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?
- JR1417

If they had finished where most people thought 9-12th it would have been out of the bottom 5 meaning the odds of getting that franchise type player drops off huge. I can see where bb was coming from with that in mind. unfortunately the leafs no one met expectations which for me goers back to Wilson. So, targeting Kessel isn't really getting the point of the issues with the leafs. The fact is for the first time in 20 years we have a guys in the top 10 in scoring, can't blame him for shart stain goaltending.

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.
- Scooby_Doo

All I am saying is that it is pretty frustrating to read a blog like this that is littered with holes...so, can't I come out express my opinion?

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

Does that mean I'm the smartest guy on here??

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.
- aminnes

fair enough.

If they had finished where most people thought 9-12th it would have been out of the bottom 5 meaning the odds of getting that franchise type player drops off huge. I can see where bb was coming from with that in mind. unfortunately the leafs no one met expectations which for me goers back to Wilson. So, targeting Kessel isn't really getting the point of the issues with the leafs. The fact is for the first time in 20 years we have a guys in the top 10 in scoring, can't blame him for shart stain goaltending.
- aminnes

Maybe they would have been 9-12 spot, but the talent on the team and the talent that Burke brought in at that time was not good enough to justify giving up 2 first rounders for him...Plus, we are talking about on PAPER, when in reality they pooped the bed on his watch and it led to a franchise player that could have been on their roster and instead is on a big rival of ours because of this trade...

Furthermore, do you think that Burke believed that the people he brought in was a 9-12 spot team? Do you think thats what he was trying to accomplish?

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

Yes, BB knew not goalies in van and Toronto. He is to blame for that, and allowing his goalie coach to try and totally change guys mid stream. I just see where he was coming from with the kessel trade. I do think Reimer is the real deal though, and scrivens will also be an nhl goalie as well. Keep in mind, The leafs have had literally the worst golaie stats for years. Even a middling guy between the pipes would be fine.

Luongo, Raymond + Ballard for Couturier, Briere + 1st.
- Scooby_Doo

no

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.
- l3ig_l2ecl

the leafs always make a poopload of money so that's not an issue. gainey/gauthier were absolutely terrible, and did not make a single good move when they were gm. i cant even think of one, can you? at least burke did some good, but i'm not saying he should have kept his job. he should have been canned much earlier, but if they kept him this long they should have given him the next offseason. either way, nonis is a suitable replacement.

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.
- Barx

He was only the GM for 3.5 years... started in late 2008 so 2009, 2010, 2011 and 1/2 of 2012. I guess we'll see what he accomplished. No point in saying he failed... pretty hard to improve the roster the JFJ built and destroyed by not trading his best players when they were old. Also the transition into the 2005 CBA was a disaster for our old team and the prospect pool they had at the time
Losing Roberts, Joe, Mats, Belfour, Leetch, Mogilny etc.... etc... for nothing is crazy.

However, Burke is a legend for not getting good goalies to play for a team.

Yes, BB knew not goalies in van and Toronto. He is to blame for that, and allowing his goalie coach to try and totally change guys mid stream. I just see where he was coming from with the kessel trade. I do think Reimer is the real deal though, and scrivens will also be an nhl goalie as well. Keep in mind, The leafs have had literally the worst golaie stats for years. Even a middling guy between the pipes would be fine.
- aminnes

Good post! Yeah 8 years at .900 save percentage is not going to cut it. We have changed defenses a few times since that time with no improvement.

Lu's carreer sv% is .920 and the last goalies to play for the leafs with a .920 was Belfour - and that guy was pretty good!

Luongo would be smart to go to Philly...
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=413187

Maybe they would have been 9-12 spot, but the talent on the team and the talent that Burke brought in at that time was not good enough to justify giving up 2 first rounders for him...Plus, we are talking about on PAPER, when in reality they pooped the bed on his watch and it led to a franchise player that could have been on their roster and instead is on a big rival of ours because of this trade...

Furthermore, do you think that Burke believed that the people he brought in was a 9-12 spot team? Do you think thats what he was trying to accomplish?
- JR1417

I think he though he might be able to get in the playoffs but i also think he was realistic with what he had to work with when he got there. And we weren't talking about guys who never played much or had question marks. Toskala was a very good goalie in SJ and beauch was a stanley cup champ. Komi was though of as one of the better stay at home d man in the league, so i'm saying no one inlcuding burke forsaw second last place. He sw the potential for progress which would have meant a late top ten pick maybe worse. Sequin is a bruin because the players the leafs had all underacheived. bot saying they were a good team but no one expected second last prior to the season.

the leafs always make a poopload of money so that's not an issue. gainey/gauthier were absolutely terrible, and did not make a single good move when they were gm. i cant even think of one, can you? at least burke did some good, but i'm not saying he should have kept his job. he should have been canned much earlier, but if they kept him this long they should have given him the next offseason. either way, nonis is a suitable replacement.
- sensnucksnocups

When the Leafs could make over 3 mil per game just in tickets, and imagine all the gear they would sell to the casual hockey fan if they would win a playoff series. Were talking about $100 of million of profit. I'm almost 100% positive that the owners care about that.

As for Gainey, I would say keeping price was a good move, other than that the only good one is Gorges trade which is one of the best in Habs history. Gorges and a 2nd round pic (Pac) for Rivet....

the leafs always make a poopload of money so that's not an issue. gainey/gauthier were absolutely terrible, and did not make a single good move when they were gm. i cant even think of one, can you? at least burke did some good, but i'm not saying he should have kept his job. he should have been canned much earlier, but if they kept him this long they should have given him the next offseason. either way, nonis is a suitable replacement.
- sensnucksnocups

Craig Rivet for Pacioretty and Gorges?

When the Leafs could make over 3 mil per game just in tickets, and imagine all the gear they would sell to the casual hockey fan if they would win a playoff series. Were talking about $100 of million of profit. I'm almost 100% positive that the owners care about that.

As for Gainey, I would say keeping price was a good move, other than that the only good one is Gorges trade which is one of the best in Habs history. Gorges and a 2nd round pic (Pac) for Rivet....
- l3ig_l2ecl

was a 1st round pick

was a 1st round pick
- Symba007

your right!!
Makes the trade even that much better

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

I guarantee it was the other way around. Philly would have to be incredibly stupid to turn down Weber for Cutourier when they have B. Schenn as well. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.

"Brian Burke deserves a ton of credit for doing what no one else could have done in Toronto. Build a team the right way"

Ek I stopped reading just to reply to this.

He absolutely did not build this team the right way. He tried a quick fix with Kessel and fell flat on his face. THEN he tried to do the right thing. A massive case of too little too late
- xxCHRISTOFIRExx

Amen. And also Ek, Tallon got fired because he DIDN'T sign something like 8 key players within the proper time frame, resulting in what would be arbitration. So the team was forced to sign them at a premium; and had Tallon filed the paperwork 2 days earlier it would have all been avoided. Tallon jeopardized the whole franchise.

Maybe they would have been 9-12 spot, but the talent on the team and the talent that Burke brought in at that time was not good enough to justify giving up 2 first rounders for him...Plus, we are talking about on PAPER, when in reality they pooped the bed on his watch and it led to a franchise player that could have been on their roster and instead is on a big rival of ours because of this trade...

Furthermore, do you think that Burke believed that the people he brought in was a 9-12 spot team? Do you think thats what he was trying to accomplish?
- JR1417

He was trying to trade to mid 1st round picks for a long term young sniper.

I think he though he might be able to get in the playoffs but i also think he was realistic with what he had to work with when he got there. And we weren't talking about guys who never played much or had question marks. Toskala was a very good goalie in SJ and beauch was a stanley cup champ. Komi was though of as one of the better stay at home d man in the league, so i'm saying no one inlcuding burke forsaw second last place. He sw the potential for progress which would have meant a late top ten pick maybe worse. Sequin is a bruin because the players the leafs had all underacheived. bot saying they were a good team but no one expected second last prior to the season.
- aminnes

OK, well isn't Burke always quoted as saying he doesn't want to sneak into the playoffs, be an 8 seed and get spanked? That's not how he envisions building a team...that's besides the point...the fact is he brought in guys which didn't live up to expectations and Kessel is part of that group...this led to Seguin...he may not have thought it would have led to Seguin, but it did...

When the Leafs could make over 3 mil per game just in tickets, and imagine all the gear they would sell to the casual hockey fan if they would win a playoff series. Were talking about $100 of million of profit. I'm almost 100% positive that the owners care about that.

As for Gainey, I would say keeping price was a good move, other than that the only good one is Gorges trade which is one of the best in Habs history. Gorges and a 2nd round pic (Pac) for Rivet....
- l3ig_l2ecl

yea, keeping price was good, and draft maxpac too. and yes the owners want playoffs which is obviously a major reason why burke was fired. if leafs were perennial playoff contendors do you think he would have been fired for not acquiring luongo? no.

OK, well isn't Burke always quoted as saying he doesn't want to sneak into the playoffs, be an 8 seed and get spanked? That's not how he envisions building a team...that's besides the point...the fact is he brought in guys which didn't live up to expectations and Kessel is part of that group...this led to Seguin...he may not have thought it would have led to Seguin, but it did...
- JR1417

He underestimated the goalie... again.. and again... and agaiin...

OK, well isn't Burke always quoted as saying he doesn't want to sneak into the playoffs, be an 8 seed and get spanked? That's not how he envisions building a team...that's besides the point...the fact is he brought in guys which didn't live up to expectations and Kessel is part of that group...this led to Seguin...he may not have thought it would have led to Seguin, but it did...
- JR1417

I guarantee it was the other way around. Philly would have to be incredibly stupid to turn down Weber for Cutourier when they have B. Schenn as well. That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
- Boinker

The Asking price started with Couturier and Schenn, the Flyers were not willing to part with Couturier.

He was trying to trade to mid 1st round picks for a long term young sniper.
- HipHopisDead

So he was trying to do that, great, but did he accomplish this? No...you can say what he was trying to accomplish but the reality is he gave up a top 2 pick...