Some Thoughts About The Burke News Conference

I just watched the Burke news conference.

A few things I found interesting:

When asked about Sundin, Burke said that based on his conversations with Mats the Leafs don't fit the profile of a team Mats would play for if he comes back. If he's going to play it'll be for a real contender.

When asked about Fletcher trading draft picks to move up for Schenn and to acquire Grabovski, Burke said 'anyone who questioned those moves would look pretty foolish ', then went on to praise Schenn and call him the real deal. Most interestingly he said that he had been trying to make a deal with Montreal to get Grabovski in Anaheim and that Grabovski had rewarded Cliff's faith with his excellent play. So it looks like Grabs is safe.

Burke mentioned free agency as a factor in the length of time it will take to build a contender. Burke has obviously put together a cup winner recently and is well known as a guy who's good to his players (almost to a fault sometimes). Toronto will probably be more attractive to free agents with Burke running the show.

Burke was pretty explicit in describing his philosophies about the types of players he wants in the line-up and what he looks for when drafting.  He said Fletcher can stay as a consultant for as long as he wants to and that Joe Nieuwendyk and the rest of the office staff will have every chance to stay on as long as they are willing and able to work in Burke's  system.

In all, I thought it was a good start. He was straight forward, very sure of himself and basically said 'This is how I do things and now that's how the Toronto Maple Leafs do things.

I also liked that he said something like 'I wanted this job so badly that when they offered it to me I probably embarrassed myself I said yes so quickly'

Anyone else have thoughts about the press conference?