Brian Burke

Brian Burke. You know him, and you either love him or hate him. It's easy to understand why either way. Burke is the kind of GM who doesn't hide behind jargon or double speak, and he is honest in both his approach to the media and building his teams. He has proven to be successful no matter where he has been, whether it was laying the building blocks for a franchise like Vancouver, or building the cup winner in Anaheim. Now he's been in Toronto for a few seasons, with mixed results. However, most will admit that the future is now bright for the Leafs, first time in a long time someone can actually say that.

After a seemingly disastrous trade with Boston for Phil Kessel, which got them Tyler Seguin and a Stanley Cup as well as this year's pick up defenseman Dougie Hamilton, Burke has managed to right the ship, and the team when on a remarkable late season run, being in the playoff hunt towards the end of the season, after yet another dismal Maple Leaf October. He also managed to recoup a first round draft pick (from boston of all teams) by FINALLY trading the last of the Muskoka 5, Tomas Kaberle in exchance for Joe Colborne, a 2011 first round pick, and a conditional pick in 2012. Let us not forget that he also managed to trade Brent Lebda for Cody Franson and Matthew Lombari (who is still battling concussions, but in a Lebda trade, it's a good pick up)...and there was much rejoicing. yay.

Despite his off season moves, there is another reason to like Brian Burke, and that's simply because he doesn't give one single miniscule puck what anyone thinks of his job. Let us go back to July 1st, the start of this crazy free agency period, and the absolute joke that was the Brad Richards frenzy. Let us not kid ourselves, everyone on their mother knew Brad Richards was going to sign in New York. Why they had that circus is beyond me, but regardless, Brian Burke was overseas visiting Canadian servicemen and women on Canada Day....and oh yeah He's American. Toronto Sun reporter Steve Simmons, who I generally appreciate his candor, went on to say that you don't do that kind of thing on the start of free agency. I can ALMOST understand the point he is trying to make, however in this technological age, there is no way Brian Burke wasn't in contact with the other people in the front office. The Leafs did manage to re-sign Grabovski and MacArthur, who were excellent last year for them, as well as sign Tim Connolly, who if healthy, will be their number one center which is something they sorely need to play alongside Kessel.

Perhaps the most, endearing (for lack of a better term) quality about Burke is how he speaks to the media. He's upfront, candid and honest. There is no mincing of words or tiptoeing through the tulips with Burke. Case in point, watch this video of the press conference he did a few days after free agency began. Look how he defends his players to the media, and doesn't take shit from anyone. Feel free to jump to about 9 minutes in and hear him respond to Steve Simmons. The fact that he is calling shenanigans on all these long term deals is great too. It's not like he's doing it to be spiteful or to complain for the sake of complaining *coughdeanlombardicough*. He's saying what everyone knows and no one else will admit. For that I have to say kudos to Brian Burke. Here is a guy in the biggest hockey market in the league, essentially giving the league the finger. I can only imagine that when all is said and done, when all these contracts aren't played out, Burke is going to have a shit eating grin on his face. Just to bring leafs fans down to Earth a bit, that'll happen before a parade.

Goalie Faceoff

The dust seems to be settling after the opening weekend of free agency, and it's fair to say most of the high level talent has been signed. Brad Richards made his "shocking" decision to go to the New York Rangers (I really hope you can feel the sarcasm there), and just about everyone who was expected to go, ended up going somewhere. Unlike the goalie bonanza of last year, this year's crop was a bit thinner, but had the likes of Dwayne Roloson (who re-signed in Tampa), Mike Smith (Phoenix) and of course Tomas Vokoun. Vokoun was thought to be the prize of prizes amongst the goaltenders this year, but he only went today after teams like Colorado and Phoenix, who desperately needed starting goaltenders, signed other free agents. The size of Vokoun's contract with the Washington Capitals (1.5 million) has Flyers fans irate at the long term contract they signed Ilya Bryzgalov to and the difference in money. In an attempt to explain both, we're going to compare both goalies as best we can.


Regular Season
(Career stats)
Tomas Vokoun: (632 NHL appearances) 262-267-41 2.56 GAA .917 save% 44 shutouts

Ilya Bryzgalov: (326 NHL appearances) 156-116-35 2.53 GAA .916 save% 23 shutouts


So what does this tell us? While both goalies have played on less than stellar teams for the majority of their careers, statically, Bryzgalov wins more games. The offense of Florida was worse than Phoenix's last season (195-231), the defenses were almost identical (226-229). Both teams ranked 9th in their respective Conferences for goals for, so it's not like we're comparing apples to oranges here. To start splitting hairs, Vokoun just turned 35, while Bryzgalov just turned 31. While goalies certainly seem to perform at higher levels longer than other positions on the ice, you have to wonder how many more "good" seasons Vokoun has in him. The greatest goalie in the game, Martin Brodeur (39) has been on decline the past two seasons, and started showing his age (injuries, late season fatigue) even before that. Yes everyone is different, I'm not suggesting the the exact same thing will happen to every goalie, but it can cause for some concern for a team looking for a durable goalie. Over the past 3 seasons, Bryzgalov has started an average of 67 games, while Vokoun has started just under 60. Again, this is purely speculation, but perhaps the rigors of a starting job are starting to wear on Vokoun. Bryzgalov has also earned a Vezina nomination for his play with the Phoenix Coyotes, while Vokoun has never been nominated for the award.


Playoffs:
(Career stats)
Tomas Vokoun: (11 appearances) 3-8 2.47 GAA .922 save% 1 shutout

Ilya Bryzgalov: (27 appearances) 12-13 2.55 GAA .917 save% 3 shutouts (and a stanley cup ring)

For all the worrying that Flyers faithful have done, here comes some news, Vokoun never won a playoff series either! Shocking I know, but it looks like that greener grass over there is the same color. Again the numbers are similar, with Vokoun saving a little more that comes his way, but not enough to win games apparently. Yes, this year's playoff series for Bryzgalov was not very good, but neither was the team in front of him. Aside from Bryzgalov's stint in Anaheim, Bryzgalov hasn't had a team in front of him that can play a complete game. Nor has Vokoun to be fair, but he made those appearances in Nashville who have always played a defensive minded system. In Phoenix Bryzgalov won three playoff games in 09-10 series, while Vokoun has only three wins to his career.

When you break it down, there isn't much of a difference between the two goalies. "But what about the money," I hear you screaming at your computer screen. Alright, let's talk about the money. Is Ilya Bryzgalov getting too much money? You can certainly argue that he is, but after looking at the stats and resumes, Bryzgalov would've been the best free agent goalie on July 1. With the mandate handed down from up on high of Mt. Comcast, the Flyers were almost destined to overpay to make a goaltending controversy a thing of the past. Doubt that will actually solve anything for awhile, since it's Philadelphia, and you can't have hockey in Philadelphia without hearing about goaltending problems. However you want to look at it, Bryzgalov is the first, and best, clear cut number one goaltender they've had since Hextall in the late 80's. It's been something they've been searching for since 96-97 when the playoffs consisted of whoever played better the night before. The great and powerful Snider said it needs to stop, and for better or worse it has, and so the Flyers needed to pay. They would've "overpaid" whoever they ended up signing because they weren't going to be outbid. Similar to when Curtis Joseph and Felix Potvin were both UFAs, and the Flyers sign John Vanbiesbrouck instead. Yes Vokoun signed a 1.5 million dollar deal with Washington, but that was AFTER Colorado traded for the rights to Semyon Varlamov and signed Jean-Sebastian Giguere. It seems like Vokoun took the route of another former Flyers goaltender, Martin Biron, and priced himself out of the game. Looking at some of the "big name" goalie signings this July, it's not like last year. Dwayne Roloson signed for 3.5 million, and Mike Smith signed for 2 million. Vokoun had his eyes on a prize and it looks like he lost.