Brian Burke fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs
Jonathan Willis
January 09 2013 10:54AM
Toronto Maple Leafs have apparently fired Brian Burke as general manager. Working on official confirmations.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) January 9, 2013
So that just happened.
Not that we needed confirmation, given that this is Bob McKenzie, but here's Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos:
Breaking #NHL news confirmed #Leafs Brian Burke done with the Leafs.Details to follow.
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) January 9, 2013
The timing of this almost defies belief. The NHL lockout is all but officially over, and soon teams are going to go from idling, as they have been all fall and winter, to full speed as they rush to get their teams on the ice and pull off any last minute trades to address injuries and weaknesses. It's a very strange time to dismiss a general manager, and a difficult time to line up a replacement who can hit the ground running. One would assume that Burke's lieutenant, Dave Nonis, will be left in charge of the team but there's been no word yet on who the Leafs are looking at as a replacement.
As for what this does to the rumoured interest of the Leafs in Roberto Luongo, here's Kypreos again:
#NHL news: Source saying #Canucks Luongo still very much in the hunt to become a #Leaf despite GM Burke relieved of his duties.
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) January 9, 2013
There's been a lot of speculation that a disagreement between management and ownership on the acquisition of Luongo might be the reason for Burke's departure, but that doesn't really track cleanly for me. Luongo's been available since last summer, and the new ownership has been officially in place since fall - if there were substantive difference between Burke and his employers on that front, one would imagine it could have been dealt with during a less frenetic time for the team.
Burke surived a little under four seasons without guiding the Leafs to a playoff appearance. He also survived a lockout where he was seen as one of NHL commissioner Gary Bettman's most loyal supporters. It's going to be interesting to learn what exactly prompted the team to part ways with him now, just over a week before the likely start of a shortened NHL season.
Post-script - surprise seems to be the order of the day for hockey men and media alike:
Close GMs friends of Burke's arriving here for BOG in NYC had no clue. They're stunned.
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) January 9, 2013
Timing of Burke dismissal very odd. He and all brass were at Marlies game last night in Hamilton. Truth will surface. Something fishy.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) January 9, 2013
Depends on your medication and dosage level.
Oh the irony. Burke finally has the Leafs in playoff contention in January, and they turf him :P
Whoops. Sorry about my last post. I forgot that I'm not interested in the NHL anymore. Stupid me.
And in other news... Brian Burke makes a career change to Agriculture, renting a barn in the Greater Toronto Area. Dave Nonis invited to come over to inspect operations....
???????!!!!!!!!!!
I guess at least this time his grumpy demeanor before the camera will be understandable.
I dislike the leafs a little bit less today. (A little bit).
One possible explanation is that Burke was refusing to trade for Luongo and his bosses at Rogers and Bell wanted a marquee player in Toronto.
There was lingering bad blood between Burke and the Canucks and that may have played a role.
Worth noting that it was Dave Nonis who originally brought Luongo to Vancouver.
so he won a stanley cup. you want to count rings?
Toronto always does things the hard way.
If they waited 6 months till after the Nucks buy-out Luongo, they could sign him for a song compared to what i'll cost them next week. This could go sour real fast if Leaf corporate bosses need this done now. Roberto, a notorius slow starter.....his first memories of Toronto will be of him getting roasted by the media every second night.
This move might be proof that Burke was not the most incompetent person in the ML organization! Scary thought.
Should be a rule that Burke is not allowed to join HNIC , TSN or Sportsnet unless he replaces another ex-manager or former player in the media.
I won't pretend to like Burke as a GM in the slightest, but at face-value the timing of this seems ludicrous. There's gotta be more to it than we've heard.
Well, Luongo's contract has a bearing on the return.
You also need to remember that Vancouver doesn't want to take on much salary and both Bozak and Frattin are relatively cheap.
Bozak has a $2.5 million cap hit while Frattin is only $925k.
Gagner that much all by himself and Hartikainen is at $875k.
But, just a rumour at this point.
Not if he retires in 4 years (age: 37?). It`s when he retires that this clause kicks in.
And any GM coercing medical staff for a phony LTIR assessment would be lucky if he is only fired.
I find it interesting that I am glad that Burke got fired, but that I also agree with Burke in the disagreement. Luongo felt too much pressure playing in Vancouver, so its a good idea to bring him to Toronto?
Am I the only one who likes Burke? He's honest and while some of his principles may seem strange, he really sticks to them. Here is a GM who (maybe?) was willing to lose his job over acquiring a long-term contract because he thought it would hurt the team in the future. He care more about the team than keeping his job, isn't that an ideal GM? True Phaneuf has been inconsistant but he hasn't been bad, and that trade was such robbery I'd argue it cost Sutter his job. He fleeced the Ducks for Lupul and Gardiner, and began the arduous task of restocking the prospects cupboard. Even his most famous foul-up, and it was a huge mistake, still netted the Leafs a young point-a-game forward. There really aren't that many of them.
He hasn't been perfect so I wouldn't say he's getting screwed, but Burke remains a viable GM for any team looking for one, provided they can handle his personality. I don't think new Leafs ownership could.
somebody will have to replace Cherry. Burke is the perfect man.
What??? Surprise!
Hope it was because he insisted on getting LOOOOOOU.
Please please please hire Tambellini for the job!
Thanks in advance Maple Laughingstocks.
Sad day for Leaf haters... Burke in the job guaranteed a dismal organization... What about Randy Carlyle now? What a gong show!
@DSF
Pretty much exactly what I was going to say - a conflict over selling the farm to acquire Roberto.
He must’ve told the wrong guy to go f himself.
And if he didn’t like it they could fire him.
Mark Spector Sports @SportsnetSpec
Sounds like Burke did NOT want to make Luongo deal, while many in Leafs org did. Burke a principled man.
Big smiles for Mike Gillis right now, as it looks like he might be getting his ridiculous asking price for RL. Sad moment for Canuck haters though.
The deal rumoured last night was Luongo for Bozak, Frattin and a 2nd round pick.
Not a great return for the Canucks but both Bozak and Frattin are very serviceable young players.
Leafs Nation is having a parade.
@DSF
Hmmm - had not heard details, just that the asking price was very high. That deal does not sound that bad, depending on your opinion of RL. Lawton thinks that Roberto would clear waivers because of his contract, which might be true.
Little do the owners know that they just fired the most entertaining thing about the Leaf's, sad.
McKenzie confirms that Nonis will be taking over, though it's unclear if that's on a permanent or interim basis.
Burke got fired because of too many insiders on his staff. Burke potential moves and trades would be known to TSN before they were known to Burke's bosses. They felt this didn't give the Leaves fair opportunities or values in potential trades.
Leafs Nation is a lonely place - I went there to comment on this and there were four comments, three of them by 'Nation' people and one by me.
We should all go there and share our sympathy for their loss.
There could be an underlying issue like Luongo, but I would bet there were also some fireworks last night for it to happen like this.
Not Tambellini? Damn.
Man am I ever glad I passed on that Leafs Burke Jersey a couple of weeks ago. PHEW!
Strombone @strombone1
Next I'm thinking about tackling relocation.
@DSF
How in the world could that trade trigger a move like this? That's a decent 3rd line center, a b- prospect, and an average pick for a goaltender who is still a legit no. 1. Which if you look around the league there are maybe 6-8 goalies that are considered within that category. I would think any team would make that deal. That'd be the equivalent of the Oilers dealing Gagner, Hartikainen, and a 2nd round pick for Luongo. That's a deal I'd consider taking.
If the firing was over Lou, that is very troubling for the Leaves. It means they have some corporate hacks making/ interfering in hockey decisions.
Just finished watching press conference. For those who missed it, ownership denied that decision had anything to do with Burke's personal life or a Luongo deal, refused to go into specifics but cited "leadership style."
Nonis said he found out this morning, and looked like he'd been run over by a truck. He's been named GM and not on an interim basis.
That was my immediate thought as well.
Although I truly can't think of a good reason why Toronto shouldn't take this risk in order for the next 2-3 seasons to not be a total waste.
And for Burke's sense of principal, he must leave.
@andrewmk20
Many people think that his contract makes him much less appetizing on the trade market. Therefore, 2 players and a high-ish draft pick is too much to give up.
Time to make Ron Wilson the new GM
Not a big change in Nonnis` usual demeanor.
They really couldn't say much else....especially about Luongo since that would be tampering.
Wow and very interesting all at the same time. Yes a smart person could see this coming but the timing is very, very interesting.
Assuming compliance buy outs can be used either this summer or next, an with the leafs in position to flush money if they need to, they would be crazy not to get Lu, run him out this season and next, and then use a compliance buy in summer 2014 on him if he isn't playing up to expectations. The Leafs could swallow that last 8 years of money without concern. Drop in the bucket for them. Different if compliance buy outs only this summer, but if you have the option to differ to summer 2014, its worth the risk.
@gcw_rocks
I think I heard somewhere that RL`s buyout would be about $30M. No matter how much revenue they generate, ML ownership is not going to view that move very favorably.
It doesn't seem unreasonable to me that if ownership wasn't happy with Burke's performance to date, that they may choose to axe him now before he's able to fudge up the very important decisions that are going to be made in 2013.
New CBA comes out and says there are 2 buyouts and a reduced cap by 6 mill in 13-14 season. The GM role is going to be very important in the coming year, so i would think that you'd want to have absolute confidence in your GM going forward.
Pricks never last.
Personally, I think going into this compressed and shortened season with two really good tenders is a bonus. A team close to winning the Cup can`t afford an injury to a goalie or a slump.
For the Canucks, the cap is manageable this season, so there`s no incentive to move Luongo right away, and every reason to try and make a 2 goalie system work.