U.S. success solidifies status of Burke, Wilson
by Damien Cox
VANCOUVER
The Leaf Nation can rest easy.
Apparently, Brian Burke does knows how to construct a strong hockey team.
And Ron Wilson knows how to coach one.
From the 6-1 thrashing Team USA laid on Finland on Friday in the Olympic semifinals, fans of the Maple Leafs could take a renewed sense of confidence that while their team may still, well, stink, the two men in charge of getting the club back to competitiveness appear to be well-equipped for the task.
Back-to-back horrible seasons under Wilson had, to many, brought into question his ability to turn the Leafs around and handle the scrutiny of coaching in Toronto after experiencing success in smaller-market Anaheim, Washington and San Jose. But this U.S. side has appeared well-organized and well-coached from the outset, remaining the only unbeaten and untied squad in the competition.
"When you've got great goaltending, very mobile defencemen and skill up front, you just try to stay out of the way," Wilson, who coached the U.S. to victory in the 1996 World Cup, said after the resounding victory over the Finns.
Then he added, "I didn't come into the tournament to prove my coaching abilities."
Burke, meanwhile, had attracted increasing criticism in only his first full season in Toronto, particularly after a deal last fall in which he dealt two first-round picks and a second-rounder to Boston for scoring winger Phil Kessel. With incumbent Vesa Toskala awful and rookie Jonas Gustavsson injured, sick or inexperienced, the team's goaltending was weak, costing the club points in the early part of the season.
But trades with Calgary to acquire defenceman Dion Phaneuf and with Anaheim to bring in veteran netminder J.S. Giguere were encouraging to most Leaf fans. Now, the way in which this American team has played, and the fact it will win gold or silver in what many have called the best hockey tournament in history, has fortified Burke's reputation.
It's not just that the Americans have played well. It's that Burke built the roster with a specific blueprint, which meant high-profile U.S. veterans like Mike Modano, Keith Tkachuk and Bill Guerin were excluded, not to mention Scott Gomez, Tim Connolly, Kyle Okposo and T.J. Oshie.
But it wasn't just about going with a new generation of new American stars. Burke believed the team had to have more than talented all-stars and needed to have enough grit and size to be able to handle the higher-seeded teams from Sweden, Russia and Canada.
So he named players like 33-year-old centre Chris Drury and speedy winger Ryan Callahan, as well as big centre David Backes. When defencemen Mike Komisarek and Paul Martin went down with pre-Olympic injuries, Burke went for more size in Tim Gleason and Ryan Whitney.
The result has been a team that has congealed around the superb goalkeeping of Ryan Miller and has had a sense of identity from the beginning that helped them to a 3-0 start and an easier path to the final.
Again, Burke could have chosen a very different squad, either one honouring the warriors of the past or one featuring more talented attackers. He didn't, sticking to his concept of what would work, and the results have been tremendous.
It hasn't been an easy time for Burke as he deals with the shocking death of his 21-year-old son, Brendan. The Leaf GM has been a constant presence throughout the Games in a show of personal fortitude rivalling that of bronze medal-winning Canadian figure skater Joannie Rochette.
It was probably more important for Wilson to have success here than Burke. Now, regardless of what happens the rest of the way during another disappointing Leaf campaign, it seems inconceivable that Wilson would be dumped at the end of the season.
Despite what Wilson says, he did need to prove himself at these Games. He has. So has his boss.