APRIL SPOTLIGHT

Leaf GM & President

Brian Burke

Previously

Anaheim GM & Executive VP

Joined Leafs

November 28, 2008

In our first month we point the MLSE spotlight on the Leafs' new President and General Manager Brian Burke.

Brian Burke's arrival in Toronto as General Manager has been referred to as the worst kept secret in hockey by the media. While that may be true his arrival has also brought with it high hopes and high expectations for a hockey club that is no stranger to such fan and media pressure.

While there exist high expectations, what is different this time around is that both Burke and his predecessor Cliff Fletcher have taken a no BS approach to the club when talking about it to the media. At his press conference announcing his appointment as Leafs GM Burke stated most clearly that "rebuilding this team isn't going to be easy".

Burke clearly spelled out how he runs his team on 3 principles. First that his teams will play an "Entertaining style" with "aggressive pursuit of the puck" and a willingness to answer physical challenges in order to allow young players to develop. Second, he stated that "sound business decisions" are made regarding spending regardless of profit. And finally he made it clear that community service is not optional for players and "the ones who don't like it won't be here long".

He laid out a framework for how he wants to build the hockey club as well. Burke stated that he wants to create a top 6 forward group with a high skill level and a bottom 6 group that does all the plumbers work such as "shot blocking penalty killing and fighting". He noted a similar approach for his defensemen with a highly skilled top 4 and a, bottom 2 capable of the "plumbers work". One could argue that at present the Leafs have mostly bottom 6 forwards and not many of them willing to do the plumbers work so Burke will indeed have his work cut out for him.

From a fan perspective it was very refreshing to have an honest and frank evaluation of the team and a clear and decisive layout of how the team will be changed right from the get go.

We here at LRT wish Brian Burke the best of luck when it comes to fulfilling his plan, however we will be watching and will take note if he deviates from his objectives and we will demand answers regarding why such a deviation took place.

Article by

Owen Wooding

Mar 15, 2008

To track the trades Burke has made thus far as Leafs GM visit the Trades page.