MUPPET VS MUPPET

Ok, so this morning a Sens fan, his comment directed at you Muppet, said that Burke "put Vancouver in a funk for the better part of decade". Is that true?

Well, it depends on who you ask: some dude sounding off because he hates everything remotely linked to the Leafs? Or, facts?

Door number two big man!

Facts it is. Well, lets go back a decade shall we, when Burke had just taken over a last place Vancouver team that missed the playoffs 3 straight years before his first full season as GM.

Right. So they weren't very good?

And they would get even worse during Burke's first in command. 23 wins. Just awful. But it turned out to be a transition year.

A transition to what my good man?

Four straight years making the playoffs for one. Plus rising from 7th in the Pacific before he got there, steadily up to 1st on the Northeast his final season as GM. Along the way he dealt with trading contract holdout Pavel Bure, and of course swapping out the entire management and coaching staff and most of the players - and drafting the Sedins thanks to that one awful first year as GM.

Kind of reminds me of what he's up against here. But wait a minute, we're talking about how he allegedly screwed the Canucks for a decade and he left them in 2005. Let me guess, he left the Canucks with a bare cupboard when he was fired?

Vancouver has had a 1st round draft pick EVERY SEASON since Burke came on as GM right up until this past draft. Not many teams can say that. So he left the future intact in that regard. As far as salary cap, Nonis had cap room to bring in new players his first summer on the job and the Canucks were considered a serious contender their first season post-Burke. So they didn't resemble anything close to what the Leafs looked like post-lockout. On paper anyway.

How did that season work out and what about since then?

Well they never won a cup with Burke, but it got worse as they missed the playoffs two straight years after he left. That whole Bertuzzi/Moore thing destroyed the "west coast express line" and the team failed miserably. Naslund became quite ordinary once Bertuzzi was a non-factor. Eventually Bertuzzi was traded for Luongo, a move that has put the Canucks back on track and well on their way to a 2nd playoff appearance in a row.

Wow. Did Burke make that trade as well?

Nope that was a guy named Dave Nonis.

Nice friggen move. Man, somebody should hire this Nonis guy for their management team, and fast?

Not a bad idea Muppet. Not a bad idea at all.