We can all agree that Brian Burke has definitely put his stamp on the Toronto Maple Leafs since becoming General Manager about a year and a half ago. Whether it be through the draft, free agency, or trades Burke seems to favour North American players.
I am by no means saying the Burke dislikes European players. We're not talking about Don Cherry here. Burke has shown that he respects talent in any shape or form by signing players like Jonas Gustavsson, Jussi Rynnas, and Marcel Mueller. He also took three European players in the 2010 draft, including Sondre Olden, Petter Granberg, and Daniel Brodin.
Other than skill, Brian Burke admires hockey players who have other important attributes including size, toughness, character and leadership. He has historically found these kinds of elements in North American players, especially ones found on the Stanley Cup winning 2006-07 Anaheim Ducks, a team he had a big hand in building.
I recently researched how many full-time North American players were on each of the Stanley Cup winning teams since the NHL lockout. The numbers may surprise you, and in my opinio ...
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Article written by Drew West
Toronto Maple Leafs: Brian Burke Building a North American Team
August 30th, 2010 by Drew West Leave a reply »
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