Ron Wilson and Brian Burke under fire
January 8, 2010 · 23 Comments
About the time Toronto Maple Leaf coach Ron Wilson was ripping into Phil Kessel, commentators at the club’s Toronto radio rights holder were unloading on Wilson and his general manager Brian Burke.
Wilson called out Kessel for indifferent play after a 6-2 loss to Philadelphia, while Darren Dreger, the host of Leafs Lunch on AM640, rapped Wilson for the team’s inept penalty killing.
Dreger noted that Wilson, when he was hired to coach the team in June, 2008, made a point of stating there was plenty of room for improvement on the penalty kill, a remark that was seen as a slap at Wilson’s predecessor Paul Maurice.
Armed with statistics, Dreger reported that Wilson has failed miserably with the PK, much more than Maurice. Wilson’s success rate of 69.7 per cent is not only worst in the league, but the lowest for any NHL team in 27 seasons (1982-83 Los Angeles Kings).
“The penalty kill is no good and has not been good under Wilson,” Dreger said.
Bill Watters, a regular on Leafs Lunch, described the penalty kill as “passive” and the Leaf players, generally, as soft.
“I challenge you to name to me a team in the NHL that plays with less balls,” he said.
“No, I can’t find it,” said Dreger.
“That’s it,” Watters said. “There’s no other way to describe it. The team that showed up at Philadelphia had one thing in mind: Let’s get out of there without getting hurt.”
It’s hard to know how much to blame Wilson or the players for this mess. As Watters has said, correctly, the team is woefully short on talent, as well as toughness. And this is where Burke will be held accountable.
The Kessel trade appears to have been a mistake. The free agents Burke signed over the summer haven’t panned out, although the goalie Jonas Gustavsson may develop. Burke tried to make the team tougher, but hasn’t.
When a caller pronounced Burke a failure on “every count, period,” Watters replied, “You said it well. Brian Burke’s record to date is nothing short of abysmal. I recommended this guy for the job, and I think there’s more good in him than there is bad. So far, we haven’t seen much good, but I think he deserves another kick at the can.”
Burke is a likeable, but blustery guy who can also be intimidating. It will be interesting to see who, if anybody in the Toronto print media, takes him on if the Leafs stay buried at third last in the NHL standing.
At the Toronto Star, Damien Cox is a Burke supporter. The Globe and Mail’s David Shoalts has returned to lecturing the fans about showing more patience. Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun raised a few questions this week about Burke’s team. He concluded his piece with, “The seven players Burke added to the Leafs since last season represent nothing more than a beginning. This remains a roster crying for change. Too many of the incumbents are just good enough to get you beat. Truculence is more about the future than the present.”
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Burke needs to fire Ron Wilson immediately to save face before the season is over. There is no good coach that constantly puts down his players in public…no one likes to be humiliated in public. If Ron Wilson thinks that this will motivate his players then he should not be coacing any team. Dirty laundry must be done behind closed doors. Ron Wilson has constantly complained that he has no talent on the team. Everyone (almost) can coach a team with an abundance of talent, the true measure of a good coach is what he can do with a team that does not have a great deal of talent. A good coach would have system in place with each player assigned to a task depending on their strenght. Every team in the league has a system except the Maple Leafs, extremely disorganized and tentative…pehaps they are afraid of making mistakes so that they will not be rediculed in public. This has to reflect heavily on the incompetency of the coach. It may have been a simple thing like having a player in front of the net instead of always 3 players behind the net,,.difficult to score from behind the net.
Brian Burke, you have traded the future of the franchise with the irresponsible Phil Kessel trade, Leafs management should fire you immediately before doing further damage. Leaf management needs to hire a staff that are proud to be Canadians. Do Ron Wilson and Brian Burke really care about Canada?
The Leafs don't have the look of a "work in progress", and there doesn't appear to be a blueprint for future success. Coaches much higher in the standings have been canned for under performance, and Burke & Wilson's preseason hype/hopes haven't even come close to materializing. Personally, I ,long for the good old days, when anyone was subject to bussing it in the minors for a wakeup call, rather than today's only apparent option: being called out in the media by a lame duck coach.
I starting to think that John Jr. wasn't doing that bad of a job! At least the players were NHL calibre, the team they have now is not even deserving of playing in the NHL. Get lost Burke and Wilson, they try to bully the media so there is no tough questions shot their way.
Things could be worse Leaf fans… you could be an Oiler season ticket holder like me!! Burke and Kevin Lowe spent a year telling everybody how bad the other one was… turns out they were both right on the money!!
IT HURTS TO WATCH YOU FUCKING LOSERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, the Leafs suck right now, we already know. You could have told us in one post, not five.
Who let the 5 year old in?
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@diehardleafsfan
You are welcome to your opinion and to posting, but spamming the comments system and attacking other users is not welcome. You've been warned. If you continue in this way a timed or permanent ban will be put in place. Thanks.
one solution to the leafs FIRE EVERYONE
YOU ARE ALL FIRED
these guys are a joke
And by Kubina being cheaper than Komisarek what I mean is the term, not the actual cash as Kubina's cap hit is .5 mil more I believe.
The signing of the NCAA kids Bozak, Hanson, etc… these guys will possible amount to 3rd/4th line guys. If one amounts to a top 6 forward, great. However, Burke equated these guys to first round picks for free so giving up the two picks in the Kessel trade was easier. My guess is 2 lottery picks, one in '10 and '11 had a better chance of garnering you a legit top 6 forward than a pile of NCAA grads that were passed over in the NHL draft.
Maybe some of these moves pan out, but it just seems like there is no real blueprint. And the better part of Burke's team in Anaheim was built by Murray… Just some random thoughts. In the end, the Leafs are just as bad and had more future flexibility without Komisarek and Kessel and with Kubina in the lineup. There's wanting to put your stamp on the team and there's also just being silly and reckless.
Beauchemin was not a terrible signing, but wrong guy at the wrong time. He's a piece you acquire when you're close, not when you're 2-3 years away from even competing.
The Kessel deal will be debated forever. To say only half of the first round picks pan out is ridiculous. Remember, there's a reason why Boston essentially dumped Kessel for picks. A team like Boston that is talking about winning a championship doesn't try and find a way to keep their leading goal scorer??? Hmmm… raise an eyebrow or two? In most circles, yes, with Burke… no.
A team looking to build for the future doesn't get rid of their 2 best picks (1st Rd in '10 and '11) when you're stocking the cupboard
Huge mistake was the Exelby for Kubina deal. Komisarek's signing after that just made no sense. Who would you rather have in your lineup, Kubina or Komisarek. Easy answer is Kubina. Kubina had less term and was cheaper. So how do you justify essentially trading Kubina for Komisarek? You had less commitment and similar money and a better player in Kubina. In a rebuilding situation, Kubina was a tremendous asset really and Komisarek was a huge risk really. Will Komisarek really be a big piece of the puzzle when and if this team is able to compete? If he's around, won't he be a 5-6 dman for huge bucks? Kubina and his contract could have been long gone once this team gets decent, while the Leafs will be saddled with another contract a la Jason Blake. And don't get me started on Jeff Finger's deal… neither are Burke moves but the fact Blake's and Finger's deals were there should have meant, take the foot of the gas pedal when signing mid-level d men to long term, big money deals… you have enough of those guys.
You don't trade two exceptional 1st round picks + for a one dimensional player, PERIOD!
It's so clear that the Burke and Wilson Circus is fully underway I remember in the summer that trading Schenn and a first round was too much for Tavarez. Yet 2 first round picks and 1 second round pick is ok for a one dimensional small player who's had double shoulder reconstruction and testicular Cancer. Rather they have been really confused as to what type of reconstruction they are going to do and frankly why has no one pointed the finger at Wilson and Burke?
Wilson will tell you constantly there isn't much talent on this team not like the team in San Jose and he will talk about next year when he'll have Kadri, Bozak, Hanson in the lineup with Kessel that clearly sends a message to the team that 3 players at minimum are gone next year moreover the assinine signing of Grabovski who only likes to fight his own teammates not the opposition and his goal production is 15 at best –I think he's Sergei Berezin's long lost brother. Beauchemin really sucks in the fine details of defense, Komisarek is OK but way overpayed, Wallin was brought in to spoon feed Gustavvson and we dealt Kubina for Exelby. Exelby is at best an IHL defenseman he has very poor puck control, he is a poor skater, and has 0 vision on the ice. At first I thought that the Leafs wanted to tank on purpose with all these weird trades and signings but when the deal on Kessel was done I knew that Burke had lost his mind and was a terrible hockey guy maybe he tried to hard to make something happen but with no leader on the team and an ASS for a coach. My question to Burke what did you think was going to happen.
I would have worked with what I had traded only guys in their last year. I would have waived Finger, Toskala, Blake, and now Exelby. Traded at the deadline Ponikarovsky, Mayers and Toskala for second round picks in the next couple of years drafts. Then promote Stalberg, Bozak, Hanson to the lineup because they are the future not Blake, Mayers, Poni and Toskala.
Agree that they are awful, but you have to quickly tell me what GM is going to give you a second for either Ponikarovsky, Mayers or Toskala? You seem to know these guys are duds…you don't think a GM would?
In my mind the headline for an article I would love to see is: "Ranting Ronnie and Bluster Burkie — Both Fired"
These guys are so over-hyped and have a long track record of under performance, but only in Toronto can they be considered being top quality NHL management. Arrrggghhhhhhhhh…
Looks like another 3 or 4 years of asinine rhetoric from MLSE before "new and improved saviours" (over-hyped under performing replacements) are brought in for these two egomaniacs.
One can only hope the Leafs are sold from the current faceless corporate framework, and be replaced with a single entity. I hope Jim Balsillie doesn't spend all his money in the next couple of years and holds back the $Billion or so that it will take to make the purchase. Then the Maple Leafs may actually win the big trophy, but under the current incompetent ownership structure not a hope in H E L L that will happen.
All those still thinking Burke is a saviour should read Strachan's book "Why the Leafs Suck …" and his comments about Burke's record. Especially when it comes to trading away high draft picks.
Amazing that all the Leaf "fans" in the OBJECTIVE Toronto media are wearing out their crying towells. And don't forget Hockey Night in Toronto's Ron. (Mr. Burns) MacLean and Don ( Crusty The Clown) Cherry..as well as the rest of the sideshow (with the exception of Canada's best….read…most objective….. hockey commentator..Eliott Friedeman) who spend much of their time crying about their beloved Leafs..So sad for the two sarcastic windbags running the team. Oh yeah!!
The Kessel trade a mistake? Are you kidding? I am a guy who prays every year for the Leafs to go 0-82, but I think this was a great trade. The Leafs got a proven top shelf player and goal scorer who is only 22 years old for what amount to a couple of lottery tickets. Statistics show that only about half of first round picks ever go on to significant NHL careers, while the other half wash out. As long as the Leafs stay out of the basement, thus avoiding giving Taylor Hall to the Bruins, this was a very good trade. Can you imagine just how stinky the Leafs would be right now without the offensive contribution Kessel has made?
To be a fan of this team is very, very frustrating right now. We all remember what Wilson said when he came aboard; that he wanted to make the Leafs, once again, a tough team to play against, especially at home. It hasn't happened. Yet. The PK is a joke. Ron Wilson shouldn't utter a word about the media, or open practices, or even about Patrick Kane, until his guys start killing penalties at an NHL-accepted rate.
All that being said, it's too early to deem the Kessel trade a mistake, and it's too early to say that Burke is a failure.