Say what you will about Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke. Since his arrival in Toronto he said he would build a winner and he slowly but surely, has done exactly that.
As bad as the 2009-10 season was, Burke used the Maple Leafs' inability to win as a catalyst to make wide-sweeping changes, which included a complete rebuild of his forwards and bringing in former Stanley Cup winning goaltender J.S. Giguere in to shut the door on the opposition, which was more than justified and looks to be paying huge dividends.
Burke's “magic” has been questioned in the past, but there are few out there that could have foreseen Burke being able to rid the Leafs roster of the underperforming Jason Blake and Matt Stajan, the defensively challenged Nik Hagman and the rest of the questionable crew that Burke sent packing.
Through it all, Burke has kept his word, electing to treat veteran defenseman Tomas Kaberle with the utmost respect, finding a new home for prospect Justin Pogge, giving Nazem Kadri every opportunity to crack the Maple Leafs lineup and sticking by the players who gave it their all, night-in, night-out.
While only two games into th ...
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Article written by Mark Ritter
Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brain Burke: Promises Being Kept
October 10th, 2010 by Mark Ritter Leave a reply »
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