Clearly.
- Eklund

It actually is...Burke did do some good things, but when he holds a presser and clearly articulates how he builds a team and can't even come close to achieving this in 4 years then he has failed...

i know you do. and your wrong.

you hate the bruins. fine. but your agenda is not well hidden.

read a (frank)ing paper.
- Fountain-San

I cant read the globe or herald, or the local TV stations Other than ... Im just going by friends who are hockey or were hockey fans.. and yes I depsise the Bruins but I dont ever deny their talent and that they are for sure an elite team in the NHL

no need to get angry dude

Eklund: wil
- Eklund

The Rangers have a ton of money tied up in a few players, and with next years Cap falling the Rangers are in a bind...
- Eklund

completelu untrue. But of course i wouldn't expect anything less from you.

To be fair, the biggest reason they won the cup was they had the best goaltending performance statistically in nhl history, thomas a nut, but knows how to stop picks.
- aminnes

You just proved my point, they had a great goalie. That year or another year.
Thomas had a great stretch the years before that.

Toronto had terrible goalies over that last 4 years. Yet Burke never once addressed it in his "5 year play".

It doesn't matter how you look at it. I'm not here arguing that Kessel isn't a great hockey player. I'm saying that Burke did a horrible job at "rebuilding" this team. Yes he may have take a poop team, yes they may be better than they were, but they still have missed the playoffs every year under Burke.

Montreal almost made a full roster change in 1 year. Yes they got crap in many players, but they made the Semis shortly there after. Yes Halak goaled his ass off, but they still made the playoffs without him the year after to lose in OT of game 7 against the eventual cup champs. It proves that goalies will win championships. Where is Toronto's goalie?

Clearly.
- Eklund

I think you should ban that guy for life. It's one thing to disagree with you, but to make personal attacks is uncalled for.

So EK, what do you think the Flyers would include with Couturier to get Luongo?

We're all aware that Phaneuf is the captain right? It is Phaneuf who they decided to build around not kessel. And kessel's fine with the media, to say he looks sick what are we even discussing at this point?
- aminnes

the problems just keep mounting.

yes i was aware. and sorry i was just going on kessel in interviews. besides wasn't i responding to someone else?

Burke needs to lie in the bed he made....he promised a 5 year turn-over with no need for a proper rebuild.
He failed.
The end.

I like Kessel, I am a fan, but the trade is clearly brutal...but when you say on paper they should've been better, what did they have on paper that should have pushed them over the top? Komisarek, Beauch? Goalie? Forwards?
- JR1417

Komi was on the top pairing in Mon prior to the trade and Beauch was viewed as a solid top 4 guy. Toskala had played well elsewhere, i'm not saying they would have been good but no one including the t.o. media saw last or second last - nobody.

Luongo, Edler and Raymond

for

Couturier, Grossman and Simmonds
- Boinker

Hey Flyer fans -- you're going to love the brainiacs from Vancouver

completelu untrue. But of course i wouldn't expect anything less from you.
- tomburton99

told u max rookie games would be less than 10 this year..

obviously the kessel deal was bad for the leafs for several reason. they lost out on seguin/hamilton, but they still got a star player in the deal which softens the blow. it's not like they traded mcdonaugh for gomez lol

he still made some trades that not many other gms could have pulled. signing beauchemin was stupid but it got him one of the best trades of the past decade (lupul/gardiner). trading a bunch of scraps for phaneuf, dumping toskala/blake, the kaberle trade...he still did more good than bad. obviously komisarek signing was terrible, but still. did he deserve to get fired? absolutely. but i would have given him one more offseason, the team could drastically change with all the capspace they have after this season. eitherway, leafs fans should be happy. nonis knows what he's doing (unless he includes gardiner in the luongo deal, then you can proceed to riot downtown).

I think you should ban that guy for life. It's one thing to disagree with you, but to make personal attacks is uncalled for.

So EK, what do you think the Flyers would include with Couturier to get Luongo?
- Scooby_Doo

I am just stating that the vast majority of leaf fans plus reporters who cover the leafs would find a lot of holes in this blog post by ek...

I cant read the globe or herald, or the local TV stations Other than ... Im just going by friends who are hockey or were hockey fans.. and yes I depsise the Bruins but I dont ever deny their talent and that they are for sure an elite team in the NHL

no need to get angry dude
- Popcorn Kid

not angry at all. but to say no one is talking hockey in boston let alone new england is just false.

and my hockey buddies? the ones i skate with? or my hockey fan friends? it's all anyone can talk about.

Hey Flyer fans -- you're going to love the brainiacs from Vancouver
- Canada Cup

The Leafs don't have the horses in the stables. Leafs are out of the race. Good luck with Reimer.

told u max rookie games would be less than 10 this year..
- Feeling_Glucky

i knew that and agreed with you. but let's just overlook that fact.

the problems just keep mounting.

yes i was aware. and sorry i was just going on kessel in interviews. besides wasn't i responding to someone else?
- Fountain-San

you suggested Kessel isn't a leader because he's shy. The bottom line is everybody is saying that sequin would be better to build around that kessel, which is probably true, but in boston they built around chara and sadly in TO they are building around the guy they made their leader Dion. Kessel already is a complimentary pplayer, so is sequin. The d-man are the leaders of htese teams.

Komi was on the top pairing in Mon prior to the trade and Beauch was viewed as a solid top 4 guy. Toskala had played well elsewhere, i'm not saying they would have been good but no one including the t.o. media saw last or second last - nobody.
- aminnes

Agreed...but I am sure you would agree that most people didn't think they would make the playoffs...if thats the case why make the trade when you are a new GM with a 6 year tenure and have the ability to build for the future by getting 2 good picks instead of kessel?

The Leafs don't have the horses in the stables. Leafs are out of the race. Good luck with Reimer.
- Boinker

I think Reimer is the real deal.

You just proved my point, they had a great goalie. That year or another year.
Thomas had a great stretch the years before that.

Toronto had terrible goalies over that last 4 years. Yet Burke never once addressed it in his "5 year play".

It doesn't matter how you look at it. I'm not here arguing that Kessel isn't a great hockey player. I'm saying that Burke did a horrible job at "rebuilding" this team. Yes he may have take a poop team, yes they may be better than they were, but they still have missed the playoffs every year under Burke.

Montreal almost made a full roster change in 1 year. Yes they got crap in many players, but they made the Semis shortly there after. Yes Halak goaled his ass off, but they still made the playoffs without him the year after to lose in OT of game 7 against the eventual cup champs. It proves that goalies will win championships. Where is Toronto's goalie?
- l3ig_l2ecl

how does that prove goalies win championships? yes a hot goalie can take you far, but what happened like the next year when it was niemi vs leighton in the finals? hockey is a team game, you can have a superstar at any position and it wont matter if the rest of your team does squat.

The Leafs are in worse shape now than they were when JFJ was their GM. And they're probably about to give up at least one of, but maybe two of, the best young prospects in their system to bring in Luongo. One of Gardiner or Kadri will be going back to Vancouver in that trade.

Also, a legit first line? Really? Lightning struck for Lupul last year, let's see him get into the same ballpark this year before we crown the guy as a legit first liner. Kessel is a first line winger, no doubt. But Lupul? Fringe first liner, solid second liner. And who is this first line centre? Bozak? Grabovski?

Come on little guy, they are no better off now than they were when Burke took the job. They have a lot of overrated players and not a ton coming from the farm. They aren't a playoff team this year even with Luongo. I get that you like Burke, but he didn't improve things for the Leafs. He gave it an honest shot, but mistakes were made.

Wondered how many pages of comments before someone around here had taken the SAT's? The answer: almost 7
- Eklund

Burke as GM......still no number one center.
Burke as GM.....still goaltending issues.
GM of highest priced tickets in NHL....no playoffs in his 4 and a half years.
you might fly under the radar in florida or Anaheim when you suck...not in Toronto...There was no way new ownership was going to keep him around.

and Phil Kessel is about as one dimensional as can be....Tyler Seguin, Dougie Hamilton would have been building blocks for the next decade...so much for the rebuild...or was it a restock...or was it a "go for it all"....Burke never seemed to know.
How about trading Schenn and what turned out to be Kadri to NYI for the first overall pick...John Taveras......But in Burkes mind the price was too high....

Y

I am just stating that the vast majority of leaf fans plus reporters who cover the leafs would find a lot of holes in this blog post by ek...
- JR1417

We can find holes in every blog... but there is a nicer way to criticize Eklund then to try and ridicule him in front of loyal followers.

i knew that and agreed with you. but let's just overlook that fact.
- tomburton99

no u said it would be 10 for sure in shortened season. I thought it would be less.

Luongo, Edler and Raymond

for

Couturier, Grossman and Simmonds
- Boinker

Uh No again...Flyers wouldnt trade Couturier for Weber....so he will NOT be in a trade for less than Weber.

obviously the kessel deal was bad for the leafs for several reason. they lost out on seguin/hamilton, but they still got a star player in the deal which softens the blow. it's not like they traded mcdonaugh for gomez lol
he still made some trades that not many other gms could have pulled. signing beauchemin was stupid but it got him one of the best trades of the past decade (lupul/gardiner). trading a bunch of scraps for phaneuf, dumping toskala/blake, the kaberle trade...he still did more good than bad. obviously komisarek signing was terrible, but still. did he deserve to get fired? absolutely. but i would have given him one more offseason, the team could drastically change with all the capspace they have after this season. eitherway, leafs fans should be happy. nonis knows what he's doing (unless he includes gardiner in the luongo deal, then you can proceed to riot downtown).
- sensnucksnocups

Absolutely..

The difference between Habs and Leafs fans is, I wont find a single Habs fan who wasn't sad to see the Gainey era and Gauthier era go. Too many Leafs fan seem to put Burke on the Pedestal. He did not deliver. Yes some moves might have been good, but no playoffs.

And for the Gomez trade, the Habs at lease got to the Semis the following year which didn't make that trade so bad year one. Gauthier made his owners a poopload of money that year by the roster switch.