Blue And White Beat: To boo or not boo?
If you voiced your displeasure at Dion Phaneuf’s brain cramp on Saturday night, you raised the ire of the Leafs General Manager.
Calling out the fans who booed the Leafs captain during the team’s home loss to the NY Rangers, Brian Burke provided his own retort, in defence of his prize acquisition obtained from the Calgary Flames just over nine months ago:
“I think all the time I worked in Vancouver I don’t think I ever had a player booed. I think it’s really unfair to Dion, because of the other things he’s brought. The mistakes he’s makes generally happen when we’re behind and he’s trying to make something happen.
“I think he’s given us solid defensive zone coverage, he’s almost single-handedly changed the attitude of our team and the culture of our team. I think it’s unfair, and frankly I think it’s a disgrace.”
Of course, an ill-advised attempted cross-ice pass like the one Phaneuf attempted, which incited the booing, hardly qualifies as solid defensive zone coverage. Phaneuf’s gaffe, one which coaches instill players to avoid at even a minor league level, was picked off by Rangers forward Ryan Callahan, forcing a takedown by Phil Kessel that led to an eventual penalty shot goal for New York.
So perhaps Burke should give the platinum-price paying customers a mulligan on that one. (Or maybe a golf analogy is also a taboo subject, given that the Leafs have been booking tee times in early April for the past five seasons and counting).
There was actually a more exemplary instance of disgraceful booing at Air Canada Centre on Tuesday night. The incident took the usual raspberries reserved for Senators captain and long-time Leafs nemesis Daniel Alfredsson to a different level.
A classless individual booed Alfredsson as he skated to centre ice for a ceremonial faceoff with Phaneuf, in the middle of Remembrance Day tributes at Air Canada Centre.
The poignant tribute which featured several veterans and a moving reading of “In Flanders Fields” was marred only by the jackass who likely has no appreciation of how the lifestyle that allows him to jeer in the comfort of a luxury seat, or live in a home (assuming it’s not a cave), came to be.
As Burke himself opined. “I think when you buy a ticket, if you want to boo you can boo, as long as it’s not profane or homophobic or racial.”
You can add “inappropriate rudeness while honouring war vets” to the list.
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Phaneuf left Tuesday’s game with a leg injury after colliding with Senators forward Peter Regin. Brett Lebda will available for Toronto’s game in Washington on Wednesday in the event that Phaneuf can’t play.
Hey Rob.
I didn’t see the start of the game to hear the idiot booing. I would have dumped an overpriced beer on him. There is a time and a place for everything. That wasn’t it!
I disagree with Burke about booing Phaneuf. People pay a LOT of money to go to a Leafs game. If an overpayed professional athelet is going to make a very minor league, amateur mistake like that, it’s game on for booing! Suck it up and don’t be stupid the next time you get the puck!!
Everyone makes mistakes. Do you actually think the players don’t TRY?? Come on! If I were a player and my own fans booed me, I wouldn’t want to play for a city with so much negativity. Do you actually think the players will play better if they were getting booed?? Not every team wins EVERY game! Relax Toronto FANS!!!!!
Yeah right….now Burke gets to tell the fans what they should think??!! BUrke should get his head out of his rectal cavity and stop trying to control everything from the media to the fans. Truth is Burke is simply trying to justify his overrated move of acquiring Phangoof in the first place, then complicating it by making the Calgary Locker room problem the Captain in hogtown… How does that work ?
What leaf fans ( and I’ve been one for 50 years) have a right to MR BURKE is to BOO stupid play, and to point out bad management since we’ve suffered through more than our share.
Phangoof was pathetic against Philly and has almost lowered his standard of play to the level it was here in Calgary. He’s not the highest IQ player on the ice, but usually can compensate via talent which he does have to a degree. But to simply overlook stupid plays when they are a norm (lately) more than an anomoly, would mean the fans are supposed to ignore the obvious and bow to the superiority of Burke’s astounding intelligence. WRONG !
IMO Phaneuf is a decent defenseman with the potential to be a very good one and earn the 7 mill he’s making. He’s not my idea of a Captain no matter how much he yells and screams or how competitive he may be. Leadership is more about sacrifice and doing the right thing than it is about trying to make the highlight reels. Phaneuf is looking for the later more often than he should.
Burke won’t ever admit that he’s already made a few dreadful errors and has basically hung his hat on the phaneuf trade and signing up some above average free agents. This hides the truth about overpaying for Kessel ( no way that trade goes down without an exclusion of a top 10 pick) and Versteeg. Stahlberg should never have been included in that deal!! He has more upside than Versteeg and they were already giving away a first rounder (Paradis) and good potential in Didomenico. IF they had to add someone it should have been a later draft pick or some other ahl er but not stalberg. How is it that Atlanta got more for less than Toronto gave for Versteeg? Wasn’t Burke aware that CHIcAGO HAD to move salary ? Hardly the time to overpay.
In fact when you evaluate Burke’s work to date it’s hardly spectacular. It’s more about hiding mistakes by pointing to potential wins.
The leafs paid steeply for Beauchemin, Komasarik, and Armstrong none of whom are worth what their paid. The only win in my opinion was Kulemin. They keep trying to trade Kaberle but I’m not sure why – he at least knows how to get the puck out of the zone and is creative offensively. The idea that Phaneuf is an offensive dynamo is misconcieved and based on a season he enjoyed nearly 3 years ago. He doesn’t hit the net with any consistency, so having a big shot is hardly a factor. His hockey sense is questionable at times especially when he forfeits position to make the big hit. In many ways its a situation similar to Wade Redden who had a couple good years in Ottawa, fell off the mark and never came back to play at the level he’d achieved. Could Phaneuf be experiencing the same shift in effectiveness??
As for Wilson, i’m not sure he’s the right guy for the job given his propensity for belittling players, which isn’t the best thing for developing young guys. Here’s a “great coach” who’s team ranks last in all special teams categories and in goals against last year. Humm…..isn’t that a measure of coaching? And why is it always the players who are the problem? Steen and Coliacovo seem to do well enough, and the return on that stupid ( fletcheR) trade – Stempniak- only proved he wasn’t worth the 3.5 he was making.The only good thing the leafs accomplished in signing Burke was moving Fletcher who would have undoubtedly caused even more damage than Burke long term.
Ok so I’ve vented! but really I haven’t even scratched the surface. I’m once again watching the leaf management Making the same mistakes the previous managers made, while they try to feed me the bull that it’s all good! Rebuilding without high draft picks only works when you have a wealth of solid prospects in the program, and solid depth in the big league line up. It’s the talented vets that take the prospects to new heightsm, but it’s not the case when the talent level isn’t up to snuff. This means Toronto unfortunately. “barely losing” still IS losing!
Bottom line is I’m not sure what this team will accomplish this year but i’m pretty sure they aren’t going to win any cup. And not having that 1st pick again next year means another 2=3 year delay in the rebuild. Let’s face it Burke isn’t great at trades. Even if you count Phanoof as a win the cost was some scoring that is now sorely missing. GOing forward I don’t anticipate a quick turnaround and since the team isn’t far off the cap now, there isn’t a lot of room to manoeuver to greater heights through trades or picking up other teams’ discards…..so if the fans want to BOO substandard performances of 7 million dollar players I think they are well within their ($ 200/ game or more) rights. SO if anyone should close it it’s you Burke!
Ron Wilson is a terrible coach. Burkes friendship with is going to keep the Leafs down. Leafs have decent players, but Wilson is terrible at motivating them. PLEASE PLEASE fire him. If not, I have a tee time in April, need a fourth.