As his team sits outside of the playoffs for another year under his tenure, Toronto Maple Leafs president and general manager Brian Burke addressed the media on Tuesday in his end of year press conference.
After Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment chief Larry Tannenbaum sent a letter to Toronto news publications one day earlier,
apologizing to fans of the team for missing the playoffs for a seventh consecutive year, Burke opened up his conference by seconding his boss' sentiments.
"I want to say on behalf of the coaching staff, management and the players, I want to echo Mr. Tannenbaum's apology for our failure to deliver this year," Burke stated. "We had a good first half, but we didn't deliver at the end. We have the best fans in the National Hockey League and all of pro sports, and we need to deliver more. That loyalty needs to be rewarded."
On February 6th, the Leafs were in sixth in the Eastern Conference, but a 5-16-3 tailspin saw them fall rapidly out of the post-season picture. Burke explained that despite the good start to the season, the collapse at the end was unacceptable and preached consistency going forward.
"We've played partial seasons since I've been here and it's time for this team to play a full season," said the Leafs' GM. "Not to play 30 good games or 40 good games, or talk about if you combine this half or that half. That's not going to fly anymore."
Burke touched on why he felt the Leafs went into a major slide that put them into a non-playoff position for a seventh year in a row, telling reporters that it was a litany of things that went wrong for his young hockey club.
"It was a perfect storm of a lot of things. I think our special teams faulted right about then, I think we had a couple really disheartening losses, [and] I think our lack of size showed up. I think it was a lot of things."
Leafs head coach Randy Carlyle also held an end of year presser on Tuesday and said that he believes a large reason for the team's struggles was due to the young roster having a major lack of confidence. The Toronto bench boss used the return of former Leaf Francois Beauchemin to the Ducks to reference what is wrong with the club.
"Confidence is the number one thing that I would say that this team did not have,' Carlyle revealed. "We were not a confident group. There was a player that went to Anaheim, Franky Beauchemin in a trade. I was coaching him in Anaheim, and when we got Beauchemin back, it seemed to take about three weeks for him to get his confidence back. When he first got there, he was just coming back and playing and he was just slapping the puck around and running all over the place."
"And I was saying to him, 'Well, why did this happen to you?' and he said, 'I don't know.' He didn't skate, he didn't move the puck, he was kind of paralyzed. And in some situations, some thing that have happened with this group have happened at the same level and at the same degree."
Since coming to Toronto, Burke has made it well known that he prefers his team to be truculent and intimidating. He said on Tuesday that his vision for where he wants to take this team has not changed, adding that making the team tougher and improving the goaltending will be his number one priorities in the off-season.
"My view on how hockey teams are built and how hockey games are won has not changed," the 56-year old general manager stated. "I still believe that big, phsyical teams win hockey games. And if you have two evenly matched teams from a skill perspective, the bigger team's going to win. We need to get bigger. That's my top priority as far as overall priorities."
"Positionally we have to look at the goaltending. It wasn't good enough this year. I think that James Reimer is the real deal. I think that we can still plan on him being the number one guy, but we have to look at if we can bring in a guy that gives us more options and more performance right from the get-go next year."
Burke had no answers on the future of Jonas Gustavsson, who posted a 17-17-4 record this season and is set to become an unrestricted free agent. He added that the Monster has not been told anything yet but would be the first one to be informed when he does make a decision.
When it comes to making moves and improving the team, Burke will be hard pressed to find somebody to fill the Leafs' needs through free agency. That was something he admitted to in his year-end press conference, giving advance warning to fans and fellow general managers across the league that he expects to be an active player on the trade market.
"If you look at free agency, obviously we've avoided doing those wonky contracts that I think are cap circumvention and it's cost us a couple of players -- and that's not going to change," Burke said of his off-season plans. "I intend to address the positional needs the old fashioned way which is through trades, not through free agency. Looking at the pool, I don't see a lot of impact there."
In addition to making the team bigger and improving his goaltending, Burke said that acquiring a number one centre would once again be a goal in the off-season. The Leafs' president and general manager was asked about the team's leadership and whether Dion Phaneuf might need some support in his role as captain.
Burke said that may be the case and something he might address, but added that with praise for his captain, putting him up with some of the best captains he's had on his teams in his experience as a hockey executive.
"I think we might have to, yes," Burke said when asked about bringing in help for Phaneuf. "We need to support Dion, not in any way replace him. We got the captain that we were hoping to get. I think the way Randy [Carlyle] matches defence pairings up, the job Dion did, shutting down the top forwards on other teams was largely unnoticed, but not by us. He's a ferocious competitor and a good leader."
"I've been fortunate -- I've had some really good captains and I'd put Dion up there with any of them."
For the four years that Burke has served as Leafs' general manager, every one of his end of year press conferences has been about how or why the team didn't make the playoffs. Some believe that Burke's job is on the line now because of it, though that is something the Leafs' general manager says is always the case and comes with the position.
Burke added that after being so close two months ago to ending the team's lengthy playoff drought, he has had trouble sleeping and has been in constant agony over his team's collapse.
"I want to make the playoffs every season," Burke said of his goals when asked if it was mandatory the Leafs reach the post-season next year. "I was in the playoffs seven-straight years before I got here. This has been agonizing -- I'm sure you can see it in my face. I haven't slept in a month, two months. If fans think they're disappointed, I can assure you the general manager is far more disappointed. Whether we
have to make the playoffs, that's ownership's right or prerogative."
Despite the doom and gloom surrounding the team, Burke said there is reason to be positive. He believes he's put the right pieces in place, and while it may be hard to see, he feels that he is on the right path to building a championship team.
"I'm not interested in making the playoffs unless it's as part of a championship," stated Burke. "That's the goal here and it seems a mile away. I understand that and can see people shaking their heads. But that is the goal. Not to get in in the eighth spot, get your ass kicked and then stand up here and say, 'Yeah but we were in the playoffs.'"
"I'm trying to build a championship team here and that's very hard to see today. The building blocks, the keys that you need, the Phil Kessels, the Joffrey Lupuls, the Jake Gardiners, the Dion Phaneufs, the second line, all those things have been put in place. And that's what can't be overlooked as you analyze and dissect the season. Even a season that's marked by failure, I think we're going in the right direction in terms of building for the future. It's just very hard to see that today."
With the NHL Draft Lottery set to take place later Tuesday, the Leafs are guaranteed to pick first, fifth or sixth in this year's draft, boasting an 8.1 percent chance of winning the lottery and moving up to the top pick. Burke was asked if it should be his goal to follow a model like the Pittsburgh Penguins and build through high picks in the draft going forward.
The prickly Leafs' general manager did not agree, pointing out that the key piece of the Penguins' success was obtaining Sidney Crosby through a random lottery draw following the league's lockout.
"What's the Pittsburgh model?" Burke asked. "They got a lottery. They won a god-damned lottery and they got the best player in the game. Is that available to me? Should we do that? Should I ask the league to have a lottery this year and maybe we pick first? The Pittsburgh model -- my ass."
"They got the best player in the game in a lottery. Ray Shero's done a good job. He's an excellent GM and he's a friend of mine. But I love when people talk about the Pittsburgh model. The simple fact is that they got the best player -- we came in second that year in Anaheim. We got Bobby Ryan. Impact player, good player. They got Sidney Crosby in the lottery."
"I'm not a patient person. I was born impatient and I'm going to die impatient," he added. "I don't like what's happened here. I don't like our lack of progress. Obviously I'm driving the bus, I'm ultimately responsible. I'm not happy with where we are today. I thought we'd be farther ahead than we are right now."
The 2012 NHL Draft Lottery will be decided at 8PM ET and can be seen on the NHL on TSN. Burke will be in studio for the proceedings.
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