Getting to draft a talent like Malkin is pretty lucky, too.
- ejeezy

The same could be said for Grigorenko or Seguin one day!

Pittsburgh got over a 100 points this year with Crosby missing most of it, how can you even say that?
- LeftCoaster

Did you even read the part about the Islanders? I think thats the point.

poopting the bed year after year doesnt always work. It does if you happen to get the best two players in the game and a great goalie.

yeah, he and frattin really 'emerged'.

jeezuz, that was embarrassing.
- Barx

i actually laughed out loud at that, '...we have the most 1st round picks playing!', or something like that...HAHAHAHA!

ashton for the hart!! (frank) me...

He forgot to mention he made Boston Playoff Type for the Next 10 years or more...

i actually laughed out loud at that, '...we have the most 1st round picks playing!', or something like that...HAHAHAHA!

ashton for the hart!! (frank) me...
- coach

i laughed....as tears rolled down my face.
usually an astute spin doctor...today he was nothing short of complete embarrassment.
i love how he 'has the pieces' and then goes on to say he needs a top centre, goalie and 4-5 big bodies....what a goddam farce.
this is starting to rival jfj.

i laughed....as tears rolled down my face.
usually an astute spin doctor...today he was nothing short of complete embarrassment.
i love how he 'has the pieces' and then goes on to say he needs a top centre, goalie and 4-5 big bodies....what a goddam farce.
this is starting to rival jfj.
- Barx

what about the years before crosby? they were no where near a 100pt team. lemieux barely spent anything to keep that team functional, let alone competitive.

there's plenty to dump on BB for, but not following the 'PIT model' isn't. in fact, it's a myth, it only works if you're team drafts a generational talent (crosby, lindros, etc), not just a pretty good one (bobby ryan, john tavares).

the biggest problem is BB had a chance to draft seguin and hamilton, and instead traded those high end picks for kessel. kessel is the right player, AT THE WRONG TIME!
- coach

I will agree to an extent, using the Pittsburgh model is simply the same as saying using the draft. Many many teams used the draft to win if you look back from the time of original expansion, does it work every time...no. But it all starts from ownership and the commitment to surround draft picks with other players when the time is right.

aren't the NYI and CLB following the PIT model too?


just sayin...


saying that. STOP trading (frank)ing 1st round picks, TOR!!!

draft the seguin and hamilton's first...then TRADE for the kessels!!!! not the other way around.
- coach

He couldn't do that order.
It would have been Colborne, Percy (Kaberle) & Kadri for Kessel.
Also you never know how well the leafs would done without Kessel in the lineup. Maybe we would have drafted T. Hall then.

burke is following the burke model

wont do a pittsburgh rebuild
wont sign players to long term deals-detroit,CHI,PHI,Capitals,devils,rangers
- wingz4life

you forgot one part of the 'Burke Model'...do things that will get me the most attention and in front of the cameras and microphones.

i laughed....as tears rolled down my face.
usually an astute spin doctor...today he was nothing short of complete embarrassment.
i love how he 'has the pieces' and then goes on to say he needs a top centre, goalie and 4-5 big bodies....what a goddam farce.
this is starting to rival jfj.
- Barx

sorry it's hard not to laugh at him sometimes.
- LeftCoaster

i laugh...then cry.

you forgot one part of the 'Burke Model'...do things that will get me the most attention and in front of the cameras and microphones.
- maaddmike

all those teams i listed all made the playoffs this year and most are perennial cup contenders

i laughed....as tears rolled down my face.
usually an astute spin doctor...today he was nothing short of complete embarrassment.
i love how he 'has the pieces' and then goes on to say he needs a top centre, goalie and 4-5 big bodies....what a goddam farce.
this is starting to rival jfj.
- Barx

yes, the current roster is definitely a joke. however, i will say that he has improved the prospect pool. for the record, i'm not saying there's a young joe sakic playing in the AHL or junior level, but there has been an improvement in that area. unfortunately, we won't know how good that depth is for another 3 seasons.

the players i'm referring to are blacker, mckegg, ross, etc.

Did you even read the part about the Islanders? I think thats the point.

poopting the bed year after year doesnt always work. It does if you happen to get the best two players in the game and a great goalie.
- markmark

Yes I did, and they're a prime example of how not to run a franchise! Ownership has to now be committed to surrounding those talented young players with the right mix, meaning he has to spend money.

The Islanders have a lot of outside issues that affects their on-ice product.

yes, the current roster is definitely a joke. however, i will say that he has improved the prospect pool. for the record, i'm not saying there's a young joe sakic playing in the AHL or junior level, but there has been an improvement in that area. unfortunately, we won't know how good that depth is for another 3 seasons.

the players i'm referring to are blacker, mckegg, ross, etc.
- coach

go to a bar, grab the first fat guy in a leaf shirt, make him gm for a year....I guarantee he could have improved the prospect pool.
not a single guy on the farm is star quality...not even close.

go to a bar, grab the first fat guy in a leaf shirt, make him gm for a year....I guarantee he could have improved the prospect pool.
not a single guy on the farm is star quality...not even close.
- Barx

keep em comin

I don't get all the fuss about his comments on Pittsburgh. People are blowing it up like he's saying "Pittsburgh does know how to build a team but I do". That is not what he was getting at in any way. Funny how nobody wants to include him saying Shero is a great GM and is doing a great job. His point was that he is sick of people telling him to follow the "Pittsburgh model" when they tanked and luckily got the best player in the game. I guess the Islanders followed the "Pittsburgh model" are they going to win a cup any time soon? No because it was different, Pittsburgh was an exception because they got the best player in the game.
- dionschenn

Tampa, Chicago?

Burke has gone from shrewd hockey man, to completely outta touch delusional IMBECILE in under 3 years in the toronto spotlight. The "pittsburgh model my ass"....hmmm...didn't the STANLEY cup champion BLACKHAWKS use the EXACT same model MINUS the best player in the game??? Boston used Kabelere and Toronto's own draft pick, and rode em to a cup. The guy simply thinks he has the assets to get Ryan Getzlaff or a guy like Eric Staal. What assets?? Colbourne has AHL bust written all over him, Kadri has talent but is as small as a bug, can't/WON'T defend, so he'll NEVER get a shake in Toronto rendering his value 1/4 what it should be, Gardiner can move the puck but has Marek Zidlicky written all over him, Schenn's been b#tchslapped into oblivion by the Toronto fans and media, and the only true asset, your 1st this year isn't good enough for one of those guys EVEN WITH all the players above INCLUDED. Plus he thinks he's simply gonna march down and get a Vokoun like deal....eh NO. But what has Burke REALLY accomplished in his tenure....


Day one...he promises a "REBUILT Leafs, featuring PUGNACITY, TRuculance, and TOUGHNESS". All this time later he's rebuilding AGAIN with all those traits in mind. What he actually delivered was THEE softest team in the league, with the best 40 goal scorer to never EVER score 40 goals who's thee softest player in the league with leadership that has toughness in the press box cause they can't skate. His area of suposed strenghth his trading, well let's see...Every deal Burke has pulled off with the ROYAL blessings of Leaf nation really haven't been the coup degraws you all envisioned. Phanuef for a bag of pucks....now really is Phanuef even worthy of a bag of pucks, he's slow, not physical, turtles when anyone bigger then Desharnais provokes him, and is thee worst defender EVER in the history of pilons. Toskala, Hagman for JS, Gardiner for Beachimin...THat's thee best deal right there, and it's an even deal cause Beauch can defend but not really score, gardiner can score but thinks da fence is da thing around da house.... Don't mention ANY Boston deal cause Burke got RAPED on them all....What's that Kaberle for Colbourne, yeah Kaberele has his name on a cup, Colbourne is an AHL bust that can't skte won't hit and will be out in round one with the rest of the much overrated SOFT marlies.....Eakin is THEE WHOLE story there....

So now Burke, a man with a vision he's gone NOWHERE with for 3 plus years is back to the vision he hopes will take em somewhere. Thee true DEFINATION of INSANITY is both doing the same thing over and over to abstract FAILURE and expecting a different result, and thee true defintion of Lemming is Believing anything the insane guy says as gospel and blindly following em anywhere to their demise.....You want to see the playoffs again in your lifetime LEAF NATION, I suggest you pray to every god there is Burke drives a car with him AND NONIS off a bridge, and Dudley gets to PROPERLY rebuild this team, cause the sounds that Tannenbaum and Burke are making are akin to desperate people that'll do anything and sacrifice anything to save their hides, and that spells DOOM for Leaf Nation....Enjoy winning the draft LOttery tonight and watching Burke deal the pick to Columbus for Nash, or worst Going OFF the board and selecting an American no one has heard of that is tough but has played competative hockey for like 6 months ala "Goon".......

go to a bar, grab the first fat guy in a leaf shirt, make him gm for a year....I guarantee he could have improved the prospect pool.
not a single guy on the farm is star quality...not even close.
- Barx

yah, i know that. but when CHI won, they had alot of support guys (ladd, hjarmsson, brower, bolland) to augment the talent on the roster (toews, kane, byfuglien, keith). as for dudes at the bar, i doubt most of those guys could help from pissing on themselves, let alone assemble a pro hockey team...COME ONN! hahaha!

Burke has gone from shrewd hockey man, to completely outta touch delusional IMBECILE in under 3 years in the toronto spotlight. The "pittsburgh model my ass"....hmmm...didn't the STANLEY cup champion BLACKHAWKS use the EXACT same model MINUS the best player in the game??? Boston used Kabelere and Toronto's own draft pick, and rode em to a cup. The guy simply thinks he has the assets to get Ryan Getzlaff or a guy like Eric Staal. What assets?? Colbourne has AHL bust written all over him, Kadri has talent but is as small as a bug, can't/WON'T defend, so he'll NEVER get a shake in Toronto rendering his value 1/4 what it should be, Gardiner can move the puck but has Marek Zidlicky written all over him, Schenn's been b#tchslapped into oblivion by the Toronto fans and media, and the only true asset, your 1st this year isn't good enough for one of those guys EVEN WITH all the players above INCLUDED. Plus he thinks he's simply gonna march down and get a Vokoun like deal....eh NO. But what has Burke REALLY accomplished in his tenure....


Day one...he promises a "REBUILT Leafs, featuring PUGNACITY, TRuculance, and TOUGHNESS". All this time later he's rebuilding AGAIN with all those traits in mind. What he actually delivered was THEE softest team in the league, with the best 40 goal scorer to never EVER score 40 goals who's thee softest player in the league with leadership that has toughness in the press box cause they can't skate. His area of suposed strenghth his trading, well let's see...Every deal Burke has pulled off with the ROYAL blessings of Leaf nation really haven't been the coup degraws you all envisioned. Phanuef for a bag of pucks....now really is Phanuef even worthy of a bag of pucks, he's slow, not physical, turtles when anyone bigger then Desharnais provokes him, and is thee worst defender EVER in the history of pilons. Toskala, Hagman for JS, Gardiner for Beachimin...THat's thee best deal right there, and it's an even deal cause Beauch can defend but not really score, gardiner can score but thinks da fence is da thing around da house.... Don't mention ANY Boston deal cause Burke got RAPED on them all....What's that Kaberle for Colbourne, yeah Kaberele has his name on a cup, Colbourne is an AHL bust that can't skte won't hit and will be out in round one with the rest of the much overrated SOFT marlies.....Eakin is THEE WHOLE story there....

So now Burke, a man with a vision he's gone NOWHERE with for 3 plus years is back to the vision he hopes will take em somewhere. Thee true DEFINATION of INSANITY is both doing the same thing over and over to abstract FAILURE and expecting a different result, and thee true defintion of Lemming is Believing anything the insane guy says as gospel and blindly following em anywhere to their demise.....You want to see the playoffs again in your lifetime LEAF NATION, I suggest you pray to every god there is Burke drives a car with him AND NONIS off a bridge, and Dudley gets to PROPERLY rebuild this team, cause the sounds that Tannenbaum and Burke are making are akin to desperate people that'll do anything and sacrifice anything to save their hides, and that spells DOOM for Leaf Nation....Enjoy winning the draft LOttery tonight and watching Burke deal the pick to Columbus for Nash, or worst Going OFF the board and selecting an American no one has heard of that is tough but has played competative hockey for like 6 months ala "Goon".......
- RichardPeterNuss

ahhh, okay, feel better now?

Aah -- the Pittsburgh model. Does that mean drafting Collby Armstrong? Or does that mean getting 10 top 5 picks in 20 years? Is the plan to get 5 top 5 picks in a row?

Burke has gone from shrewd hockey man, to completely outta touch delusional IMBECILE in under 3 years in the toronto spotlight. The "pittsburgh model my ass"....hmmm...didn't the STANLEY cup champion BLACKHAWKS use the EXACT same model MINUS the best player in the game??? Boston used Kabelere and Toronto's own draft pick, and rode em to a cup. The guy simply thinks he has the assets to get Ryan Getzlaff or a guy like Eric Staal. What assets?? Colbourne has AHL bust written all over him, Kadri has talent but is as small as a bug, can't/WON'T defend, so he'll NEVER get a shake in Toronto rendering his value 1/4 what it should be, Gardiner can move the puck but has Marek Zidlicky written all over him, Schenn's been b#tchslapped into oblivion by the Toronto fans and media, and the only true asset, your 1st this year isn't good enough for one of those guys EVEN WITH all the players above INCLUDED. Plus he thinks he's simply gonna march down and get a Vokoun like deal....eh NO. But what has Burke REALLY accomplished in his tenure....


Day one...he promises a "REBUILT Leafs, featuring PUGNACITY, TRuculance, and TOUGHNESS". All this time later he's rebuilding AGAIN with all those traits in mind. What he actually delivered was THEE softest team in the league, with the best 40 goal scorer to never EVER score 40 goals who's thee softest player in the league with leadership that has toughness in the press box cause they can't skate. His area of suposed strenghth his trading, well let's see...Every deal Burke has pulled off with the ROYAL blessings of Leaf nation really haven't been the coup degraws you all envisioned. Phanuef for a bag of pucks....now really is Phanuef even worthy of a bag of pucks, he's slow, not physical, turtles when anyone bigger then Desharnais provokes him, and is thee worst defender EVER in the history of pilons. Toskala, Hagman for JS, Gardiner for Beachimin...THat's thee best deal right there, and it's an even deal cause Beauch can defend but not really score, gardiner can score but thinks da fence is da thing around da house.... Don't mention ANY Boston deal cause Burke got RAPED on them all....What's that Kaberle for Colbourne, yeah Kaberele has his name on a cup, Colbourne is an AHL bust that can't skte won't hit and will be out in round one with the rest of the much overrated SOFT marlies.....Eakin is THEE WHOLE story there....

So now Burke, a man with a vision he's gone NOWHERE with for 3 plus years is back to the vision he hopes will take em somewhere. Thee true DEFINATION of INSANITY is both doing the same thing over and over to abstract FAILURE and expecting a different result, and thee true defintion of Lemming is Believing anything the insane guy says as gospel and blindly following em anywhere to their demise.....You want to see the playoffs again in your lifetime LEAF NATION, I suggest you pray to every god there is Burke drives a car with him AND NONIS off a bridge, and Dudley gets to PROPERLY rebuild this team, cause the sounds that Tannenbaum and Burke are making are akin to desperate people that'll do anything and sacrifice anything to save their hides, and that spells DOOM for Leaf Nation....Enjoy winning the draft LOttery tonight and watching Burke deal the pick to Columbus for Nash, or worst Going OFF the board and selecting an American no one has heard of that is tough but has played competative hockey for like 6 months ala "Goon".......
- RichardPeterNuss

why use THEE instead of THE ?.....just curious if you like to snuggle with cute bunnies like I do.

ahhh, okay, feel better now?
- LeafMan

No

Might have to add Ashton...I hear he's a lock for stardom
- LeftCoaster

If Stardom had a trophy, it would be of Ashton.

Burke has gone from shrewd hockey man, to completely outta touch delusional IMBECILE in under 3 years in the toronto spotlight. The "pittsburgh model my ass"....hmmm...didn't the STANLEY cup champion BLACKHAWKS use the EXACT same model MINUS the best player in the game??? Boston used Kabelere and Toronto's own draft pick, and rode em to a cup. The guy simply thinks he has the assets to get Ryan Getzlaff or a guy like Eric Staal. What assets?? Colbourne has AHL bust written all over him, Kadri has talent but is as small as a bug, can't/WON'T defend, so he'll NEVER get a shake in Toronto rendering his value 1/4 what it should be, Gardiner can move the puck but has Marek Zidlicky written all over him, Schenn's been b#tchslapped into oblivion by the Toronto fans and media, and the only true asset, your 1st this year isn't good enough for one of those guys EVEN WITH all the players above INCLUDED. Plus he thinks he's simply gonna march down and get a Vokoun like deal....eh NO. But what has Burke REALLY accomplished in his tenure....


Day one...he promises a "REBUILT Leafs, featuring PUGNACITY, TRuculance, and TOUGHNESS". All this time later he's rebuilding AGAIN with all those traits in mind. What he actually delivered was THEE softest team in the league, with the best 40 goal scorer to never EVER score 40 goals who's thee softest player in the league with leadership that has toughness in the press box cause they can't skate. His area of suposed strenghth his trading, well let's see...Every deal Burke has pulled off with the ROYAL blessings of Leaf nation really haven't been the coup degraws you all envisioned. Phanuef for a bag of pucks....now really is Phanuef even worthy of a bag of pucks, he's slow, not physical, turtles when anyone bigger then Desharnais provokes him, and is thee worst defender EVER in the history of pilons. Toskala, Hagman for JS, Gardiner for Beachimin...THat's thee best deal right there, and it's an even deal cause Beauch can defend but not really score, gardiner can score but thinks da fence is da thing around da house.... Don't mention ANY Boston deal cause Burke got RAPED on them all....What's that Kaberle for Colbourne, yeah Kaberele has his name on a cup, Colbourne is an AHL bust that can't skte won't hit and will be out in round one with the rest of the much overrated SOFT marlies.....Eakin is THEE WHOLE story there....

So now Burke, a man with a vision he's gone NOWHERE with for 3 plus years is back to the vision he hopes will take em somewhere. Thee true DEFINATION of INSANITY is both doing the same thing over and over to abstract FAILURE and expecting a different result, and thee true defintion of Lemming is Believing anything the insane guy says as gospel and blindly following em anywhere to their demise.....You want to see the playoffs again in your lifetime LEAF NATION, I suggest you pray to every god there is Burke drives a car with him AND NONIS off a bridge, and Dudley gets to PROPERLY rebuild this team, cause the sounds that Tannenbaum and Burke are making are akin to desperate people that'll do anything and sacrifice anything to save their hides, and that spells DOOM for Leaf Nation....Enjoy winning the draft LOttery tonight and watching Burke deal the pick to Columbus for Nash, or worst Going OFF the board and selecting an American no one has heard of that is tough but has played competative hockey for like 6 months ala "Goon".......
- RichardPeterNuss