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BOOK REVIEW: Burke' Law: A Life in Hockey

BG said:
Burke's Law - Google Books

Just finished Burke's book (paperback is cheap at Walmart).

I always liked Burke, and thought he was one of the hardest working GM's in the game. His years with the Leafs were doomed to fail, if only because the talent he was able to collect were not a particularly cohesive group. But his ability to make deals happen (Phaneuf, Kessel, Gardiner, Lupul) and put the JFJ/Fletcher shitshow behind us made me a fan.

There are a lot of good stories in here, including his other GM stops in Hartford/Vancouver/Anaheim/Calgary. There is also a lot of confirmations about why he was fired, including his firing from the Leafs (he thinks it all boiled down to his unwillingness to offer the back-loaded contracts that were winning other teams championships).

He talks about the McSorley incident, the Bertuzzi incident, the Wideman incident. But most heartbreaking, he talks about his son's tragic death.

For FI fans he even talks about the Hazel Mae story, and his lawsuit against the "internet trolls".

Lots of chirps about Ottawa, and the media (Brooks, Strachan, Simmonds etc..)

Worth a read IMO, the Google Books preview above is early in the book and talks about his days as a college/minor pro hockey player.
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Not sure why you think FI fans would care about that...
 
BG said:
Here is a page that included his team building chart, it sort of defines his career and how he intended to build teams. (Not my thumb)

DTzJyVB.jpeg
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I think what cracks me up is the "(Even if skilled)" in the LW2 spot.
 
I wonder how stubborn he was about these boxes because they seem incredibly restrictive. I can think of some really good players in the league that Burkie would actually love that wouldn't fit those boxes.
 
He admits that by the time he reached Calgary, that he changed the design due to the lack of fighting.

He was a bit spoiled to have Verbeek, Pronger, Bertuzzi, Perry on his other teams - Pronger being the only one that he drafted.
 
I'm proud to have called out his Kessel trade from day one, but homer that I am, I was excited by some of the other trades (Phaneuf for our crap, Giguere and getting rid of Blake) and I'm overall embarrassed to have thought Burke was good. I think he was just better than anything we'd had since Quinn and brought some credibility, and so he looked good. Not all that different than Babcock when he got here.

But that was all just buying into the brand name. The quality of those guys' work was junk.

Dubie and Keefe all the way. Unless we never win with them, in which case I will be embarrassed to have posted this too.
 
Speaking of Quinn, I was looking at his lines the other day and it's amazing how skill first his lineups were considering when he coached. Those were some fun teams.
 
The book is a good read for his stories and life perspective ( legit good man, in a world full of assholes IMO) the team building and hockey philosophies though are painfully outdated.

Some decent stuff on Lou being insane too
 
Regarding Ron Wilson:

"I decided to keep Wilson, though I knew that he wasn't the right guy for the way I wanted my team to play. Our philosophies on how to play are completely different, he didn't value toughness the way I do. I told Ron that he had to play Colton Orr (a true heavyweight) every night. Ron thought that a forward that could make some plays would make us a better team. I thought everyone played a little braver when Orr was on the bench. Orr was an intimidating presence"

"The first thing I asked Ronnie was whether we needed a goalie. He was convinced that Toskala could do the job. I was skeptical, and it turns out I was right."

"In the summer of 2011, Ron had already lost the media in Toronto, and was starting to lose the room. You have to have at least one of the two. He had become really aloof with the players. There was an interview with Kessel around that time when the reporter asked "What does your coach think about that?" to which Phil responded "I haven't talked to the coach in two weeks".
 
Those were some dark times.

I have buddies that are really down on the team after last years playoff choke. My argument is always “how tf did you survive the JFJ, Burke, Fletcher days and NOW decide to put your foot down?”

This is the best team of my lifetime. Better than the best of Quinn years. I truly believe it regardless of the results so far. Fuck we might never get a team like this again in our lives.
 
I was about to say before reading your last line, the chances we ever have a team like this again is very remote.

A generational goal scorer, an elite playmaker, a stud PPG winger, a top notch #1 dman, and one of the best centers in the league as our 2C! All 26 and under except for the last guy. And now add what looks to be a star #1 goalie.

It would take a lot of luck to ever see this much talent on the roster at any one time after these guys hang them up.
 
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