The Tomas Kaberle potential trade situation appears to be coming down to the wire. This seemingly never ending story will come to an end tomorrow night at midnight one way or the other, but as it stands right now there really isn’t anything new to report.
We will be following the situation closely, and will update any situation that occurs, but for now we wait…
For all the Maple Leaf fans out there, I sure hope Brian Burke knows what he’s doing here. I would think that keeping Kaberle after all of this, and extending his contract beyond next year, isn’t really an option anymore. All the talk of “being professional” and “it’s just business” is just that, talk.
You have to think that Kaberle has already left Toronto emotionally, and to bring him back next season and expect him to be “professional”, is ridiculous.
How would you feel if you were in the same position with your career? You can say that it’s part of being a professional athelete, that it come’s with the territory when you make all that money, but that’s niave. See, once you make all that money it becomes less important, financial worries take a backseat to other concerns, concerns that the majority of the public ignore while focusing on making money themselves.
Respect, Loyalty, Legacy, etc… These are all currencies to appeal to athletes who already have money to give more to the team. How else do you get a bunch of millionaire’s to block 100 mph slapshots with their bodies? I’m not suggesting that Kaberle was the leagues best shot-blocker of course, but there is no doubt that whatever intangibles the Maple Leafs were getting from the man behind the professional died this summer.
With this in mind, I’m inclined to think Tomas Kaberle will be moved tomorrow at some point, the big question will be whether or not Brian Burke get’s the big return he’s been seeking.
#1 by Jeff at August 14th, 2010
If it were another GM, people would talk about how unprofessional the team has handled this. For some reason, Burke gets a free pass.
#2 by duggy at August 15th, 2010
dont worry, burke will screw this up too…he is over confident and plays a lot of games….he must learn that he is not playing a game but doing a job…he will evetually go down as the worst gm in history after the leafs finnish around last place again…i hope my fav team never hires him…in that case i will become a leafs fan…!
#3 by JoonasJ at August 15th, 2010
I wish just for Kaberles sake that he finds a new home soon. Burkes way to handle this is seriously unprofessional.
#4 by Brad at August 15th, 2010
Yeah, not as if Burke has ever assembled a winning team or Stanley Cup champion.
#5 by Joseph at August 15th, 2010
Agree with Brad’s sarcasm. I certainly can’t imagine a Stanley Cup Winning GM going down as the worst of all time. I think he’s a good GM who’s unfortunately played this situation pretty badly.
#6 by vancitydan at August 15th, 2010
Ummm…Brad? Brian Murray constructed most of that team. All Burke did was have Pronger fall in his lap thx to Prong’s wife FFS!
Here in Vancouver we know a bit about Burke. He is the good and the bad. The goos was getting the Twins, and some occasional darts at the board drafting that turned out. But more that did not. He let Umberger go over 200K because he likes the spotlight.
He has played the Kaberle thing atrociously. The player is probably secretly seething. Every move is released to the media!
Burke is a personality. But he is not some magical GM prophet to lead the Leafs out of the desert. His hockey moves are uneven.
So, you guys don’t have too much to be sarcastic about unless you are Duck fans. He hasn’t done much with the Leafs yet.
Sorry.
#7 by crankybull at August 15th, 2010
Tomas kaberle needs to be traded for the best offer…. even if it’s just a bag of pucks.
The situation will only get worse once the season starts if he is still in a Leafs uniform.
#8 by Joseph at August 15th, 2010
I agree with Crankybull, take the best offer. The Leafs won’t contend next year regardless, so better to take SOMETHING for him than letting him walk at the end of the season. He’s gone, whether it’s this offseason or the next, so it’s Burke’s choice. Lose Kaberle for something, or lose him for nothing.
#9 by Brad at August 15th, 2010
Look at Vancouvers point totals in Burke’s regime, pretty damn impressive….. Numbers talk…
#10 by ryaneast at August 15th, 2010
Burke will pull this late trade off and every person who is a leafs fan will like this trade, I have faith in Brian Burke. and for those who think Burke is a bad gm, you are just plain dumb.
#11 by vancitydan at August 15th, 2010
Brad…did we win? We know what having great regular season teams…its old hat now.
Check out some of his deals.
http://www3.telus.net/dmarchak/candraft.htm#2003
For every Pavel trade is yet more picks sent away for guys that were 2 months and gone.
You just can’t keep doing that.
Gillis has our system deeper than either Nonis or Burke ever did.