Saturday, November 29, 2008

Worst Kept Secret In NHL- Burke To Leafs Official

Hey... guess what...??

Did you hear the one about the Toronto Maple Leafs wanting Brian Burke ((pictured, thanks Getty Images)) to be the team's General Manager...??? All that had to happen was his leaving Anaheim- and getting out of that particular contract first... like the second Cliff Fletcher was named the replacement for John Ferguson, Junior last season.

Well, it happened... he's the President and GM of the Leafs now...

''You're talking about the Vatican if you're Catholic, you're talking the centre of the hockey universe, you're talking about one of the most important jobs in hockey running the Toronto Maple Leafs,'' Burke said. ''It's a dream job.''

Burke will reportedly earn $3 million annually on a six-year deal.

Burke, the 13th general manager in the club's 92-year history, became available after the veteran NHL executive stepped down from his post as general manager of the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 12.

''I'm extremely honoured to join the Toronto Maple Leafs,'' said Burke. ''This is one of the most prestigious jobs in our game.

''This is an opportunity of a lifetime to work for a team in a world-class city with passionate fans, solid ownership and a rich history. I can't wait to get started.''

Now all he has to do is fix the Leafs situation... which is in pretty sad shape. The team recently traded away two former Number One Draft picks- Carlo Coliacoivo and Alex Steen- to St. Louis for Lee Stempniak.

They're currently 11th in the 15 team Eastern Conference and have lost five in a row heading in to the weekend. But the Buds are also only one point out of the cellar.

Let the new round of overly-optimistic expectations begin in the T-Dot.

Let's go back to January when Burke was a guest of Michael Landsberg on "OTR" when he said he wasn't interested in the Leafs job since he already had a job...
((HT: TSN))

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