TORONTO - Brian Burke always builds his teams from the back end out.
His words of exuberance — not mine. When he was louder and more available, he would make these kinds of proclamations — again and again — about his kind of team, his kind of players, what it takes to be successful in the National Hockey League.
So now another training camp, after all the angst of the lockout, is about to begin, and Burke has rarely been less visible or more quiet, and the team that was presumptuously built from the back end out seems in somewhat of a dubious state.
The Maple Leafs team that will begin training camp on the weekend has the most vulnerable goaltending in the Eastern Conference. Among the teams that didn’t make the playoffs in the past 82-game season: Montreal has Carey Price in goal; Carolina has Cam Ward; Winnipeg has Ondrej Pavelec. Among those that did make the playoffs: New Jersey has Martin Brodeur back; New York has Henrik Lundqvist; Boston has Tuukka Rask.
