Bitter pill to swallow
Brian Burke offers no apologies for unhappy ending
By IAIN MACINTYRE
The Vancouver Sun
Ward Perrin, Vancouver Sun
Vancouver Canucks coach Marc Crawford and general manager Brian Burke face the media at a news conference at GM Place on Monday.
On the day Philadelphia Flyers' general manger Bob Clarke called a press conference to lynch his goalie, Vancouver Canuck boss Brian Burke held one to embrace his.
Burke, passionately but predictably, defended beleaguered goalie Dan Cloutier and the Canucks, saying Monday there was no reason to apologize for the season even while noting the bitterness of its end.
Displaying the heart and leadership he expects from his players, Burke accepted responsibility for the team's second-round playoff collapse. The Canucks squandered a 3-1 series lead and were eliminated Thursday by the third-year Minnesota Wild with only the Anaheim Mighty Ducks standing between Vancouver and a possible Stanley Cup final.
"The ending here has spoiled the fairy tale," Burke told reporters at a post-mortem press conference, four days after the Canucks blew a 2-0 lead and lost Game 7. "We didn't live happily ever after. We failed to beat a team we had down 3-1."
Burke appeared on the verge of tears when he described the aftermath of a loss in which the underdog Wild scored on four of its final seven shots.
"What we didn't achieve as a team has been a real difficult, bitter pill to swallow," he said. "When you go up 3-1 on that team, you've got to find a way to finish it and we didn't. I'm not good at losing. It's frighteningly difficult to handle.
"[But] the truth of the matter is we had a wonderful season. There is no reason to apologize for this season, no reason to defend this season."
Burke cited the Canucks' franchise-record 104 points, record winning and unbeaten streaks, the accomplishments of star forwards Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi and the 45 sellouts in Vancouver during the regular season and playoffs.
Burke explained teams fail at one of four levels: Ownership, management, coaching or playing. He said owner John McCaw and coach Marc Crawford are not at fault, leaving Burke and the players as culprits. But he added he takes responsibility for the players, too.
"If we don't have the right group of players -- and I believe we do -- that's my fault," Burke said. "Have I done enough? Did I do enough at the trading deadline? I haven't ruled out that I haven't done enough."
But he also gave no indications that he'll do much to change the lineup, saying he may need to let players "walk" to keep the payroll increase to about five per cent.
Burke made it clear that Cloutier, whose career playoff save percentage is .866 and who has had problems in all three post-seasons with the Canucks, will return as the team's No. 1 goalie.
"The notion that this crushing disappointment can be placed at the doorstep of one player is so unfair, so wrong, so mean-spirited that it is shocking to me," Burke said. "One player does not cost you a playoff series. Shame on any of you who want to say it's all Dan Cloutier's fault because it's not.
"Does he have a challenge to get to the next level? Yes. Did he play well the last three games? No, but Dan Cloutier is not alone."
Burke argued many goalies have struggled initially to reproduce at playoff time their form from the regular-season, although his example of Ottawa Senators' goalie Patrick Lalime does not appear to withstand scrutiny.
Nor does the case, advanced by others, of Anaheim Mighty Duck goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere.
Lalime had a career playoff goals-against average of 1.63 before taking the Senators to the Eastern Conference final this season, while Giguere is excelling in his first playoffs and has been a star since the Ducks gave him a chance to play regularly two seasons ago.
Burke and coach Marc Crawford said they believe Cloutier will get better because he has character, athleticism and is driven to succeed.
Burke added, however, the 27-year-old needs to find a way to maintain his health through a full season.
Burke said he'd like have an experienced backup goalie capable of "pushing" Cloutier but indicated there is little money available for this.
Incumbent Peter Skudra, who lost irretrievably Crawford's confidence, was bumped in March from the No. 2 spot by prospect Alex Auld, who did not start a playoff game.
"The only way to go into the playoffs with no holes in your lineup is to spend $60 million US," Burke said, referring to teams that spend about twice as much as the Canucks on players. "I don't have that luxury, and I'm never going to have that luxury and I accept that."
Burke, who estimated the Canuck payroll will increase about $2 million US next season to $38 million, said everything he has done for two years has been predicated on a revised collective bargaining agreement that he hopes will put a drag on salaries after next season.
The Canucks have 14 free agents - three of them unrestricted - and Burke will be forced to do the bulk of the negotiating if assistant GM Dave Nonis is named later this week to the top job with the San Jose Sharks.
Nonis was conspicuously absent from Monday's press conference.
michael? federov will likely at least get 7 million a year, you really think the canucks could afford that in one player? the better question is, is that really smart anyway? for that kind of scratch you can get 3 good players instead of just one. As we have seen in this years playoffs, top paid superstars dont equal playoff success. 23 out of the 24 top paid players are playing golf.
