You know it is summer time. When is the last time that Brian Burke was quoted saying anything?
I’m sure the Toronto Maple Leafs General Manager hasn’t stopped talking period – but he’s clearly enjoying the off-season (or what passes for the off-season in hockey these days), as he’s said nothing recently regarding the potential trading of Tomas Kaberle.
That is about to change. The clock is ticking on yet another window of opportunity Burke has to deal Kaberle before his no-trade clause again takes effect, and that deadline is August 15. The wisdom out there is that the 32-year-old defenceman will be dealt, and he will likely be.
But in my mind, the entire Kaberle situation is a ‘can’t lose’ one for Burke, making it the only time Burke ‘can’t lose’ in any aspect regarding his team.
Look, Burke isn’t stupid. He’ll shop Kaberle around and if the deal is out there that will improve the team, he’ll make it. If there’s no deal, he won’t, that simple. And if he deals him and gets some good pieces back he wins – but if he doesn’t deal him, he still wins.
In this day and age, having a solid NHL defenceman on your roster who wants to play for your team is a good thing. There is nothing negative in this situation in my mind at all.
Kaberle has been the subject of trade rumours for about a decade now it seems, so there’s no distraction. The players like him, he’s still a very solid player and he handles all of the talk regarding his future well. So – where’s the downside? If he’s dealt in the next week it’ll be because the Leafs feel they got stronger and if he doesn’t, the Leafs still have a very solid defenceman on their roster who they can still deal at the trade deadline if all parties agree.
The Leafs want to be a contender in the next few years. If trading Kaberle helps them get to that status faster, great. But if the Leafs do get there I can tell you they will be looking for a veteran defenceman to be a big part of the final push, a good team guy and a guy who can still play and WANTS to play in the fishbowl that is Toronto hockey.
In other words, they’ll be looking for a Tomas Kaberle. They already have a Tomas Kaberle.
Don’t see how Brian Burke can lose on this one. Trade him or keep him, he has a piece of the puzzle in place for the franchise moving forward. In fact, they might be better off in the short term and long term just hanging on to him.
Either way, expect to hear from Brian Burke soon – as in any minute now. Summer is about to end pretty quickly in regards to his talking habits.
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May 20-29, 2011 seems a long way away, but in regards to the 2011 Memorial Cup, it’s not a long way away at all.
Those are the dates of this year’s Memorial Cup tournament, which takes place at the Hershey Centre in Mississauga and plans are already in full flight to make sure it’s a memorable tournament.
It certainly is a crucial one for local fans and in the coming months I’ll be talking a lot about it in this space. At the moment only season ticket holders of the host Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors (both current and new) can order tickets for the tournament.
So if you want to guarantee seats for the event, which is definitely going to sell out, better contact the Majors now. When – and if – ticket packages for the tournament only go on sale, I’ll certainly advise you in this space.
One thing is already for sure – there will be no individual game tickets available for the Cup, so if you want tickets (capacity is just 5,501), you’ll need to get a package. I’ll have more details in the coming weeks but for now, for more information on ticket packages visit
www.stmichaelsmajors.com or contact the ticket office by phone at 905-502-7788 EXT. 1.
Just nine months to go until the best junior hockey teams in the country come to the Toronto area for the first time in tournament history. Really looking forward to it – and you don’t want to miss this.