The Toronto Maple Leafs finished their unsuccessful road trip through western Canada with a loss to Kyle Wellwood and the Vancouver Canucks. They've struggled with inconsistent play recently and Vesa Toskala has been the biggest culprit. However, these concerns have been masked by the seemingly inevitable hiring of Brian Burke.

After parting ways with the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday, it's probably just a matter of time before Brian Burke takes on the dual role of President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He may not be my first choice, nor the Leafs first choice (they reportedly offered Jim Rutherford the job in 2007), but he is the best available candidate. He's a good hockey guy who will demand that he makes all the hockey decisions.

If the Leafs somehow screw this up and don't end up getting Burke, they'll face an endless amount of criticism. They could only justify it by eventually hiring someone better, but wrestling Ken Holland away from the Red Wings is a near impossibility. I really don't think that the Leafs will even want to wait until someone else becomes available, and will do whatever is neccessary to get Burke into the fold.

They'll have plenty of time this week to get a deal done because they are off until Saturday after tonight's game against the 4th-overall Bruins.