland, changing directions every two or three months, patching the roster here and there in a desperate attempt to convince people that this hockey club was focussed on winning, Burke will give this organization real direction. He will, finally, get Peddie's fingers out of the mix, and that was always the prime benefit of hiring a new president/GM to run the hockey club.

If this was a condo deal, the suits at MLSE would have it locked down and completed by now. It's been 10 days since Burke was cleared to talk to any NHL club, and the Leafs haven't yet sat down face-to-face with him to hammer out a deal. They seem to be labouring under the illusion that they have options, that Burke isn't the best opportunity they've had in a while to add a bold, experienced hockey man.

Larry Tanenbaum and Co. apparently figure that if they honour enough players, as they did with Wendel Clark on Saturday, maybe it'll distract people from the fact that the team has steadily deteriorated over the past five years. Hope springs eternal in the hearts of dedicated Leaf fans, but even they, when they gaze upon the NHL standings this morning, have to notice that their favorite team has fewer wins than all but two other clubs this season.

In November, 2008, they are by far the worst of the Original Six, with Boston and Chicago having risen out of their self-imposed doldrums to join the Rangers, Canadiens and Red Wings as strong clubs in the league this season.

This we know for sure. Brian Burke cannot make things worse.

Comments

[Lewis McClain]

Damian: Can we please use some effort to get Sundin back? Burke cannot skate,and neither can Fletcher. Paul Maurice was right. Also another sniper such as Wellwood would be appreciated.

[Roberto]

Yep , the Leafs, as expected, are not very good, but in my opinion are not as bad as their record. No team, including San Jose, Detroit or the Gretzky era Edmonton Oilers, can win when their goalie does not make the occasional big save and has a save percentage in the .870 range.
So if there is a silver lining to the season, it is how well the team has played in front of Toskala.
If Curtis Joseph is not good enough to play when Toskala is struggling, then Fletcher dropped the ball by not hanging on to Clemmenson or finding a capable backup.

[Steve Barnett]

It wont come quick enough for me Cox. Just to be able to not have to write another I hate Dick Peddie letter to the editor.
Dick was under the illusion that he knew hockey. His egotistical ravings were becoming nuaseating..And let's not let larry off the hook either..Two peas in a pod..At least Burke knows his way around and can actually see if a player is worth it or not...How long do you think Tie Dummy would of lasted if Burke was here?
Anyway folks out with the old and in with the new..

[RCoutts]

I agree with your basic premise of your article that a strong direction is needed and Burke is the best available person for the job. However, I think it's time to stop attributing imagined motives to reasonably intelligent people such as Richard Peddie and Larry Tannenbaum.

I strongly doubt that Larry Tannenbaum or Richard Peddie believe that honoring Wendel Clark or Doug Gilmour will "distract" leaf fans from their desire to see a winning product on the ice. I can recall various pundits, yourself included, during and beyond the Harold Ballard era decrying the lack of class in the Maple Leaf organization and the dirth of respect for past players. These past beloved Leafs deserve the recognition, pure and simple. There is no great conspiracy here.

[jason chapman]

There was a post written the other day about how the Leafs have only "honoured" 4 players since the late 60's. You can't put it any better than that.

[Joel]

You've failed to make the case for Burke other than the fact that he is the "best available" and "can't make things worse".

Well, what's the rush? We knew this season was going to be bad, we know how long Fletcher can stay on for. There are plenty of free agent, high quality GMs available this coming off-season. The only advantage you have stated is that it gets Peddie's fingers out of the pie earlier. That's great, but no reason to hire Burke.

Can't make things worse? You've heard the arguments against him so I won't repeat them here.

It's funny to see you gloat a little bit Cox, now that the Leafs are in a funk and are supposedly not as good as the team that had a great October.

[mark]

Never in the history of ink stained wretches has one been as out of touch as Mr Damien Cox. You continually assert two things in your blog: 1. Toronto is not a hockey town; it's 'Maple Leafs' town. 2. Toronto fans are easily distracted. I beg to differ. The only reason the Leafs sellout every game is because we the fans come out to see the best hockey in the world; NHL hockey. Don't forget, there are 2 teams on the ice. And nobody, but nobody, is 'distracted' by any of the off ice shananagans or stupid slogans put out by MLSE (spirit my butt). So, stop treating the fans like unwashed ignorant fools Damien. We get it... maybe you don't.

[Norm]

Not sure why Fletcher is dealing if Burke will soon be here. Fletcher got goal scorer Stempniak (16 goals in past 94 games) for Steen (17 goals in past 96 games). He also threw in Carlo to save some money since Wilson didn't like him. Fletcher should have had gotten draft picks for the two guys instead of having Stempniak tie up $3.5 million in cap room next year. Maybe Burke could have made better use of that money.

[JM]

As long as we fill the ACC and tie up TV rights, do you really think we are ever going to get a GM that will get the job done. I think Petty is going to take his Puppet show on the road!!

[chris]

When the GTA starts packing them in to Ontario Hockey League games, then we can start to call Toronto a hockey town. Until then, it's a Maple Leafs town.

[Glen]

We could have a top six forward without sacrificing young players. Hello Mats Sundin. But no. We trade two young players for a more expensive player. On second thought Stempniak may be just what we need. Another 15 goal guy to bookend Jason Blake. We'll sink lower in the standings and get one good draft pick. No wait. We'll trade that pick for Tom Kurvers and make a push for the playoffs. Oh that was decades ago. We won't be anywhere near the playoffs. What scares me is that we could trade that first round pick for a fifth round pick. In fact let's trade two firsts for a fifth like they did on November 24. I am totally confused in what is going on with this team and it's management. Can we trade for Wendell and Dougie again?