Burke’s fingerprints were all over the Leafs’ 4-2 win against the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Kessel did not score, but Joffrey Lupul and James van Riemsdyk — players that Burke had traded for — both had goals as the Eastern Conference-leading Leafs extended their winning streak to three games. The win was yet another reminder of how exactly this team was built. Of the 20 players in Toronto’s lineup on Wednesday night, nine came from the trade route. Of those, all but two were from the Burke era — not to mention the fact that he also hired head coach Randy Carlyle and drafted Nazem Kadri and Morgan Rielly. Burke’s trade history was worth revisiting on Wednesday, if only because the man who pulled off the many heists is now trying to work his magic as the Flames’ president of hockey operations. A word of advice to the 29 other GMs in the league: if Burke’s name shows up on call display, let the call go straight to voicemail. After all, it was not just Kessel that Burke struck oil on. He fleeced Dion Phaneuf (tied for fourth in the NHL with a plus-10 rating) in a seven-player deal that netted Calgary a bunch of spare parts; acquired Lupul (122 points in 103 games with the Leafs) and defenceman Jake Gardiner (named to the All-Rookie Team in 2011-12) from Anaheim in exchange for Francois Beauchemin; pried Cody Franson (tied for first amongst defencemen with nine assists) from Nashville for two players who never played a single game for the Predators; and landed van Riemsdyk (seven goals and 13 points) in a trade for Luke Schenn. Not sure the source... I think from the Star.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 14:53:26 +0000
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