Recently, Mike Gillis and the Vancouver Canucks filed tampering charges against Brian Burke and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Before I get into the stupidity of tampering charges, I’d like to remind everyone that Gary Bettman and the NHL rarely do anything without 3-4 months of courtroom drama which ultimately leads to no decisions and takes far too long doing so. End result: no one really cares anyways. Good luck with the filings, Mike Gillis.
I don’t get Tampering.
It seems pretty silly to me.
I guess it started earlier this summer. The Toronto Maple Leafs pissed off the Gills and the Vancouver Canucks when coach Ron Wilson suggested Burke had interest in Daniel and Henrik Sedin (who at the time were scheduled to be unrestricted free agents on July 1st). I don’t really see what’s wrong with that. Aside from Burke’s obvious history with the Sedins (he did move mountains to draft both Sedins second and third overall at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft), the Leafs needed (and still need!!) high end offensive players and the Sedins are pretty damn good. Makes sense so far, right?
Instead of getting mad about Wilson’s comments or Burke’s intents, Mike Gills should of said, “Yeah, duhh” and moved on. Every GM probably wanted the Swedish twins. I don’t see a problem publicly stating that.
Then more recently (and ironically!!), Toronto’s official Leafs TV revealed Burke ousting a potential Vancouver Canucks-Tampa Bay Lightning trade at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. The rumored deal included Vancouver’s Kevin Bieksa, Alex Burrows and their 2009 22nd overall pick (Jordan Schroeder) for Tampa’s 2nd overall pick (Victor Hedman). Side note: Probably a good thing Tampa didn’t take the trade. Vancouver’s Team1040 has the actual clip, here.
Now, I really like Mike Gillis (read why here). But is this whole tampering thing a not-so-clever way to divert attention from the 0-3 Canucks and their poor start to the 2009-2010 NHL season?
Gills has reason to be upset about Burke outing players names in the trade mentioned above. Brian Burke is guilty of bad judgement – kind of a GM no-no. But it also shows others were in the know and told Burke.
I don’t see this as tampering. Perhaps poor judgement and brutal honesty are more reasonable accusations.
Before I end, I wanted to point out several points of stupidity in this mess:
- Why would Leafs TV release potentially damaging audio of their Presdient/CEO? Definite Career-Limiting-Move.
- Why would the Lightning/Canucks organizations not keep a tighter lid on this his profile trade? What does this say about their organizations?
- Would Mike Gillis have known about Burke’s ‘tampering act’ had it not been for Leafs TV?
- Every GM/Agent talk to each other prior to July 1st. How else do you think big dollar/long term deals are announced 1 minute into free agency?
- Aren’t the Canucks still under investigation by the NHL for the Roberto Luongo deal?
What a disaster. Glad I can still make fun of it.
Stay classy, NHL tamperers.
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The stupidity of these so called Tampering charges
October 7th, 2009Recently, Mike Gillis and the Vancouver Canucks filed tampering charges against Brian Burke and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Before I get into the stupidity of tampering charges, I’d like to remind everyone that Gary Bettman and the NHL rarely do anything without 3-4 months of courtroom drama which ultimately leads to no decisions and takes far too long doing so. End result: no one really cares anyways. Good luck with the filings, Mike Gillis.
I don’t get Tampering.
It seems pretty silly to me.
I guess it started earlier this summer. The Toronto Maple Leafs pissed off the Gills and the Vancouver Canucks when coach Ron Wilson suggested Burke had interest in Daniel and Henrik Sedin (who at the time were scheduled to be unrestricted free agents on July 1st). I don’t really see what’s wrong with that. Aside from Burke’s obvious history with the Sedins (he did move mountains to draft both Sedins second and third overall at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft), the Leafs needed (and still need!!) high end offensive players and the Sedins are pretty damn good. Makes sense so far, right?
Instead of getting mad about Wilson’s comments or Burke’s intents, Mike Gills should of said, “Yeah, duhh” and moved on. Every GM probably wanted the Swedish twins. I don’t see a problem publicly stating that.
Then more recently (and ironically!!), Toronto’s official Leafs TV revealed Burke ousting a potential Vancouver Canucks-Tampa Bay Lightning trade at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. The rumored deal included Vancouver’s Kevin Bieksa, Alex Burrows and their 2009 22nd overall pick (Jordan Schroeder) for Tampa’s 2nd overall pick (Victor Hedman). Side note: Probably a good thing Tampa didn’t take the trade. Vancouver’s Team1040 has the actual clip, here.
Now, I really like Mike Gillis (read why here). But is this whole tampering thing a not-so-clever way to divert attention from the 0-3 Canucks and their poor start to the 2009-2010 NHL season?
Gills has reason to be upset about Burke outing players names in the trade mentioned above. Brian Burke is guilty of bad judgement – kind of a GM no-no. But it also shows others were in the know and told Burke.
I don’t see this as tampering. Perhaps poor judgement and brutal honesty are more reasonable accusations.
Before I end, I wanted to point out several points of stupidity in this mess:
What a disaster. Glad I can still make fun of it.
Stay classy, NHL tamperers.
Add SC.net on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
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Posted in NHL Commentary, NHL Humour
Tags: Alex Burrows Brian Burke Daniel Sedin Gary Bettman Henrik Sedin Jordan Schroeder Kevin Bieksa Leafs TV Mike Gillis NHL Roberto Luongo Ron Wilson StayClassy.net Tampa Bay Lightning Toronto Maple Leafs Vancouver Canucks Victor Hedman