Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke talks about the draft selections from this years draft, the short and long-term potential of the selections, and how the team will be active in the free agent market come July 1st. (source:The Canadian Press/TSN)
As much as I admire Brian Burke, one would think after all the talk about moving up to get Tavares (a claim that was really hard to see coming to fruition for a multitude of reasons) and the subsequent failure to do so, he’d spend more time talking about what he did accomplish at the NHL entry draft. That said, rather than getting the Leafs faithfull’s hopes up with bold predictions, why not just surprise them with a signing or two come July 1st?
Brian is obviously an intelligent individual but you have to start to wonder if he’s aware that the people of Toronto aren’t the people of Anaheim…He’ll get a couple free passes in the beginning but all this bravado is being kept track of and bold predictions can come back to haunt you in Leafland.
Does anyone remember Paul Maurice and the prediction that the Leafs would compete for the Stanley Cup in 2007, only to miss the playoffs altogether? The media was hard on him for that bold prediction and in the end, I’m sure he was wishing he just used a typical hockey cliche about giving it their best every night.
The point is, the fans in Toronto are starved for a team to cheer for and if Burke is going to get their hopes up, for his sake I hope he can come through.