Did Burkie promise anything for this season really? He said something about maybe having a playoff team, but every GM says they have a playoff team. Most say they think they can win the cup.

What a joke.

What the hell, does he think Burke is a miracle worker or something?

People who don’t follow the Leafs closely saw the early awful start and concluded that the team is a joke again and Burke is a failure. But people who know what’s going on see that the team has turned it around and has more of a bright future than it’s had in years.

Can people at least wait a little longer than three fucking months into his first full season with the team before we can pass judgement on the Burke era?

Head over to the original page and let Brandon have it. :)

Met him at the draft, really nice guy, but way off. Remind him by how much!

Aside from the Fact that he gave props to Marty, why is Burke on the naughty list? Did Burke dismantle his team and turn it into a farce on the ice? Did he trade away top prospects for late draft picks? Did he try to make the world’s smallest team? Too many haters these days

to a failing business that hires a new CEO to right the ship.

Does anyone expect that guy to turn a profit within 3 months? Within a year? Doubtful.

New Business strategies, cost-cutting, rebranding, those kind of things take time before profits start to emerge. So does developing talent, team chemistry, getting rid of bad habits before wins start to happen.

I know this analogy isn’t perfect, but it’s pretty close.

I fear us Leaf fans are the most impatient team in the sport.

You have Brian Burke on the naughty list: A GM who tookover for a terrible team midway through the season and has had only1 draft and 1 free agency to work with to rebuild a basement team that is now, one of the worst starts in history, sitting 5 points out of a playoff spot.

You should have put Paul Holmgren at the Flyers on the naughty list instead. Paul Holmgren started with a team that finished 5th in the East last year; had a breakout superstar in Jeff Carter; and had a stacked roster with Richards, Briere, Gagne, and Hartnell. Then he added rookie standout James van Reimsdyk, sophomore star Claude Giroux, and one of the best defensemen of all-time in Chris Pronger. Mix that winning formula together and you get a 15-18-2 record good for 14th in the East and 29th overall, and a fired coach.

How does Holmgren not get a lump of coal in his stocking this year?

You can blame him all you want for what he hasn’t ‘accomplished’, but he inherited a terrible situation. Things are going to look bad for a little while. Even when he said things might get better.

When did we start caring about anything someone on SBN wrote?

huh? what’s that you say?

“Three months in.”

Yeah, TONs of GMs turn teams around in 3 months, it might just be the easiest thing in the world. You know who could turn this team around in 3 months? JOHN FERGUSON JR! Rehire JFJ!

Okay, this guy is an idiot, I hate sports writers. Especially PPP and Chemmy.

You can’t just flip a hockey team like you can flip a house. I’m not saying, I’m just saying.

Who the fuck is Brandon Worley and why should I care what he has to say?

It’s fun how little pieces like this are self-propagating. The “Brian Burke takes over Leafs, wants to make the playoffs, add toughness” headlines combined with the Leafs off-season moves had lots of people writing articles about what a great job he’d done remodeling the team before the puck even dropped.

Now the vagaries of the NHL season and future predictions have hit. Those that overreacted in a positive fashion are now backpedaling in order to save face, while the skeptics or silent types out there are condemning the team to be topical or contrary, for expectations that were not even shared by the organization.

The fact is that, once the quotes and buzzwords that blew out of proportion are skimmed off, the Leafs’ story up until the season started was “Newly hired GM hopes to improve mediocre team.” What a groundbreaking idea. But I suppose without bluster and hyperbole the guys making these lists might actually have to form some opinions of their own.

Burkie can only do so much with five loaves of bread and two fish.

which of Burke’s moves does he disapprove of?

Trade for Kessel? 13 goals in 25 games? Yeah horrible.
Signing Grabovski for 3 years at $2.9 million a season? On pace for 51 points? Not bad considering he had 48 points last year. Could be better though.
Bringing in Hanson and Bozak to increase team depth?
Signing Gunnarsson, Stålberg, and Mikus to pro deals with the Leafs?
Trading Antropov and Moore for draft picks… NOT increasing his offer to Moore?
Signing Gustavsson to give the Leafs a legit goaltending prospect not named Pogge?
Letting Pogge walk as a free agent?
Signing Komisarek and Beauchemin?

Which of those was a mistake so far? Which one is a “failure”? Any of them? None of them? Some of them? I think I’d go with the 2nd choice, but maybe that’s just me.