Brian Burke fired because of personality conflict?

The firing of Brian Burke as General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs appears to because he was not corporate enough for the team’s new ownership.

During the January 9 press conference announcing Leafs’ Assistant GM Dave Nonis as Burke’s replacement, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) president and chief operating officer Tom Anselmi cited the fact that the Leafs have not made the playoffs in each of the four seasons that Burke has been the GM was a big part of the decision. 

However, when pressed by reporters on the reasons of the firing, Anselmi seemed rather cavalier in his explanation of the reasons why the MLSE Board decided to dismiss Burke. “At the end of the day,” said Anselmi, “we were looking for a different voice and leadership approach.” On the NHL on TSN, host James Duthie suggested that Burke’s outspokenness and flamboyant style may not have been a good fit with MLSE’s new corporate ownership group led by Bell and Rogers. Conversely, this has been suggested why Bryan Colangelo, the GM of the NBA's Toronto Raptors, is still employed by MLSE despite having a less successful track record than Burke in their tenures in Toronto. In my opinion, this is a reason why corporate entities should not own sports teams. Plain and simple. But as NHL on TSN analyst Michael Johnson aptly stated: if the company doesn't like him, it's their prerogative to fire him."

The Burke firing brings up a couple of questions:

1. Why wait to make this announcement on the day that the NHL Board of Governors are going to ratify the new Collective Bargaining Agreement that was agreed upon between the NHL owners and NHL Players Association on Sunday, January 6 which ended a 113-day NHL lockout.

2. Why has Burke agreed to continue with MLSE as the title of Senior Advisor to Anselmi and the Board? NHL on TSN insider Darren Dreger suggests there is more to this story. Stay tuned.