Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brain Burke: Promises Being Kept

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 the 2010-11 season, most NHL fans can clearly see a huge difference between the Maple Leafs of 2009-10. Front and centre is the immediate attitude change the Maple Leafs locker room undertook when Dion Phaneuf was brought over from the Calgary Flames.

Under the captaincy of Phaneuf, players are a lot closer, having more fun and, for the first time in a long time, winning games.

Burke’s tendency (and sometimes necessity) to look outside the box for young players has payed huge dividends.

Tyler Bozak—a player that many saw as too small to play in the NHL—was brought in by Burke out of the University of Denver and, just a short time later is playing on the Maple Leafs first line alongside franchise player Phil Kessel and the newly acquired Kris Versteeg—not bad for a player that went undrafted.

Jonas Gustavsson (who somehow has lost “the monster” moniker) has been more than adequate between the pipes in a backup role to Giguere and looks every bit the Leafs goaltender of the future, perhaps as early as the 2011-12 season (barring Giguere re-signs, of course).

Burke has been tough on himself throughout the entire rebuilding process, recently stating that he felt he had done a poor job considering the team was yet to reach the playoffs since his arrival.

In Burke’s world, every player, coach, and management member are equally responsible for the teams success or failure—which is exactly how it should be.

Burke’s Maple Leafs are the first group that has even remotely resembled a “team” in years. If you are looking for proof, just look at the Leafs bench throughout the games against the Montreal Canadiens and Ottawa Senators to start the 2010-11 season.

Every player is pushing the guy beside them to do better, and every player celebrates and takes ownership of every success and failure.

Burke believes in the players he brings into the fold. Mike Komisarek, Versteeg, Kessel (who Burke continually says he’d trade for again, regardless of the draft picks he gave up), Francois Beauchemin, Luke Schenn, Colby Armstrong—all of these players know that, even when the going gets tough, Burkie has their backs.

Even Kadri—whom many feel was treated unfairly by Burke and head coach Ron Wilson somehow—was given every confidence from Burke that he is both still on the Maple Leafs radar, and that he is going to be a very important player for the Leafs franchise.

Burke even went a step further, saying, despite the players that were left on the table at the time Kadri was drafted that he would still draft Kadri if he could do it all again—that’s pretty big praise for a young man that supposedly has somehow been treated poorly.

Yes, Leaf fans, Brian Burke keeps his promises—let’s just hope his promise of playoff success comes this season.