Will Burke work?

Nice to see the NHL awards moving up the ladder of importance on the NA pro sports scene, moving to Vegas. Now if only someone in the entertainment capital of the world other than a hockey player or a puck bunny gave a shit? I guess you could've said the same thing when the show was in Toronto.

Speaking of hockey's mecca (minus its biggest hardware handout), now is the time for Brian Burke to shine. So much hype, so much said and promised, BB had better get busy doing the right things to get his stagnant club back into the sphere of relevance. Yes, I believe he's already started the process, but he knows as much as we do that it's all about the "big kaboom" kind of move, signing and or trade, especially in the big sschmoke. This is a guy touted to be able to sell a "Ketchup Popsicle" to a woman in white gloves, the least he can do is sell a wide-eyed Swedish goalie on the merits and potential of playing in Toronto. I'm waiting and expecting to hear good news on this one. Joe Nieuwendyk and the Stars are also in the mix for Mr. Gustavsson's services so it won't be a slam dunk, but surely BB's got an ace up his sleeve to land this guy. Right?

One Swede is better than two for the Leafs right now. I'll say it again: they should stay away from the Sedin twins. We can debate whether these guys are the right fit on the ice, but the ridiculous contracts they're reportedly after are definately a tough sell around here. The money, 5'ish plus, appears manageable, but over 12 years? Each? It's laughable. Hey, you can't blame a player in his prime for trying to get as much as he can for as long as he can. You can however fault a general manager for jumping in and signing off on such severe terms. And yet it's something we'll most likely be witness to later this summer when at least one GM gets suckered into okaying a massive, possibly disastrous contract by a crafty agent and the false promise of his overachieving client. The process of handing out of huge deals over years and years has persisted and will continue even with what's supposed to be a diminishing salary cap on the horizon. It's just so hard to resist, it's just the way many NHL GM's do (bad) business. Here's hoping BB isn't one of them. We take the Leafs head honcho for a lot of things (big mouth, hypocrite), but a sucker isn't one of them.