Burke's overhaul almost done?
For all the moves the Maple Leafs have made, going back before the NHL draft, there is still great uncertainty about them making the playoffs.
But what’s important to note is that the Brian Burke broom is no longer solely aimed at those brought here by previous general managers. Players and staff that came here under his watch are starting to disappear, too, or at least, look over their shoulders.
Such is Leafs management’s determination to stop this club-record six-year spring hiatus, or to exhaust manpower and monetary resources in an attempt to show it has tried. Burke will be into his fourth calendar year at the helm come Dec. 1, by which time a new owner and/or CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment Ltd. could be in place. So there won’t be much sympathy for him if the Leafs are once again trying to pass four or five teams to stay in post-season range in the second half of the schedule.
As Tim Connolly, John-Michael Liles, Cody Franson, Matthew Lombardi and coaches Scott Gordon and Greg Cronin arrived, something in the current closet had to move aside. That’s why you won’t hear talk of jamming square peg Tyler Bozak into a round hole at first line centre. Expensive toys such as Mike Komisarek will be looking at a drastically decreased blue line roles, while fellow defenceman Brett Lebda is gone completely.
Jean-Sebastien Giguere, one of Burke’s most faithful servants, offered to stay in a lesser net role and was politely told no. There was little effort put into retaining the once-hyped Christian Hanson and for all the good work Tim Brent put into his lone year as a Leaf, the club judged it could do better. Role forwards Darryl Boyce and Joey Crabb could be next.
The first signs that Burke would crunch toes came in mid-June when he ordered coach Ron Wilson to shed two assistant coaches because of a “stale” dressing room. After Keith Acton and Tim Hunter were let go, Burke repeated that his old friend Wilson would not get an extension unless there is tangible improvement in the autumn.