ANAHEIM -- During Brian Burke's first year at the helm in Vancouver, he was jogging one day when some construction workers repairing a sewer chucked a chunk of concrete at him.
"Not trying to hit me," he said. "But after I went by."
As passionate fans, they obviously were pissed at the struggles endured by Burke's Canucks at the time.
Now, after watching its favourite team get off to the worst start in franchise history, Leafs Nation can relate.
At 0-7-1, the Leafs have looked horrible at times. True, they outplayed the Vancouver Canucks in a 3-1 loss Saturday, but that should matter little in a results-oriented business like hockey.
So, what's wrong with the Leafs?
What isn't?
This team has become the butt of jokes around the NHL. And Burke knows it.
"I've had sleepless nights the past 21/2 weeks because I hate to lose," Burke said yesterday in Anaheim, where the former Ducks GM returned to face his ex-team tonight for the first time since becoming Leafs president last year.
Burke reiterated he's not about to tear up the blueprint. Eight games, he said, is not enough time to evaluate. He pointed out that during his first year running the Ducks, his team endured a seven-game losing streak and still made it deep into playoffs.
"But, for some reason, losing streaks seem to be magnified at the beginning of the season," he said.
In the case of the Leafs, it's easy to see why. They are the NHL's only winless team. They are averaging less than two goals a game. They have held the lead just once all season.
Brutal.
Burke inherited this team. He did not shell out ridiculous contracts like the five-year, US $20-million pact given to underachieving Jason Blake. As such, he deserves time to stay the course in his rebuilding plan.
But, thus far, progress, if any, has come at a snail's pace.
In goal, the Vesa Toskala experiment has flopped.
And how about the blueline blues?
While defenceman Mike Komisarek is starting to come around, the fact that he produced Vancouver's first goal by accidentally shooting the puck into his own net tells the story of his entire season. Francois Beauchemin, meanwhile, looks lost out on the ice sometimes.
These are team leaders, guys wearing letters on their jerseys. They need to be much better.
Up front, there are just too many guys merely along for the ride. But take note: Blake, Phil Kessel, Nik Hagman, Mikhael Grabovski, Colton Orr, Viktor Stalberg and Jay Rosehill are the only forwards under contract after this season. At least it should be a different-looking corps of forwards in 2010-11.
It needs to be.
It would seem unlikely the Leafs would catch the New York Rangers' NHL record for futility to start a season. Back in 1943-44, the Broadway Blueshirts went 0-14-1 out of the gates.
But how about going oh-for-October? Should the Leafs not be able to post a win on the remainder of this trip -- tonight in Anaheim, Wednesday in Dallas, Friday in Buffalo, Saturday in Montreal -- that's exactly what the case will be.
Is that what it will take to finally start shipping some big contracts to the Marlies? And we're talking about a lot more than just Blake and Toskala. There are plenty of candidates.
If the losing continues, bring prospects like Tyler Bozak and Christian Hanson up to the big club. The argument for keeping these kids with the Marlies revolves around them getting more minutes on the farm. So why not give them just as much playing time in Toronto? How much worse can they perform than the guys up there now?
Suggestions coach Ron Wilson has lost the team are premature. Besides, Burke recently said Wilson's job is not in jeopardy.
In the midst of this free fall, there is a danger that too much public hope is being placed on the shoulders of goalie Jonas Gustavsson and Kessel. As Gustavsson, who likely will start against the Ducks tonight, candidly put it: "I am not a saviour."
Nor should he be.
But who is?
Thus far, that's been the trouble. They haven't even been average.
MIKE.ZEISBERGER@SUNMEDIA.CA
