This is the smartest thing I've ever heard Brian Burke say

For once, I agree with Brian Burke. Sometimes you have to look yourself in the mirror and change the way you play the game! Either you're ready and you've come to play, or you're just not that committed to winning.

Reality is Matthews isn’t a complete player yet. He isn’t top 5 in NHL. He needs to get better defensively

Another video of Toronto media with their heads up where the sun don’t shine being brought back down to earth by Burke.

I was never a fan of Brian Burk. But this time around, he really makes sense.

“The money we pay these guys...they god damn well better be ready to play” That’s a great line 👍🏻

Can't believe I m going to say this but I 100% agree with Brian Burke! And it feels yucky!!!

I think Brian Burke should be the backup goalie for Tarana.

Why Sportsnet and media first and foremost always want to blame someone? Maple Leafs will play better in a couple of weeks. There´s no need to panic what so ever.

Bottom line folks. You pay these kids top dollar... then they better be ready to play against opposing top lines... burke is absolutely right in what he's saying....

at 10:00 the best answer I heard in a long...long...time. bravo.

I'm just worried that some of the younger players are showing signs of quitting on Babcock or at the very least showing a lack of hunger on the ice.

The other night I saw Hab defenceman Petri hammer Leaf's Mathews at Hab blue line and no Leaf said boo to Petri. That's a BIG problem.

I never thought I'd say this but I totally agree with Burke. The problem with the Leafs is the star forwards aren't getting the job done. Marner has caused as many goals as he's created and Matthews disappears in tough games

Oh come on, Matthews could be much better defensively, but he's not trying hard enough. He just let guys blow past him. Marner's line need to be hard on the puck, keep it inside the blueline, and Matthews just isn't doing enough for that to happen. Nor is he coming back quick enough to help out at the net. I have seen him on some nights when he seems angry and pumped up, but it just hasn't happened recently. So we know he can do it, but he is not.

The two guys in the studio represent all of us who haven't stepped on NHL ice in their life. Burke here tells it from a perspective of someone who knows the in and outs of the game, knows what he's talking about. They watch hollywood movies and think coaches need to read the riot act before each game

Leafs nation is insane right now. This team has played the most back to backs to start the season, they have about 8 or 9 new players who have to learn to mesh with their new teammates. 3 solid injuries to key players and some how they've still won more than theyve lost but everyone is acting like theyre 0-11-0 to start the season....Did I forget to mention it's OCTOBER?!?!? Let's all relax a bit here and let this team try and work through this EARLY season struggle. This reaction should be saved for if they miss the playoffs or i they get bounced in round 1 again.

Drowning young players in money doesn't make them confident and mature, it takes time and pressure in Toronto doesnt help. 3/4 of their top most payed players are young and quite inexperienced in the NHL, as Burke said Tavares has been worth every penny, but he is mature player and confident.

Burk is right. These high priced Baby's are so cottled these Days and None of them gave the Leafs any Break in Price when doing their contract, They were all in it only for themselves. What is Babs supposed to do put the skates on himself? Maybe have better Luck, Bring back Clark, Sittler and the others that played for nothing compared to now and they sure as hell showed up every Game! If they don't play and make the effort, see you in the press Box!

Just a reminder that st Louis was supposed to be done last year and won the cup anything can happen

I'd have to see the stats to back up what Burke is saying about the goaltender alternating thing, but it seems to me that the past couple years if the back to back opponents were both good there was a lot of times Freddie would play both games. I mean he has played the most games of any goalie the last few years somehow.

I don't agree that Freddie is the goalie they need. No doubt he makes some great saves, but he's not consistent when he does let goals in they are generally very weak and the result of him mishandling the puck or rebounds and at the worst times. There have been so many weak goals at bad times where you can see the leafs building up only to be let down by a weak goal. They will never raise a cup as long as Anderson is their guy.

While i definitely agree that the players are mostly at fault, I still feel a coaching change is for the greater good. I think they need to try approaching the game with different strategies and new ideas.Honestly it feels like they are too predictable. Trying a new coach might do wonders for this team.If not ...then whats the worst that can happen? I’m pretty sure this group is talented enough to make the playoffs without a coach at all. Its a small risk move of you ask me. Ask the Blues management if they regret making that gamble last year.Last to Champs

More Truculence and more trading 2 first rounders for Phil Kessel.. Thats what the team needs!!!

The problem with the Leafs is they aren’t built to play the way Babcock wants them to play. In my opinion he’s not the right coach.

Fire Dubas and bring back Burkie!!!

I have to comment this somewhere. Why do these guys continue to parrot the narrative that Andersen's a top 5 goalie? He's just not. There's 5 goalies better than him in the East ALONE. Just because he plays in Toronto does not mean he is a Vezina caliber goalie. He's average. Sometimes above average. But he doesn't steal the Leafs games, can't steal them a series and he's frankly over rated by the Toronto media. Hard.

As a life long coach, he's one of a few who make sense......

How many backroom rumblings has there been about Babcock over the years? How many people IN the game like this guy? Or hate his guts? Where there's smoke there's likely fire and what he did to Spezza to start the season is indicative that this guy is a bit of a jerk and the dressing room is likely growing tired of it. Blame the players, fine...but Burke forgets to ask THE most important question: WHY aren't the players stepping up?

Totally. I think its 60% Dubas, 30% players and 10% Babs. Dubas 60% because he doesn't have the right mix of players. (sure we have heavy speed and skill, but little to no grit, character, defensive shut down mindset and back up) 30% players because they rarely play a 60 minute focused game and 10% Babs because sometimes he is a bit stubborn and doesn't shake things up enough. (but that is minor in the scheme of things. Put it this way, 4 players make a combined $40 million. Dubas should have known better that 3 is the max. Take Nylander and his average annual cap hit of $7.9 million. Do you really think he alone is worth almost $2 million dollars then the 8 players on the 3rd and 4th line forwards and the back up goalie make a combined $6 million? While I like some of these players, there isn't one guy in there that can go out each night and change a game. (get a big hit every night at a key time, come on the ice and straighten a player on the other side for messing with our top players, steal a game in net when we need it) This is roughly 40% of the roster and it doesn't come close to complimenting the speed and skill on the first line and on defense and that should be these 8 players sole focus. Instead, Kyle had to go cheap and fans have to stop being morons and realize this is on Kyle and that he cannot be allowed to cause any more damage by firing Babs and bringing in Keith. Better to focus on trading Nylander and using his $7.9 million towards acquiring a couple proven NHLers with grit and character. (say that costs $5 million total) Then use $1.5 million to a back up goalie and the other to acquire a gap piece at the trade deadline and for summer cap space. Good quality is never cheap, cheap quality is never good. Remember that Shanny and fans!

auston matthews is "learning"? like the first year in the league he had 40g and was an amazing back checker and somehow he regresses and gets worse every season. he was selke material and now he's not even a blip on the map.

The Leafs for the past few seasons have came off slow. I will only worry if the team is out of a playoff spot when the All Star game hits.

Sport media in Toronto is terrible

Everything Burke said was spot on counters the hot takes we hear from most of the talking heads in Toronto (e.g., Petrillo, Dangle, Mirtle, etc.). It’s nice to have an opinion, and I consume content from all three of my examples, but I am little tired of these experts who have no skin in the game. Everyone relax, let Babcock and the players do their jobs.

Tavares is still a career -minus player. Not much better defensively than AM or MM -he wont solve the problem. I've seen 50+ live games with JT in NY....he's not a 200ft player. Agree with Burkie tho...also, for the first time EVER. Players have to show up on time. Coach can't go out and score goals.

So if you need defense to win, and 'kids' aren't expected to play good defense yet, why do they expect to get paid top dollar? I guess Burke would agree they were big overpayments, but Dubas presumably wouldn't he signed the deals.

Lol why is everyone acting like the Leafs are in last place

The reality is that all of these armchair Coaches and GM's just don't have really high hockey IQ's. They don't actually watch the individual players shift after shift. They don't have any understanding of the issues with Matthews' game. They watch him score and think he is the best player. The same thing happens on other teams. Everyone loves Ovechkin but Backstrom is a better player by far and is way more valuable to the Caps

yup Hymans missed too. cant leave him out.. I think the top lines are actually enjoying the fame a bit to much and getting over confident.... kinda without realizing it....?anyone wanna touch on that?

It is a dumb schedule is all. But they wont be fine... Not until the D is resolved The Leadership is resolved At 22 did ur players get 10 mil????

Brian is one hundred percent right on the players , they get paid to play so play

Austin needs to play with passion

So when the Leafs dont get to the conference finals - again - Babs gets a-NOTHER pass?

No Kix they aren't but they aren't ready to play that's the point

This is the year bro...this is the year!!😉😉😉

His seats getting pretty warm though

Babcock will be gone at the end of the season if they don’t make it past the first round which sorry to say is more likely than not. If they keep going the way they are right now he could be gone by the Allstar break.

Well they need someone to blame.

1000000000000000% correct.

It's Babcock. Yes the top players aren't doing that well but it's because they hate Babs imo. They won't play hard for a coach they hate. It's not 1991 anymore. This is the era of the player coach, see: Rob Brindamour in Carolina. That's the futre of coaching. In Toronto Tavares could be player coach and get way better results than Babcock.

Sorry gotta disagree with Burkey here, Babcock has tired old methods and refuses to adapt to the changes in the league, the point that it worked in the past was when they had much better back ups, and much better defensive cores and much better depth lines and 2 way players, its well known that we are an all out offensive team with very little defensive depth right now and Babcock has very little confidence in our fore-checking, checking, 2 way game, maybe 1 or 2 actual 2 way players, we lack any real shut down for top lines in the league now so we match up our top line (which matches speed and offense and a lack of defense) vs theirs and when you are matching a veteran line vs our young line their are bound to be turn overs and end to ends, and on a tail end of a back to back when your team is more tired vs a rested team they are gonna force 3 on 2s and bad odd man rushes and your gonna leave your back up goalie high and dry. When Hyman comes back that gap shrinks significantly as he is our only real shut down guy left. Babcock is gonna have to learn to drop his ego and learn to adapt to the team he has not the team he wants, sometimes you need to play with what you got not with what you hope to have. the team hasn't gottem better each year we have gotten knocked out each year in the first year, and the points have stayed the same and last year they went down even so lets get the facts straight.

Matthews is getting top d line matchups now and it’s not working

People (Canadians) don't like athletes being paid too much? We just expect people to perform if they run the organization down to the first day of training camp or deadlines to maximize their salary, then don't deliver. In any other industry you get paid for results. You don't get to use the "adjustment time" or "he's still a kid" excuse anymore when you dictate by virtue of the fact that you had a contract stand off for months and asked for way too much compensation v's your achievements.

Mats get better every hour but he's still a kid playing against elite vets

Brian Burke right on hands down

Resentment of wealth is a liberal pastime.

Gimme a break Burke! Boston had so many injuries last year that they looked like an A.H.L. team for much of the year, and they won. Toronto misses a big player for 2 weeks and and a couple of other guys and it's because of that that they are losing. The Leafs are losing cause they play on the wrong side of the puck, they play scared, and they are a skill only club with no grit or identity. Burke was saying this same thing at the beginning of the year, but he comes to the rescue when someone else criticizes the coaches of any team.

"Marshmallow" Matthews is soft as Charmin toilet paper...

y'all got rid of kypreos for these guys?

Jamie mclennan was nominating Matthew's as a lock for the selke this year LOL

Say what you want about Babcock, the main problem in Toronto is their subpar defense corps - and THAT is the fault of management, NOT Babcock. IMHO, Dubas should be their analytics guy, not their phreakin' GM.

Does tsn even acknowledge the Hurricanes

Geez, they are 5-4-2 wtf are they suppose to be 11-0?

Bravo BB. The players need to be ready. Wanna dog it do it in the AHL.

the real problem: you parked the brinks truck in front of homes owned by guys w sleeve Tatts.

Brian Burke: Its not the coaches job to get players ready to play. Also Brian Burke: Its the coaches job to prepare the players to play. Nick Nurse: Am I a joke to you?

The Leafs will not win a SC with this roster. Reason: they are not physical enough. End of story. Look at all of the successful playoff teams the last few years and ALL of them were successful because of their constant physical prowess. It's great to have individual talent but Crosby, Ovi and Tarasenko also have great physical presence. Matthews, Marner, Nylander and even to some extent Tavares do not have that at all. They get bullied off of pretty much every puck battle. Tavares being the only one maybe with some ability there, but not much. That's your core right there, half your salary cap. How is that going to win you playoff games?? Playoff Hockey is not Regular Season Hockey.

Hall of fame coach > couch coaches

Radio interview allows a buzz on by the guest.......

ASK MIKE COMMODORE HIS TAKE ON BABCOCK,ENLIGHTENING TO SAY THE LEAST...google it !

I just think Babs has his players he likes and then players he’s a bit spiteful towards

Absolutely agree to these statements...if this money doesn't get you going forget it. Overpaid brats in my opinion. Now Babcock is gone.....so am I.

Top Leaf players have already proved they're not committed to winning. Demanding big fat selfish contracts, now most of the cap's tied up in 4 guys. The top 4 guys in Boston ALL took a reduced salary so they could be surrounded by good players with speed, skill, and tenacity. Pasternak makes 4+ million less than Mathews, and is twice the player. The Leafs formula is a losing one. And I'm a lifetime Leafs fan. I was 12 when they last won. I'll be long dead before they do it again.

Yzerman learned to be a 200 foot player and it wasn't until after then that he won a Cup (among other things too). Matthews needs to grow up and be a complete player. A bunch of spoiled overpaid players.

Babcock: Get to the net Nylander: spins in circle 4 times

Send Mr.October packing and get some players with heart and grit. There is no way that this team is close to being a cup contender let alone a playoff team.

Burke is also a problem they’ll do whatever it takes to protect the standard Burke is truly miss guided if Burke’s kid played for Babcock I would have a completely different perspective

Toronto struggles are not because of Babcock or the players. It’s option c) the media/fans expectations. What evidence did they ever had to call them a cup contender? My god George w wasn’t even in his second four year term as presixent the lzy time they won a series

Trickle down effect. Dubas grabbed his tape and tied Babs hands.

Yeah it’s not difficult. How many rich kids do you know that work their tail off? They don’t have to. Mathews doesn’t even want to get hit. The 3rd and 4th lines are the soul of the team but aren’t good enough to just get by.

"i never thought it was my job as a coach to get these players ready to play, the money we pay these guys . . . " - Burke at 10:06. Well Brian, maybe hockey is different, but most of the winning coaches in all sports would not agree with that. Belicheck, Parcells, Wooden, Lombardi, Al Arbour, Scotty Bowman, etc., all talk about figuring out which players were better served with a pat on the back and which performed better with a kick to the butt. Today's players are even MORE oriented towards the proper mental approach coming from the top. Not everyone is Crosby, Yzerman, etc.

Good stuff Burkie tell em to shove it

The bottom line is they are still kids relax. Did Bergeron and stamkos carry teams at both ends to cups when they were Matthews age no. They will mature and the cap will rise and it will all work out chill

Making 7-11 million a year to play a game for a living, and you can't show up on time ready too play ?

Mike Babcock is gone soon. Coaching wise, the leafs have been awful. How is it that the Leafs have started slow almost every game. Every single player on this team for the last 3 years, has had this issue. We blamed the players then, at what point does Babcock take the blame? When does Dubas get heat for not firing this guy?

Lol leafs still on the rebuild since sundin left. You cant throw money to pass the first rd. Overpaid players, overpaid coach. What a joke

I hate the leafs but DAMN I feel bad for the players, the media is just cancer

Ofcourse Burke would say that,, he needs this job Ha ha ha You fake Burke

Please fire this guy Babcock and bring in Sheldon Keefe. ......

Burke is completely off the mark about this coach Burke is displaying the generation gap that he is involved with

Connor Brown exploding in Ottawa

I don't think Mike is a bad coach. I think he's a great coach who has lost the room. He deserves to coach somewhere that he is respected and where the room listens to him.

It's early

Sportsnet is a program for Canada! Leafs Leafs Leafs is all we get and a smattering of Buffalo. There are other teams and a population outside of Ontario. Let’s see some coverage on other teams. You start talking Leafs, I turn you off as do others Come on!!!

Toronto Fan, Hockey fan in general, it's a lack of calmness due to so many young players, the loss of patty marleau sucks and Mike Babcock is the best coach these kids could have.

Bring back Burke

I can see Matthews gone in 2 years. Nylander is gone by the end of next season.

Burke blames the players because.....he's a "coach"?.... media junkie.

а где хоккей

Did not age well