McKenzie tweeting Burke fired as Toronto GM

[doulos]

Take a step back and look at results instead of individual trades/deals etc.

The team has actually done worse during his time, than it did while Ferguson was GM (I think?). And yet people think he's done a great job?

Maybe it really is as simple as 'You suck as a GM, goodbye!' but done at a strange time.

[Papps]

Kessel, Lupul, JVR, Phaneuf, Gardiner are worse than Antropov, Stajan, Poni, Mayers, Hagman, Schenn? Mmmkay

Well done sir!

I've heard many ramblings.. from him not wanting to take on Luongo's contract due to his stance on contract issues to it being CBA related.. I actually think Burke did a great job.. Kessel, Versteeg, Lupul, JVR, Kessel, Dion, Gardiner, and all the youngsters in the Marlies.. He's drafted well and he's a smart man.. I thought the leafs were getting close with Burke.. now he's gone.. I liked his straight forward attitude..

Keep in mind he also shipped out some crap.. Stajan, Hagman, Toskala, Jason Blake.. And was just on the tail of aquiring Luongo.. Maybe a good move or maybe not but you cant say he's done a poor job with what he had to offer..

[Yonald]

The timing of this is very weird. I'm not a Toronto fan but I remember hearing something about Francois Allaire and Burke not getting along? I know he and Luongo have been working in the off season. Could the combination of not hiring Allaire and Luongo not being here be the reason?

Don't think I'd be very happy as a Leafs fan


As a Canucks fan several of Burkes moves were questioned when he was the GM here but looking back I can tell you Burke did wonders for the Canucks and made several moves that have made them a successful franchise

He drafted Kesler 23th overall
Somehow made several moves in the 99 draft to walk away with both Sedins while only losing McCabe as a roster player
Traded fan favourite Trevor Linden for Bertuzzi, McCabe, pick (Jarkko Ruutu)

[Papps]

And for the record.. I doubt keeping Seguin and Hamilton would have kept him his job.. He may have been fired sooner instead of making a push to win now instead of wait for prospects to gain form.. He knew Kessel was a good player.. Would Seguin be the same player he is today if he was drafted by the leafs instead of groomed by the Bruins? Or hamilton?? Will he be the defender everyone thinks?

I agree the trade may seem one sided now but back then he probably wanted to keep his job..

[gfhyde]

Oh....so Nonis IS the new GM. Well that was quick.

[bigbabybuda]

My FB Status from this Sunday night

"If Brian Burke doesn't address the goaltending situation before the season begins he needs to be fired immediately. It is absolutely ridiculous that he has not done this already. It is not even close, we have the worst goaltending in the league." Just saying right or wrong I need to get respect around here

Kaberle
Luke Scheen
Reimer
Burke

looking like a trend that was not easy to spot!

[doulos]

My FB Status from this Sunday night

"If Brian Burke doesn't address the goaltending situation before the season begins he needs to be fired immediately. It is absolutely ridiculous that he has not done this already. It is not even close, we have the worst goaltending in the league." Just saying right or wrong I need to get respect around here \

I am sure there were people calling for Burke to be fired every day on Facebook.

[reeveta]

TSN says he will stay on as a senior advisor. That changes the tone a lot. It could be more of 'I am tried of this s$%t' from Burke.

[wendelclark17]

i dont know about this i think it was pretty easy to predict the leafs would suck

Yes but if the Bruins had ended up with Gudbrandson, Niederreiter, Johansen or Connolly, who were the next 4 picks taken would everybody still think it was such a bad trade? If the leafs had finished with 6 more points that season it would be a very different story, it's on Burke for sure but the guy he landed was still a top 5 scorer last year, one dimensional yes but an elite scorer, at least he was last year.

Burke is a polarizing figure due to his attitude as much as anything but I think he did a good job with the very shitty hand he was dealt.

The team he took over was horrible and had numerous NMC/NTC, Grabovksi and Kulemin are the only two players that remain on the team. Despite the NHL results I would say he has made significant improvements to the team, has successfully rebuilt the Marlies into a legitimate AHL club and restocked the prospect cupboards to a degree. Overall he has done more good than harm in my opinion and Kessel deal aside, which I already mentioned above, one could argue he has "won" every trade since (that comes to mind). Every GM makes mistakes and Connolly, Komisarek and Armstrong all worked out poorly but the signings had upside and he didn't have to give up any assets. Overall I would give him a 6.5-7/10 as the leafs GM during his reign.

[lobo1969]

Nonis looks stunned himself in the live presser.

[4horsemen]

What about the Burkie signings of Mike Komisarek, Colby Armstrong(buyout) and Tim Connolly??

Just money, not assets....doesn't matter at all. The Leafs are nothing if not rich. Connolly was signed to a very short deal...didn't pan out...who cares?

[dmvincent]

I have a feeling Nonis was a big part of everything people are giving Burke credit for.

This is his chance to shine, very humble guy.

[lobo1969]

Just money, not assets....doesn't matter at all. The Leafs are nothing if not rich. Connolly was signed to a very short deal...didn't pan out...who cares?

That's BS, these are still poor hockey/business decisions.

[gfhyde]

There are much, MUCH worse decisions that people haven't been fired for.

I don't get it. How many people disliked Connolly before he was a Leaf? I liked him on the Sabres (when he was healthy enough to play lol). Then he has a shit year and all of a sudden Burke's the worst GM in the history of the league? THAT'S his fault?

Same with Army!

Komisarek...wellllll......

[northernnuck]

just tweeted

Strombone ‏@strombone1

Next I'm thinking about tackling relocation.