CU2M2J4XPM9Z
Ok, Brian Burke - time to step up and pull the trigger. Ron Wilson's tenure in Toronto most certainly has to be finished now. Losing to Buffalo 3-2 was bad - made worse by the fact that all three Buffalo goals were on the powerplay further emphasising Wilson's inability to put out an effective unit of penalty killers. I'm trying not to harp on it, but the Leafs players aren't THAT bad! They are a bottom six or seven team, but they aren't an expansion team - no team should be so miserable on the penalty kill based on a lack of skill. It is purely mental now and the coach can't fix it. It is costing games regularly. Wilson absolutely must go now - if the Leafs continue to bumble along until after the Olympics and THEN Burke fires Wilson, I would be the first to vote for firing Burke next. He would simply have not been firing Wilson to allow him to save face running the US Olympic team.
Burke is in all sorts of strife in my books. If the Leafs finish bottom five and somehow come out with the #1 pick and that goes to Boston, Burke is done. You would absolutely have to fire him. Taylor Hall, another first rounder and a second rounder for Phil Kessel is getting fleeced. I like Kessel and I think he'll be an all-star one day (on merit, not just because each team needs a rep), but Taylor Hall AND two more picks would be a bad deal.
Burke either needs to punt Wilson now and get a new bench staff or bring in some troops to help them out. Why not bring a guy like Dominic Moore back - he'd cost nothing to acquire I'd bet and he can penalty kill. He might even bring back some scoring touch to Jason Blake. Bringing in someone with a scoring touch might not hurt - someone like Jonathan Cheechoo who wouldn't cost alot, has scored in the NHL and is willing to go to the net.
Something has got to give. While it might be impossible in today's NHL with the salary cap to make big trades, it isn't impossible to shake things up by bringing in a new coach.
Comments