So I haven't blogged in a long time and only one or two people are likely to read this (if anyone), but here's my thoughts on the Burke firing:

The fact that Burke was fired doesn't seem to be a shock to most, but the timing is somewhat perplexing.  I wasn't even sure how MLSE could let something so optically negative happen right at the start of a hockey season - let alone coming out of a lockout.   I had heard an earlier theory that George Cope (Boardmember from Bell) was the driving force behind this, but this alone didn't make the timing any more logical. However, it all started to make sense when I read, in a Dave Shoalts Globe & Mail article, that Bell and Rogers have an agreement in place that requires the four board members they appoint to the six-member board to vote together.

Basically, if its true that Bell and Rogers have a voting agreement in place (which is not uncommon), every vote of the MLSE board will be 4-2, 5-1 or 6-0, with the two Rogers and two Bell appointees always being contractually obligated to vote together.  This effectively renders Tanenbaum and Lastman powerless at the Board level, as there would never be an instance where Tanenbaum and Lastman would act as tiebreakers.  Rogers and Bell have to reach a unanimous decision amongst themselves and, in turn, that effectively becomes the decision of the MLSE board.  The vote is simply a formality and gives effect to the deal negotiated between Rogers and Bell.

In this case, assuming Cope was pushing to fire Burke, because of the agreement between Rogers and Bell , he was powerless to act without Ted Rogers' Jr. and Nadir Mohamed's agreement.  Ultimately, I would guess that the timing and the decision had nothing to do with anything hockey related and the unfortunate timing was simply a case of negotiating a deal down to the wire.  I really do think this was just back office dealing where Cope wanted to get rid of Burke and Rogers wanted something from Bell in exchange for its agreement to vote in favour of firing Burke (which it seems Rogers otherwise didn't want to do).   Given that Burke is no longer the Leaf's President & GM, I'm guessing Rogers finally got what it wanted from Bell; it just took a very long time for Bell to agree to give up whatever "it" was.   This is just pure speculation, but I wouldn't be surprised to see a greater number of "premium" Leafs games this season on Sportsnet rather than TSN....which is fine by me, as my Rogers cable package doesn't include TSN in high-definition.