Hockey Burke agrees to 6-year deal to become Leafs GM

[GotGibson?]

Brian Burke is the new GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Sources confirm to ESPN.com that a contract was finally agreed upon Thursday for six years, including the remainder of this season.

A news conference is expected Saturday in Toronto.

Burke has been linked to the Leafs job for more than a year but the speculation intensified once he parted ways with the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 13.

Cliff Fletcher was hired as interim general manager of the Maple Leafs in January, and said at the time his goal was to "set the table" for the man who would permanently hold down the job after him.

Burke recently turned down a contract extension to remain general manager of the Ducks, citing the need to spend more time with his family and the strong state of the team he helped turn into a Stanley Cup champion as reasons for leaving.

He was replaced by Bob Murray on Nov. 12 and remained with the Ducks as a special consultant to CEO Michael Schulman through the transition period.

Burke, 53, explained that he wants to spend more time with his six children and that 11 years of commuting coast to coast was enough for him.

Burke and Schulman had discussed the possibility for 11 months and Burke made his decision Nov. 1.

"This is the toughest decision I've ever had in my life, professionally, as far as what to do next," Burke said then. "I've been wrestling with the decision. I've got four older children on the East Coast and two little ones [4½ and 2½], and I don't see any of them enough. So I felt if I can get a chance to get in the same time zone with them, I'm going to take it."

The Ducks allowed him to immediately pursue positions even though his contract with the team wasn't set to expire until next summer.

 

[rndmhro]

Can anybody say "Bout time?"

 

[shephech]

YES YES YES!!! This is a HUGE step in the right direction!.

Shep

 

[GotGibson?]

Leafs get their man: Burke officially the GM

Brian Burke took over as president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

"You're talking about the Vatican if you're Catholic, you're talking the center of the hockey universe, you're talking about one of the most important jobs in hockey running the Toronto Maple Leafs," Burke said at a news conference. "It's a dream job."

He got a six-year deal, worth a reported $3 million annually, to replace interim general manager Cliff Fletcher after John Ferguson was fired in January.

Burke spent the past three-plus seasons managing the Anaheim Ducks, leading them to a Stanley Cup title in 2007.

He stepped down from the post Nov. 13 after declining to sign a contract extension that would take him beyond this season.

During previous management stops in Hartford, Vancouver and Anaheim, the 53-year-old has been unafraid to make bold moves, though he has no plans to make any immediately.

"I don't think players should get traded at Christmas time unless they ask to get traded," Burke said. "So for me to evaluate this team, make some judgments and do something before Dec. 9, is probably going to be hard to do. So anyone who's waiting with bated breath for that first deal might wait past that deadline. Because I believe players deserve to spend the holidays with their families."

There were no timetables offered for turning around a club that hasn't been in the playoffs since 2004 or specifics on how he planned to get the city its first Stanley Cup championship since 1967.

"We require as a team proper levels of pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence," he said. "That's how our teams play."