So Brian Burke goes postal on Brady and Watters and when you listen to the interview you are left with the impression that something had Burke riled up before he even picked up the phone to do the interview. So of course, inquiring minds want to know what got him so pissed off. Well, it says here that Burke is antsy. All around the league shit is happening and like in the Rod Stewart song, “there’s none for me”. Burke can see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, the start of his time to shine, but it is still 3 weeks away. Teams are making coaching changes, he isn’t about to do that. Teams are making GM moves, he isn’t going to do that. Teams are signing superstars to long term deals, he can’t do that. Burke’s hands are tied by mother time and there is nothing he can do about it. It’s frustrating to me as a fan, it’s got to be driving him nuts. I mean how many times can you call a fellow GM and say, you ready to deal yet?? It was one thing a month ago, now the clock has turned June and well, it’s still hurry up and wait time.
Add to that the fact that Joe Nieuwendyk is gone, he still hasn’t landed the Monster and Burke is going to be cranky. Anyone else notice the quote from him yesterday that he is certain Nonis will be gone next off season??? Interesting comment given the fact that Burke has already allegedly deny one team the right to speak to Nonis this off-season. NHL contracts end later this month so Burke will have to decide what he is doing with the likes of Jeff Jackson and the rest of his management team and scouts, so that should be interesting too. It says here that there will be changes in that department in addition to the countless roster changes Burke is going to make.
Is it me, or does Gary Bettman become less and less likable each time he either appears publicly or speaks publicly. I have made my position clear. Bettman is a bold faced liar. He looked the public in the face and said things that were totally false about the state of one of his teams. He may have had reasons for doing so, but a liar he is nevertheless. Therefore, each time I hear that voice, I turn the channel. I bought it once, I don’t buy it this time.
So, Bettman was on with Richie Rich MacLean and Jack Armstrong yesterday afternoon. He, once again got off easy. A caller today, I am told called MacLean and Armstrong and voiced his displeasure with their “weak” questioning of the commish especially on the whole honesty issue. So, the hosts apparently got very defensive and basically made the point that they weren’t going to bring someone on of Bettman’s stature and call him a liar. The caller, I am told, didn’t take that answer well and was persistent to the point where the call ended with the hosts saying, sarcastically that they would be sure to have the caller in studio the next time the commissioner is on the air. So, here is my take. Good radio hosts know how to do the dance. Don’t slam a person when he is off the air and kiss their ass when they are on it. You lose credibility when you do that. Mccown used to be famous for it. He would bash the hell out of someone off the air and then when they came on treat them like they were the best of friends. In this instance, MacLean should have given the Commissioner the opportunity to discuss why he lied to the public. I understand that you don’t invite someone into your home and call them names, but you have to have some integrity. I didn’t hear the call, it isn’t on the website. Whomever you are caller….good on you.
Speaking of callers, who was the dipstick who called Brady’s show and suggested that it was high time Burke got fired??????? When asked for a name to replace Burke, Einstein for Etobicoke said anyone from the Detroit organization! You wonder why some of these guys hate to take calls…
MacLean, by the way was LOVED when I lived in Miami back in the day. People were genuially upset when he left. Bill Torrey(I love how the papers still refer to him as the architect of the New York Islander Stanley Cup Teams- like he hasn’t done anything since!) was around in those days and certainly will be calling Doug for a chat about the vacant Florida job. I wonder if the powers that be at the Fan could be any happier at the prospect of Maclean going back to his role as GM?
Credit to Damien for not pulling down his blog post of yesterday morning suggesting that perhaps the Canadiens were going to go out of the box with a Russian head coach. It hit my RSS reader well after the Jacques Martin story broke.
Hope you all liked the TSM take feature we started today, look for more stuff like that in the future. Also, Dan’s basbeall chat was awesome- if you haven’t listened to it yet you should.
TSM
