Archive for category Howard Berger

Give Burke A Chance… For Two More Years

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on March 8, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER TORONTO (Mar. 8) – If there is one aspect of day-to-day existence that has vehemently betrayed Brian Burke during his tenure as GM of the Maple Leafs, it is timing. Well beyond hockey, we can only imagine Double-B pondering how things may have turned out for his family had son, Brendan, been driving in clear weather back [...]

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Now Comes The Hard Part

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on March 3, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER TORONTO (Mar. 3) – Brian Burke’s obliteration of the John Ferguson-era Maple Leafs is nearing its spectacular end, with one remaining task to be completed over the summer. This thorough and remarkable tear-down has been accomplished in less than two full seasons. It is astounding to realize that 33 players dressed for the [...]

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No Denying Miller’s Influence Today

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on February 28, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER VANCOUVER (Feb. 28) – The men’s hockey tournament here at the 2010 Winter Olympics proved indiscriminate after Russia, Sweden and the Czech Republic were sent packing in the playoff quarterfinals. Few hockey observers on the planet expected that triumvirate to be absent from the final four. Less astounding, to be sure, is the [...]

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Tough Goalie Decisions Are Common

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on February 22, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER RICHMOND, B.C. (Feb. 22) – The goaltending judgement Team Canada coach Mike Babcock encountered today was central to the men’s hockey tournament here at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, but it should not be viewed with historic implication. For as long as the game has been played – in the NHL and internationally – coaches [...]

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Nothing Wrong With Olympic Hockey Intrigue

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on February 20, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER RICHMOND, B.C. (Feb. 20) – While hockey flag-wavers from coast-to-coast in this country are a bundle of nerves today, I find it incredibly alluring that some actual competition has broken out in the preliminary round of the Olympic men’s tournament. Anticipated romps by Canada over Switzerland and Russia over Slovakia on Thursday did not [...]

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The Courage And Character Of Brian Burke

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on February 15, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER VANCOUVER (Feb. 14) — I am not certain right now, nor may I ever fully understand, where Brian Burke is getting his strength from these days. Just more than one week after encountering the most difficult, painful and potentially debiliating circumstance imaginable — the death of a child — Brian has somehow shown [...]

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Broadcasting The Winter Olympics

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on February 12, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER RICHMOND, B.C. (Feb. 12) — If you are old enough to remember Team Canada sweeping hockey gold at the Salt Lake City Olympics, you might be wondering where the past eight years have gone. I know I shake my head more often than I care to admit at the unrelenting passage of time. Here [...]

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Broadcasting The Winter Olympics

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on February 12, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER RICHMOND, B.C. (Feb. 12) — If you are old enough to remember Team Canada sweeping hockey gold at the Salt Lake City Olympics, you might be wondering where the past eight years have gone. I know I shake my head more often than I care to admit at the unrelenting passage of time. Here [...]

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Broadcasting The Winter Olympics

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on February 12, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER RICHMOND, B.C. (Feb. 12) — If you are old enough to remember Team Canada sweeping hockey gold at the Salt Lake City Olympics, you might be wondering where the past eight years have gone. I know I shake my head more often than I care to admit at the unrelenting passage of time. Here [...]

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There Are No Words…

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on February 5, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER TORONTO (Feb. 5) — As a father, I don’t know that I can summon an adequate way to impart the sadness I am feeling right now for Maple Leafs’ president and general manager Brian Burke. You just wonder: How can Brendan Burke be gone? For those that aren’t aware, the youngest son of the Leafs’ [...]

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The Gift Of Credentials

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on February 3, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER TORONTO (Feb. 3) — You can call it “just one night” if you wish, and it may, indeed, turn out to be an illusion. But, the calm, workmanlike manner in which the Maple Leafs dispatched the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday seemed to offer more than a brief pause of inadequacy. No suggestion, here, [...]

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D-Day for Komisarek

Posted by David Alter in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on February 3, 2010

By: David Alter Out the past month with a shoulder injury, it should be known soon what Mike Komisarek’s status will be for the season and Olympics. Komisarek will undergo further tests, but at practise today he did take some physical contact which he hadn’t done before “I’m trying to make my case” Komisarek said when talking about the rough [...]

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Attention Shifts To Giguere

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on February 2, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER TORONTO (Feb. 2) — The most intriguing element of Brian Burke’s roster demolition on the weekend was clearly the acquisition of still-young defenseman Dion Phaneuf, and the vast potential he provides a Leaf team down the road in concert with Phil Kessel, Jonas Gustavsson, and [perhaps] Tyler Bozak and Nazem Kadri. The massive, [...]

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Good Work, But More To Be Done

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on February 1, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER  TORONTO (Feb. 1) – Though the roster overhaul engineered on the weekend by Brian Burke was timely, necessary, potentially rewarding and breathtaking in scope, it has shifted immediate responsibility to a neophyte segment of the hockey club. The Maple Leafs’ general manager is acutely aware that he cannot possibly trade six players in one [...]

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Leafs Announcement At 11:30 a.m.

Posted by Howard Berger in Howard Berger, Uncategorized on January 31, 2010

By HOWARD BERGER TORONTO (Jan. 31) — A team source has confirmed to me this morning that the Maple Leafs will execute some kind of transaction later today. General manager Brian Burke has called a media gathering for 11:30 a.m. at the Air Canada Centre to make the announcement. Whether or not it falls into the category [...]

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