Bye Bye Burke

So by now I am sure all 8 of my readers have heard the Brian Burke has been relieved of his duties today by MLSE today causing quite a stir on Twitter.

Dave Nonis will take over as the GM and Senior VP of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

A lot of people were saying that Burke got fired because he didn't want Luongo, and a lot of people were saying he got fired because he wanted Luongo.  As dumb as a corporation, such as Bell/Rogers, is when it comes to sports, I highly doubt that they would fire the GM because of him wanting or not wanting a specific player.  It probably has more to do with them being the new owners and and not wanting Burke there or possibly a disagreement on something on a bigger scale..

I liked Burke.  Any time he spoke, you knew he was being sincere.  He was the hard worker that liked "truculence" and didn't take anyone's guff.  I thought them firing him was a bit premature.  He has only had 3 and a half seasons running the team and has really did a good job restocking the farm system, considering what he was given to start with.

I'll always be thankful to burkie for giving me the opportunity to play in TO...as well as his tireless efforts in the community. #respect
— John-Michael Liles (@hoosierjm26) January 9, 2013

This changes absolutely nothing for our players. We are focused- ready to go for day 1 of camp and that will not change.
— Joffrey Lupul (@JLupul) January 9, 2013

The Leafs record while under Burke was an unimpressive one to say the least.  The were 128-135-42.

I do have to say I am going to miss press conferences where Burke looks like this.

COLIN MCCONNELL/TORONTO STAR

The crappy part of all this is there is a possibility that Kessel could be on his way out now.   Burke was a big supporter of Kessel.  Even when the critics, and there are a lot of them, that claimed, and still do, that he over paid for Kessel.  Ok, maybe two 1sts (Tyler Seguin and Dougie Hamilton) and a second rounder (Jared Knight) was a little over payment, but none the less, Kessel is the real deal and was top 6 in points in the NHL last year.

All this being said, getting rid of Burke was the inevitable thing to do, but the timing is just completely wrong. You don't do it at the beginning of a season.

It was a long 9 years when the Teachers Pension Plan owned the Leafs, why do I think then next 9 years are going to be any better?

Oh did you know that Bell owns 28% of the Leafs and 18% of the Montreal Canadiens?

Leafs/Stars Preview Nov 25th 2011

Leafs are in Dallas tonight, and unless you have been living under a rock the last 48 hours, you would have heard already that Reimer is back practicing with the team.  They had an early practice yesterday and then jumped on a bus and went to the Cowboys game.  Which the Cowboys won 20-19 on a field goal with 3 seconds left. 

The Leafs find them selves almost instantly hot again, going 2-1 in their last 3 games outscoring their opponents 16-5 in those games.  Two convincing wins, over Tbay and Washington, has the Leafs bandwagon bulging out at the sides again.

Leafs are 12-8-2 with 26 points good for 2nd in the North-East Division
Stars are 13-8-0 with 26 points good for 2nd in the Pacific Division

Gustavsson will get the start tonight. In his last 5 appearances he has 2.48 GAA and a .920 save%.   Gustavsson also is 1-0-1 in his career vs Dallas, with a 2.44 GAA and a .914 save%

Also, in a press release today, it has been announced that The Ontario Teachers Pension Plan is not selling it's 79% stake in MLSE.  Probably so they don't miss out on the playoff revenue this year when the Leafs make it.

I think tonight, the Leafs win 4-2.  Kessel, Lupul, Steckel, Connolly.

Check out some Leafs stats here: Leafs Stats