Blog - Internet Burke Blasts Performance Of Francois Allaire

[Irishjim]

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By Mike Ulmer

Maple Leafs General Manager Brian Burke agrees there was interference with goaltending consultant Francois Allaire but said the pressure came in an attempt to spur a revamp of Allaire’s techniques.

“I regret that I have to deal with this matter publicly but I feel the need to respond. Was there interference from the staff as he said there was? Yes. But it was done reluctantly and it was done to change elements of our goaltending that was sub-par.”

Burke, who hired Allaire away from his former team in Anaheim three years ago, said Allaire wasn’t going to be asked back after the club finished 29^th in goals against with a bloated 3.16 average. That’s 1.26 goals a game higher than the St. Louis Blues’ league-leading total. The Leafs finished 24^th and 29^th in goals against in Allaire’s two other seasons.

In an interview with The National Post Monday, Allaire told reporter Michael Traikos that he decided to leave the team because of internal interference with his methods. “I didn’t feel like I could do my job,” he said. While he did not furnish any names, the remarks fuelled speculation that the interference came from either coach Ron Wilson, who was fired last March, or his assistants, Scott Gordon, a one-time NCAA and NHL goalie, and Greg Cronin. Gordon and Cronin were retained by current coach Randy Carlyle.

The Leafs GM said Allaire’s comments forced him to step away from his long-standing policy of never criticizing a current or past member of his staff and offered his trademark good wishes and thanks.

Burke, who steadfastly defended Allaire throughout media calls for his ouster, then shredded the job delivered by the most famous goalie coach in the sport.

Allaire’s approach with his goalies, Burke said, hadn’t altered even though rule changes meant his insistence on the butterfly technique wasn’t working.

“The position has evolved in the last three to five years,” Burke said. Nobody plays the classic stand-up any more either. Everything advances.”

Rules to minimize obstruction and limit goaltending equipment prompted the evolution of hybrid goalies who retain the solid elements of the butterfly by striving to be square to the shooter and rotating with pads down and body erect during scrums. Hybrid goalies usually stay on their feet longer and use their hands to snare pucks rather than chance rebounds. Jonathan Quick of the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings and franchise goalies such as the Rangers Henrik Lundqvist, Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen and Nashville’s Pekka Rinne are considered hybrid goalies.

Burke said he expected to name a successor within a matter of days.

Certainly, Burke’s goalies have stayed true to the longstanding code of never criticizing coaches.

Despite rave reviews in Sweden, goalie Jonas Gustavsson struggled under Allaire. But Gustavsson, who signed with Detroit as a free agent in July, steadfastly defended his coaching. Incumbent James Reimer enjoyed an excellent half season under Allaire in 2009-2010 but the deterioration of his play was written off as the results of a head-hit in his sixth game. He credits Allaire with getting him into the NHL.

Allaire devised his technique working with Patrick Roy in Montreal from the mid 1980s to mid 1990s. That partnership yielded a pair of Stanley Cups. Allaire coached Jean-Sebastien Giguere when he captured the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2003.

Giguere was in goal and coached by Allaire when the Ducks won the Stanley Cup under Burke in 2007 but Giguere struggled in his second season when reunited with Allaire in Toronto. He rebounded last season in Colorado.</p>

[jammer2]

@Irishjim "“The position has evolved in the last three to five years,” Burke said. Nobody plays the classic stand-up any more either. Everything advances.”

This looks bad on Burke not Allaire in my line of thinking. He's the damn GM for God sake....if he didn't like the style Allaire was coaching, he should have canned him....no questions asked. Why are we only hearing about this after Allaire quit? This is obviously not a new revalation here, it looks like it's been an ongoing battle for years...why not take the bull by the horns and fire the guy?? Something tells me Burke would have let the status quo fly had Allaire not quit, what a piss poor way to run a franchise!! For all the tough talk, the guy is a BRUTAL leader, hope they give him a 10 year extension!!

[Irishjim]

For all the tough talk, the guy is a BRUTAL leader, hope they give him a 10 year extension!!

no a lifetime extension. i wonder if he has stock in the local golf courses, nice way to recoup salary paid to players cause they sure are not making the playoffs with him at the controls

[flyercanuck]

So now it's the goaltending coach? LMAO! Burke is trying to blame everyone for having a lousy team except the guy who put it together.

[radoran]

"I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts! GOALIE COACHES! IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD!"

[flyercanuck]

@radoran

You forgot "My dog ate it".

[jammer2]

@flyercanuck Burkie did the same thing to his buddy Ron Wilson after he got canned. Cut him up, threw him under the bus and said his coaching techniques did not fit the modern NHL....which, again, looks bad on Burke. These were his hand picked choices. Ya know, if Morgan Riley is a bust, he's a goner. He looks like the real deal, but ya never know. At least he's great skater, so he will be an NHL d-man, only question is, how effective he will be. Luke Schenn looked the real deal at one point also...and he did a lot of moving around to get him. If JVR turns out to be a bust next year, the heat will really be turned up on Burkie! Between Riley and Schenn (which obviously turned into JVR)....that's 2 top 10 picks....he can't afford to mess that up, not many GM's survive after those kind of screw ups. Not to mention Tyler Biggs, who is not looking great his 9 goal 18 pt performance in Miami of the CCHA last year. His lack of skating will really stick out in the OHL next season (forget which team he's with now).

[radoran]

@flyercanuck Burkie did the same thing to his buddy Ron Wilson after he got canned. Cut him up, threw him under the bus and said his coaching techniques did not fit the modern NHL....which, again, looks bad on Burke. These were his hand picked choices. Ya know, if Morgan Riley is a bust, he's a goner. He looks like the real deal, but ya never know. At least he's great skater, so he will be an NHL d-man, only question is, how effective he will be. Luke Schenn looked the real deal at one point also...and he did a lot of moving around to get him. If JVR turns out to be a bust next year, the heat will really be turned up on Burkie! Between Riley and Schenn (which obviously turned into JVR)....that's 2 top 10 picks....he can't afford to mess that up, not many GM's survive after those kind of screw ups. Not to mention Tyler Biggs, who is not looking great his 9 goal 18 pt performance in Miami of the CCHA last year. His lack of skating will really stick out in the OHL next season (forget which team he's with now).

Scott Howson is apparently learning French so he can say "bon jour!" when the Vestes Bleu take the ice in Quebec.