The Brian Burke Saga Part 2: Pros, Cons, and Everything Inbetween

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Con: While the Canucks were a great regular season team, they were a terrible playoff team. The squad was dogged with inconsistency, questionable goaltending, and unexpected early exits. Three of the four seasons Burke was in Vancouver, the team never made it out of the first round, and the year they did (2002/03) they lost in seven to Minnesota.

If Burke had been in Anaheim a few more years (or at least until the end of this season), it'd be interesting to see if the Ducks would respond more like the '07 team or the '08 team when faced with playoff adversity.

Advantage Con

Although Burke did win the cup with that team in Anaheim, the troubles encountered in the first round with Vancouver and last year with Anaheim don't bode well for Leaf fans hopes, ring or not.

Then again, this is a city that throws a parade when the Leafs make the playoffs.

Burke stands by and supports his players

Pro: Let's face it—Toronto needs management who will stand by their players through the good times and bad in this media market, it's been the problem going all the way back to the Harold Ballard era.

A vocal General Manager who will support his players and lash back at the media when the going gets rough has helped players gain confidence and let's them like the situation in which they play.

Getting players comfortable is half the battle.

Con: Burke has a habit of picking favorites and riding them out, whether they work or not. Case in point: Dan Cloutier.

Burke's attitude may also hurt the roster during the beginning stages of his tenure, as he may be seen as picking favorites, which could divide a locker room until the roster is altered to exclude those players, or they decide to play for him.

Advantage: Pro

Whether or not it divides a locker room, this is the kind of person the players need. If it divides the roster then he can just trade the ones who don't like it away anyhow.

Burke has also made no bones about the fact that he offers a ten-day extension on the NHL's no-movement period prior to Christmas.

Burke is a shrewd negotiator who can construct a team based around the present and the future...

Pro: First of all, Burke doesn't deal with no-trade clauses. The only one that he's handed out to his players in Anaheim is the one given to Jean-Sabastien Giguere, and that's due to health concerns over Giguere's children.

From then on, he signed Kunitz, Perry, and Getzlaf to long-term deals, securing the future of the Ducks' until 2011/12 (when Kunitz's deal runs it's course), while he's also left Anaheim with a plethora of young, talented defensemen with size to boot.

Con: While Burke has built a fairly strong team, Anaheim is also crippled with regards to cap space. They currently have just over 300k in cap space, with 15 players approaching free agency.

Advantage (Slightly): Con

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