Maple Leafs Behind The Draft 2011

by PPP on Sep 13, 2011 11:01 AM EDT in News

The Toronto Maple Leafs have once again released a behind the scenes look at the 2011 NHL Draft in Minnesota. Brian Burke and Dave Morrison are the stars of the show as the team's approach to the draft is discussed and some of their picks are interviewed more in-depth. Those of you will remember that this video last year resulted in Mike "They Are All Out To Get Us" Gillis filing a tampering charge against the Maple Leafs because Brian Burke discussed a possible Canucks trade that did not come to pass.

Anyway, after you dab your eyes dry at the injustice of last year's version, head over the jump for all seven parts of the 2011 Edition.

Part One

A closer look at all the events leading up to and during the 2011 NHL Draft in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Part Two

President and General Manager Brian Burke works the draft floor, prior to the first round in Minnesota.

Part Three

Leafs TV speaks with and follows Tyler Biggs, after being selected by the Leafs as their first overall pick at the 2011 NHL Draft.

Part Four

Leafs TV follows and speaks with Stuart Percy, the Leafs second, first round selection at the 2011 NHL Draft.

Part Five

A closer look and follow of fifth round selection, Tony Cameranesi.

Part Six

A closer look at sixth and seventh round selections in David Broll, Dennis Robertson and Garret Sparks.

Part Seven

Head of Amateur Scouting Dave Morrison and President and GM Brian Burke talk about all selected Leafs players in the 2011 NHL Draft.

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Brian Burke is nothing if not confident

Y'all Heard About Me, You Just Didn't Know It was Me

by JaredFromLondon on Sep 13, 2011 11:12 AM EDT reply actions

Highlight: Burke making fun of Mark Messier by letting him know they have Lays potato chips a few tables down.

Down Goes Brown - Unapologetically nostalgic for the past. Brutally realistic about the present. Grudgingly optimistic about the future.

by Down Goes Brown on Sep 13, 2011 11:25 AM EDT reply actions

holy load times Batman

by sodonis on Sep 13, 2011 11:36 AM EDT reply actions

Do we know who Burke was on the phone with right before going up to pick Biggs?

There were rumours PIT/DET wanted him right before the pick happened….

Chicken Little is dead. Long Live Positive Pete.
Lebda-free since July 3.

by nhlcheapshot on Sep 13, 2011 12:10 PM EDT reply actions

I find it interesting Detroit would have interest in Biggs, he doesn’t fit their team “structure”

Y'all Heard About Me, You Just Didn't Know It was Me

by JaredFromLondon on Sep 13, 2011 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe they didn’t… it was only a rumour because they traded down immediately afterwards. Could have been coincidence.

Chicken Little is dead. Long Live Positive Pete.
Lebda-free since July 3.

by nhlcheapshot on Sep 13, 2011 12:39 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm confused.

That tie looks done up.

Pension Plan Puppets
I hope YouTube comes down to film this.

by birky on Sep 13, 2011 1:03 PM EDT reply actions

What a great thing to say to a kid… Burke to Biggs, “We think the world of you…”

"There's been four different Cup winners the last four years, and I got one of them (Anaheim) and it was a fighting team. We're playing it that way regardless." - B. Burke, Toronto Maple Leafs GM

by BlueBuds on Sep 13, 2011 1:31 PM EDT reply actions

Interesting – PPP crowd wanted Burke and co to take higher risk/reward players but based his off their minor league stats/skill set which is obviously all we can really look at. But the Leafs looked at the players as who do we think we can develop into premier players. I guess they look at Biggs and Percy and think they can thrive in their system.

by Dr_Furious on Sep 13, 2011 1:52 PM EDT reply actions

For the most part, advocates of the higher risk/reward were emphasizing junior production over other non-quantifiable things, like skating, character, work ethic.

Clearly in the videos, Burke & the scouting staff used the team psychiatrist as a component of their diligence – that is one of the things we obviously don’t have access to, and may have more to do with a player being able to take his game to the next level than anything that we can see in a stat box.

Chicken Little is dead. Long Live Positive Pete.
Lebda-free since July 3.

by nhlcheapshot on Sep 13, 2011 2:41 PM EDT up reply actions

It does.

A lot of research suggests that among a group as equally (relatively) skilled individuals. Those with the ability to dedicate more time to deliberate practice tend to rise above the others. Essentially, it takes a lot of time doing really boring (even to hockey players) things to become amazing at something. Figuring out which guys have the “grit” or determination to put in such time is valuable. Case in point it has been noted that both Grabbo and Kulemin are extremely dedicated to training during the off-season as well as during the season. Talent is important, but so are things like work ethic and sticktoitiveness.

The Leafs are my Rushmore
Certified Grabbo Lover and member of the PPPPP
I also write things about stuff over at the Leafs Nation

by Plea From A Cat Named Felix on Sep 13, 2011 3:08 PM EDT up reply actions

It also takes

a lot of patience and luck on the part of the team selecting them to be honest.

Malcolm Gladwell writings aside, I think the fact that players have to work a lot and want to make it to be successful is sort of a platitude when it comes to scouting in the NHL. If the Leafs had a surefire model for determining who would be chomping at the bit harder, they’d have discovered it by now. Psychological analysis of prospects isn’t THAT recent a phenomenon.

Players the Leafs have drafted/signed that have gone nowhere fast include the likes of Mikhail Stefanovich, Jiri Tlusty, Joel Champagne, Jerome Flaake, Barron Smith, Eric Knodel… and I’m sure there will be more in the future.

It’s pretty much guaranteed that almost half (if not more) of every draft class will end up playing for someone OTHER than the Leafs and most likely not even in the NHL. I’m ok with that reality.

"Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm."

- Sir Winston Churchill

I'm pretty sure he's talking about the Leafs.

by Steve Burtch on Sep 13, 2011 6:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Agreed. Just some evidence in support of the notion that picking the highest scoring kid in Junior is not necessarily the best drafting strategy.

The Leafs are my Rushmore
Certified Grabbo Lover and member of the PPPPP
I also write things about stuff over at the Leafs Nation

by Plea From A Cat Named Felix on Sep 13, 2011 6:10 PM EDT up reply actions

Too bad a psychologist wasn’t around to council Bryan Fogerty. That guy would have probably been awesome. Poor guy needed help bad. Psychologist+Junior Production = Healthy Bryan Fogerty. So it’s probably best to combine both as is the case with most things.

/captain obvious

October 25, 1966. Thank you Lord Kelvin

by Chuck Diesel on Sep 13, 2011 8:23 PM EDT up reply actions