Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
It was announced late Wednesday morning that Brian Burke was released from his position as the Toronto Maple Leafs general manager. This afternoon at 12 E/T. The former general manager spoke with members of the press.
From the Air Canada Center Media Room, Burke was greeted by a host of reporters and their questions. No question was more important than the question of why now? Burke was extremely coy when answering the question. He would not divulge a lot of information except to say that the owners had the right to make the decision to release Burke.
When asked about his performance with the club the former general manager simply said, ”we didn’t enough games. “We made some moves that are going to build on the success of this franchise for the future,” but in the end we didn’t not win enough games.”
One thing Burke would not do is place the blame on previous general managers like Cliff Fletcher and John Fergusson who were also fired by the leafs organization in the past before Burke arrived in Toronto.
“I won’t sit here and tell you that inherited John Fergusson’s mess because that’s the easy way out and complaining is not my style.“
Burke went on to say that he understood what he was given to work with and he made some good decisions concerning the team.
One unfortunate circumstance of the Toronto Maple Leafs season was when James Reimer went down to injury. Had Reimer not went down to injury the look of the Leafs could have been extremely different. James Reimer suffered a neck injury while playing in the Bell Centre, after taking the elbow from Montreal Canadiens Brian Gionta on Oct 22 of the previous season. Reimer’s play was never the same again.
He also added that playing in Toronto is like living in The Vatican. As a general manger of one of the most popular franchises in the NHL he understood the pressures that came with the job.
However Burke did apologize to the fans of Maple Leafs hockey for not producing a winning season. Finally Brian Burke formerly thanked members of the Leafs organization from players to board members.
“It’s a great city is Toronto and I would like to thank Bell and Rogers for the chance to lead this team. I would also like to thank Dion Phanuef and Phil Kessel,” said Burke.
Burke’s closing comments included wishing the blue and white franchise the best of luck going forward.
