Maple Leafs Name Former Ducks Exec Brian Burke President & GM

Burke Named Leafs' 13th GM

JOB INTERVIEW: The GLOBE & MAIL's Tim Wharnsby reported Burke "queried" Raptors President & GM Bryan Colangelo "about his working conditions with [MLSE] brass and wanted to know if he had full autonomy in making basketball decisions." Once Burke was "assured that Colangelo had self-rule on the basketball side, the final hurdle had been cleared in Burke's mind for him to take" the Maple Leafs job. Toronto-based attorney Gordon Kirke, who led the search committee for the Maple Leafs, said that he "only conducted a few interviews with serious candidates, and a couple of those candidates withdrew from the race." Kirke: "We narrowed it down to a small group, and that group wouldn't be the same for every franchise. There were a lot of great hockey talent, but they may not shine in this market." Wharnsby noted the search committee "put itself in a holding pattern to wait for Burke to become a free agent ... after the Leafs were rebuffed by the Detroit Red Wings in getting permission to talk" to GM Ken Holland (GLOBEANDMAIL.com, 11/29).

LONG TIME COMING: In Toronto, Bill Lankhof wrote, "No arrival short of The Second Coming has been awaited with keener anticipation and fanfare [than] Burke's ascension to the throne of the centre of the hockey universe. ... Never has an entire city and its hockey culture been so infatuated and besotted with the arrival of a potential saviour. ... The public seems to be drawing a direct corollary between the Cup-winning season he helped orchestrate in Anaheim and the one it believes he will bring to Toronto" (TORONTO SUN, 11/30). Also in Toronto, Mike Zeisberger noted Peddie "feels Burke can handle the scrutiny of the spotlight that goes with running the Leafs, something the search committee was looking for" (TORONTO SUN, 11/30). The GLOBE & MAIL's Eric Duhatschek wrote it will be "interesting to see how Burke handles the communication demands in a market that's unlike any he's ever worked in before; and in an era with more information sources than ever before" (GLOBE & MAIL, 11/29). ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun wrote the position "comes with the most media scrutiny in the NHL." LeBrun: "Three Canadian sports networks, four daily newspapers, one all-sports radio station, the head office of the national news agency -- you name it and it's in Toronto. Now mind you, Burke dealt with some of that in hockey-mad Vancouver, but at least in sheer numbers, it still doesn't compare to Toronto" (ESPN.com, 11/29). However, the GLOBE & MAIL's William Houston reports Burke "received three questions" from reporters after being announced as President & GM. Reporters were "Burked out," and the announcement was "anti-climactic" (GLOBE & MAIL, 12/1).

UPPING THE ANTE: In Boston, Kevin Paul Dupont wrote Burke's contract "should be heralded around the league by GMs, many of whom toil in the modest" $1.2-1.5M range annually. Any GM who now "inches his club into the top third of the overall standings, and displays the ability or potential to keep it there, will be justified to ask for $2[M] a year, if not more." The Maple Leafs have delivered a "very good payday for the vast majority of the GMs in the Original 30, and one that was long overdue" (BOSTON GLOBE, 11/30). Meanwhile, SI.com's Jim Kelley wrote, "I'll be wondering how all of Canada will deal with the fact that Canada's team ... is now being managed and coached by a pair of Americans" in Burke and coach Ron Wilson. Hockey -- "at least from a Canadian perspective -- is Canada's game. That doesn't mean Americans aren't welcome, respected and even appreciated. It just means ... well, we're talking about the Maple Leafs." Burke's hiring "isn't quite the same as attempting to sell the U.S. ports to Dubai, but it's close." A source said, "I wouldn't equate it with Barack Obama being elected president in the States, but it's likely to have the same kind of seismic impact up here" (SI.com, 11/28).

Print This Article