- It's sort of old news at this point, but I caught Brian Burke's introductory press conference with the Toronto media on NHL On The Fly on Sunday. At first, I was a bit put off by the whole Burke situation. I mean, the whole world knew he was going to Toronto once his contract was up, and yet he ended up in Toronto before December 1. I guess Anaheim didn't want to delay the inevitable, but it was a little strange how it all worked out. Besides, it's always a bit annoying to see Toronto get what they want.
In any event, Burke spoke to the media and completely blew me away. Just about everything he said was impressive, but there were two things that stood out. First, he made a point to say his players would be more involved in the community than ever before. Now, we're pretty lucky in that both the Islanders and Rangers are very active in charity and volunteer work, so we don't know how it works in cities where players barely do anything besides show up for games. It's nice to see a general manager recognize the importance of his players being active in the community. The second thing struck an even bigger chord. He mentioned how the NHL has a holiday trade freeze so that no players can be moved during Christmas. He then went on to say that he doesn't believe in trading players at all during the holiday season in general and that he wouldn't be making any transactions between December 7 and the start of 2009. This isn't because he needs to see what he has with the Maple Leafs, but because he doesn't think it's fair for a player to be uprooted and moved during the holiday season.
After hearing that second point, I remembered that Brian Burke is the same GM that released Ilya Bryzgalov last season rather than have Bryzgalov sit behind J.S. Giguere. Burke knew he could probably get a decent package of players or picks, but he also knew Bryzgalov wasn't going to be staying in Anaheim and he wanted to make sure Bryzgalov would end up in a decent situation. You could make the argument Burke is getting back the same generosity thanks to the precedent he set with the Ducks. And by all accounts, Burke made the move back East for the right reason, to be with his family. Hard to argue with that one.
Long story short, while the Toronto Maple Leafs are still a loathsome franchise, they became a little less so with the hire of Brian Burke. Now let's see how Burke gets rid of the Leafs' awful contracts and barren farm system.
- Sean Avery made headlines today by making a comment about his, as he said, "sloppy seconds". The remark was made in reference to Dion Phaneuf, whose Calgary Flames are facing Avery's Dallas Stars as we speak. Phaneuf, of course, is dating Avery's ex-flame Elisha Cuthbert. Avery's punishment was not getting drilled by Phaneuf; instead, he's been suspended indefinitely.
This raises a couple of issues in my mind. First, Mike Mottau cheapshots Frans Nielsen and knocks him out for 2-3 months, yet only gets two games. Now, Avery is suspended indefinitely for making a crack to the media? OK, it's a really funny crack, but still. Second, it looks like Dallas is already regretting the Avery deal. Reports are that he's not very popular in the clubhouse; he also has a "limited no-trade clause". But the third is the thing that really gets me. We've barely heard a peep about hockey from the major sports media so far this year. Just about the only thing anybody talks about is the possibility of Barack Obama attending the Winter Classic. Of course, Avery opens his mouth, gets suspended, and it's the top story everywhere. You think it's possible for the NHL to get some positive attention ever? Of course not. That'd be too easy. But when something bad happens, it's the perfect opportunity for the major sports media to bash hockey and say things like, "This is why we don't pay more attention to the NHL." Meanwhile, Plaxico Burress shoots himself in the leg and nobody can stop talking about it. Go figure.
So there you have it. Maybe if the media didn't take the obvious story about Avery and dug a little deeper, they'd see some real good out there. Like the new Toronto GM a few paragraphs up. You think you're ever going to hear a story on ESPN about any GM in any other sport who won't make trades during the holidays out of fairness to his players? No way. Our game is a great one. It's a shame most people refuse to see it that way.
1) Burke told ownership he wouldn't sign an extension so they delayed the inevitable and parted ways in the middle of the season instead of having a Lame Duck GM.
ReplyDelete2) He tried trading Bryzgalov. He offered him to Tampa Bay (when they had Johan Holmqvist and Marc Denis and Karri Ramo) for like a 5th round pick and Tampa said no. He also offered him to Phoenix for the same and Don Maloney said no.
Then, he put him on waivers as a favor to him so he could be a starter. Classy move by him, smart move by Maloney.
Family, yes, but it also has to do with being the GM in Toronto instead of a team in Orange County. Would you rather run the Red Sox or an obscure team who draws 6 fans to an open practice during a playoff run? (Real stat, by the way.. the Ducks drew 6 fans to an open practice last year in the playoffs.)