FORT LAUDERDALE (Feb. 9) — If you want a heart-felt, honest answer to a question, there are few men in the world of hockey that will come through as often as Maple Leafs’ GM Brian Burke. In an era of mass media that almost always generates vanilla statements or flat-out lies from the people that operate pro sports franchises, Burke is something of a throw-back. He strikes me as a person so supremely confident in his ability that tipping his hand in a matter will do him no harm. And, that may turn out to be the case with Nik Antropov.
Otherwise, a blunt assessment earlier today of Antropov’s future with the Maple Leafs is not likely to benefit the hockey club. Burke claimed he almost certainly will not offer the native of Kazakhstan a new contract for next season — Antropov is slated to be an unrestricted free agent July 1st – and that the veteran Leaf probably needs a change of scenery. On the surface, this is hardly a shocking development, as Antropov is near the front of the line among players rumored to be on their way out of town. But, it doesn’t exactly bolster his marketability. If his own GM is telling reporters he no longer has any use for him, what are opposing GMs and scouts supposed to think?
Perhaps Burke would have been better served by feigning enthusiasm over his soon-to-be 29-year-old veteran. Maybe Brian could have said, “You know, Nik had a really tough stretch there in the middle part of the schedule, but he’s playing much better now with three goals in his past five games, and I’m not sure I want to unload him. He’s a big guy with a lot of years ahead in the NHL and teams are really going to have to step to the plate if they want him at the trade deadline. I’ve made no promises to Nik, but it’s going to be a tough call for me either way.”
There would have been some half-truths in a statement such as that — Antropov, for instance, is not playing significantly better, even though he’s broken out of his long scoring famine — but it might have served to position the veteran forward a bit differently. Of course, all NHL teams have pro scouts that watch other players around the league, and there are no secrets anymore with every game available on TV. But, GMs and scouts often look at a player that may be struggling on a bad team and wonder if that player would come to life with a club in contention. Antropov certainly falls into that category, even though his career pattern with the Maple Leafs suggests he’ll never be much better than he is today.
If Burke were more inclined to fudge his answers, he might have planted an idea in the mind of a prospective manager. Instead, he made it clear that Antropov is on his last legs in a Toronto uniform — likely minimizing any trade return at the deadline. There’s nothing quite like honesty… or is there?
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An example of how other hockey markets differ from Toronto was found earlier today on the website of the Embassy Suites hotel chain. If you want to stay at the Embassy Suites at the convention center in downtown Tampa when the Leafs are there this week, the hotel is offering straight room rates, and a “Lightning Ticket” package. For a slightly higher room charge, you get a ticket to the Toronto-Tampa Bay game in either the upper or lower bowl of the St. Pete Times Forum. Can you imagine the uninhibited stampede if a hotel near the Air Canada Centre were to offer Leaf tickets along with the room rate? I suppose it’s a creative way for the Lightning to try and fill its building, but it’s also a blunt statement about the initiatives required by most NHL teams to sell tickets nowadays. And, it's very un-Toronto.
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