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I was thinking about relationships in sport, in the context of the Toronto Maple Leafs' courtship and hiring of Brian Burke as their new president and general manager.

Reporting and analyzing sports is the only work I've done since graduation, but I suspect our business is no different than any other. So much depends upon the quality and even the length of your relationship with members of the industry, at every level, from trainers to team presidents. Over time, you develop a level of trust with some and a healthy level of mistrust with others, the ones that tend to mislead or fail to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Burke has always been one of the good ones. We met for the first time in the fall of 1985, in Moncton, for the Calgary Flames' training camp. Burke was there to visit with a client (Neil Sheehy, I think). We arrived at the rink together and Burke introduced himself. He was just getting started as a player agent, but had forged an early relationship with Rod Beaton, USA Today's hockey writer at the time. Burke said something like, "Rod Beaton speaks highly of you," and I replied: "Rod Beaton speaks highly of you."

From there, we exchanged pleasantries, business cards and Burke extended an invitation to get together for lunch next time I was in Boston. We did — at a posh restaurant, probably Legal Sea Foods, and we talked about our respective backgrounds. He grew up in a big Irish family; I went to Catholic high school, where 49 per cent of the population was Italian; 49 per cent Irish, and two per cent other. I was part of the two per cent other. We were eating something fancy (expense accounts were pretty generous in those days) and living pretty well, but I remember him saying his favorite meal was still boiled dinner — corned beef, cabbage and potatoes in one pot.

Intuitively, you knew, even in those early days that Burke was destined for success. He was smart, ambitious and unflinchingly honest, the one quality I thought might actually work against him, as time passed and managing the message became a league-wide doctrine. Thankfully, it didn't stop him at all.

And the one thing Burke figured out early in his career was how the newspaper (and subsequently, television, radio and online) business worked. Our job was to ask questions; it didn't mean he had to answer them all, or freely dispense every nugget of information that we wanted to extract. But he was usually pretty good, in part because in his three previous incarnations as an NHL GM — in Hartford, Vancouver and Anaheim — he understood that an important part of his job description was growing the business.

Teams did that through winning, through its style of play (up tempo, aggressive) as well as through marketing and community initiatives, all designed to get people into the rink, watching and developing an affinity for the team.

Selling the product won't be as much of a challenge in his new gig, given the depth and breadth of the Toronto market, and the love (or hate relationship) so many fans have with the Maple Leafs franchise. Burke wasn't in Hartford long enough to make a tangible marketing difference there, but the Canucks — under his watch — improved little by little on the ice, and grew in leaps and bounds off the ice. In Anaheim, he put the finishing touches on a team with a strong, young nucleus of players assembled by, among others, Bryan Murray, Al Coates and David McNab.

Just how Burke goes about getting the Leafs on the winning track will be the most compelling part of watching the new regime operate — who stays and who goes among players and front-office staff.

However, it will be interesting to see how Burke handles the communication demands in a market that's unlike any he's ever worked in before; and in an era with more information sources than ever before.

Burke's never been afraid to try new things. The year his Ducks won the Stanley Cup, he wrote a trading-deadline diary for USA Today that was astonishingly good reading. Even if only referenced players who were actually traded (so as not to compromise the relationship between teams and players who were talked about, but not moved), his candor wasn't especially well-received by every member of the general manager's fraternity.

At some point in his introductory press conference, Burke will no doubt make a reference to his desire to work in Toronto — and what it would mean to be the GM in charge, if (he'd probably say when) they end their 40-years-and-counting Stanley Cup drought. Coincidentally, that was also a motive for Burke's immediate predecessor in the job, Cliff Fletcher, the first time Fletcher was at the helm of the team — and the back stories are remarkably similar.

Fletcher left Calgary two years after the Flames won the 1989 Stanley Cup. The 67-point team Fletcher inherited in the 1991-92 season made a 32-point year-over-year improvement and went all the way to the Western Conference final in 1993 where they fell to the Los Angeles Kings in that stirring Wayne Gretzky-versus-Doug Gilmour series that represents one of — if not the most important — franchise high point for a generation of fans. The Leafs duplicated that feat in 1994. Sadly for Fletcher, that was as close as the Leafs ever came to winning a championship in his first turn at the helm.

Fletcher rejoined the Leafs on an interim basis this past January (seems longer, doesn't it?) and while he couldn't pull off any miraculous Gilmour for Gary Leeman trades, he did purge the team of some of its contract baggage and put a couple of puzzle pieces — notably Luke Schenn — into the mix for the future.

Burke will love Schenn — he has that Scott Stevens aura around him; and to Burke's way of thinking, there is probably no better way to embark upon a rebuilding program than to start with a rock-solid presence on defence. Just what the future may hold for the rest of the Leafs' collection of talent remains to be seen, but he'll get a lot of input from coach Ron Wilson, a long-time friend and associate from their Providence College days.

Wilson has been in the job long enough to get a read on his team — who he thinks might be integral, or even useful, when they finally turn the corner; and who might be expendable, or too old to make a difference when that finally occurs. Whatever happens, you can be sure of one thing. Win or lose, the upcoming Brian Burke-era is not going to be dull.

THEY SAID IT: Mike Milbury, on NESN's Thanksgiving Day coverage of the Bruins-Islanders game, figured the No. 1 issue in the NHL these days is hits from behind, this in the aftermath of a Milan Lucic bodycheck on Tim Jackman that rattled, but thankfully did not injure, the Islanders defenceman in Friday's matinee. Lucic was the target of a hit from behind a couple weeks back from the Dallas Stars' Sean Avery. Unhappily, there is a difference between identifying an issue and finding a solution. Ever since the NHL sent a warning to teams two weeks ago about hits to the head, there have been a number of suspensions — five games to the Islanders' Thomas Pock, three to the Kings' John Zeiler, two to the Devils' Mike Mottau — as the league tries to get its message out.

The problem with hits from behind — arguably the most violent play in the game, given the risk of a serious spinal cord injury — is the shades of grey involved in so many of these plays, and the tendency of players to turn their backs when they feel pressure coming, leaving themselves vulnerable to a forechecker who may or not be able to let up at the last split-second. In time, the solution can only come when a) coaches tell players its okay to use their best judgment to hold up if they think an opponent is in the danger area, 10 feet away from the boards: and b) the information package currently distributed by the NHLPA about ways to make that play safely (Glenn Healy is the point-man for the campaign) sinks in to the collective membership. In Lucic's case, he could have let up on Jackman; it is just not in his nature to do so.

AND FURTHERMORE: As fighting rises in hockey, more and more players are getting injured in fights as well. Tampa's David Koci was the latest; he'll miss two-to-four weeks, breaking his hand in a fight with the Rangers' Colton Orr the other day. Also this week: The Blue Jackets' Derek Dorsett went on IR after breaking a finger in a fight with the Coyotes' Daniel Carcillo. Losing an enforcer who plays limited minutes to injury is one thing. You'd have to think both Peter Laviolette and John Stevens were feeling extremely nervous when their respective captains, Rod Brind'Amour and Mike Richards, dropped the gloves in a Carolina-Philadelphia game. Neither team is in a position to lose either player for an extended period, even if Brind'Amour is struggling with one of the worst plus-minus rankings of his career (-16) … After starting the season playing twice in Prague, the Rangers and Lightning have completed their season series already, New York going a perfect 4-0 … Tampa's year would look a lot brighter, if only they could win in overtime or the shootout. Nine of the Lightning's first 21 games went to a shootout, including three of the first five in the Rick Tocchet era. Of those nine, Tampa won just two. Of their seven defeats, two came in overtime and five in shootouts. Jussi Jokinen, king of the shootout in his Dallas Stars' days, has tried six times this year and converted only once. Jokinen and the Thrashers' Slava Kozlov are tied for the career lead in shootout goals, with 18 apiece. The Blackhawks' Jonathan Toews is this year's early-season leader, the only player with four shootout goals to his credit … The last shoe to drop following the Barry Melrose firing came this week, when Tampa re-assigned Cap Raeder — a Melrose assistant in their Los Angeles Kings' days — to a new position in the organization, working with their goalie prospects, and brought in Mike Sullivan as a new assistant on Tocchet's staff. Sullivan played with both Tocchet (in Phoenix) and Wes Walz (in Calgary) and was previously the Bruins' head coach. Most recently, Sullivan had been coaching his daughter's under-19 team in Boston.

FIRST QUARTER STUDS AND DUDS: How's this for a remarkable turnaround season? Even without Daniel Briere in the line-up as his set-up man, the Flyers' Simon Gagne has been on a scoring tear of late, with 16 points in his last nine games and 30 in all for the season, good for second place behind the Penguins' Evgeni Malkin. Limited to 25 appearances by a concussion, Gagne managed only 18 points in all of last year … Doug Weight kept insisting he wasn't finished last year and maybe he was right after all. After playing a limited role with the Ducks, the team he joined in the controversial, salary-cap-driven Andy McDonald deal, Weight is averaging a point-a-game in his first 22 appearances for the Islanders. He had only 25 points all of last season. Meanwhile, the player the Ducks signed to replace Weight, Brendan Morrison, has just five points in his first 22 games … Even with all their injuries (Francois Beauchemin) and movement (Mathieu Schneider, Sean O'Donnell and Ken Klee) on the blueline, the Ducks made Kent Huskins, a regular these past two years, a healthy scratch for consecutive games this past week … Max Afinogenov was also a healthy scratch for the Sabres in back-to-back games and you wonder if a change of scenery may not be in order for the talented, but maddeningly inconsistent Russian. Worked, in a way, for Sergei Samsonov; might work for Afinogenov too. Dating back to last year, Afinogenov had just two goals in his last 33 regular-season games. Too much East-West in his game to suit coach Lindy Ruff.

STASTNYS FINALLY MEET: It probably didn't resonate the way Sutter against Sutter once did, or Staal against Staal still does, but the brothers Stastny, Colorado's Paul and St. Louis's Yan, played against each other for the first time in the NHL the other night, a game won by the Avalanche. The similarities end with the surnames, however. Yan has been mostly a journeyman since turning pro; Paul, three years younger, just signed a massive six-year contract extension that will pay him more than $33-million over the term of the deal.

RUMOR DU JOUR: With Brendan Morrow on long-term injured reserve and three other regulars up front (Steve Ott, Joel Lundqvist and Jere Lehtenin) out of the line-up this week, the Stars need help up front, so why not pursue Brendan Shanahan? Sure, Shanahan wants to stay in the East, but since that hasn't been an option and the season is already a quarter over, he may have to look West — and the attraction in Dallas is the man running the show, co-GM, Brett Hull, is a former teammate in Detroit. And with Morrow out, the Stars suddenly have a few extra dollars to spend. The Stars' leading leading goal-getter in the first 20 games was Loui Eriksson, with 10. Eriksson scored only 14 all of last year … Remember Darren Helm? He played 18 playoff games for the Red Wings in last year's Stanley Cup championship, got his name on the Stanley Cup at the age of 21 and then was back in Grand Rapids for the start of the season, because of Detroit's depth up front. The fleet-footed Helm was in for just his third game of the season, Wednesday's loss to Montreal; played okay; and then was returned to the minors because Danny Cleary was ready to play again, after recovering from a scratched cornea.

ALL-STAR CONTROVERSY, WEEK THREE: Getting much less notice than the rampant ballot-box stuffing in Montreal is the fact that Motor City fans are also doing their part to get six Red Wings players into the starting line-up as well. Currently, Marian Hossa, Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg rank one-two-three among Western Conference forwards, while Nicklas Lidstrom is first among defencemen. Also on defence, Brian Rafalski is third behind Calgary's Dion Phaneuf and goalie Chris Osgood second. Not sure if Osgood can make up ground on the injured Roberto Luongo, or even if Luongo's injury makes a difference. It usually doesn't … Martin Brodeur's injury hasn't been nearly the catastrophe for the New Jersey Devils that it was originally thought to be, mostly because Scott Clemmenson, who toiled in the Leaf organization for a year, filled the void so well. Clemmenson was in goal for the sweep of a home-and-home series with the Florida Panthers, and had won four games in a row through Friday. Clemmenson started the year in the minors and came up only after Brodeur needed elbow surgery that could keep him out until March … The story is remarkably similar in Washington, where the Capitals were missing seven regulars, including Alexander Semin (second in NHL scoring when injured) as well as defenceman Mike Green and still ran over Atlanta this past Wednesday. Alexander Ovechkin's torrid scoring pace of late (24 points in November and sure to be a lock for player of the month) was largely responsible. Karl Alzner made his NHL debut, replacing Jeff Schultz who along with team captain Chris Clark, were placed on long-term injury reserve so the Capitals had enough money left under the salary cap to call up four warm bodies from their AHL affiliate in Hershey.

OIL WATCH: The only mitigating circumstance in the Edmonton Oilers' painfully slow start was that they played 14 of their first 20 games on the road and won seven, a respectable total. The challenge now is turning it around at home, where they've lost five in a row; don't score consistently; and look strangely lifeless — not a quality you normally associate with a Craig MacTavish-coached team. MacTavish is not in any imminent danger, despite his public dressing-down of winger Dustin Penner; however, it could be a different story if the Oilers miss the playoffs, after entering the season with such high expectations. Penner isn't the only slumping forward either; Shawn Horcoff hasn't been getting to the tough areas nearly enough, and the Kid Line, especially Sam Gagner, failed to pick up where it left off last season. If Ales Hemsky wasn't in the midst of a brilliant, breakout season, the Oilers would be in deep trouble … The Senators' Jason Spezza is the latest athlete to join the Reebok stable, which includes most prominently the Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby. That news came in a big announcement in Ottawa. The next day, in a much smaller forum, the labor union, UNITE HERE, launched a cross-country campaign to persuade Reebok to bring back to Canada its production of hockey equipment and jerseys. Over the past six years, Reebok-CCM Hockey, Inc., the official makers of NHL apparel, has shut many of its Canadian plants and outsourced its production of NHL jersey replicas and other hockey equipment to Asia. According to Alex Dagg, executive VP and Canadian co-director of the union, "Sporting associations in other countries have policies in place that restrict sporting apparel and equipment production from going offshore. Hockey is a part of Canada's identity and jerseys and equipment should be made by Canadians for Canadians." Dagg also demanded "that Reebok commit to producing jerseys and equipment once again in our country. It makes good economic sense - Canadian production creates jobs, which allows for even greater support for hockey."

AND FINALLY: A worrisome note about old friend Jiggs McDonald, the long-time voice of the Islanders and other NHL teams: McDonald and his wife Marilyn and along with about 80 other Canadian tourists on a 30-day tour of Asia are currently stranded in Bangkok as a result to the political unrest there — and can't get out. It's four days and counting, with no end in sight and the threat of violence growing around them. McDonald's group was scheduled to fly home Wednesday, but the day before, the airport was shut down by an anti-government group (PAD) demanding the resignation of the country's prime minister and refusing to leave until he resigns. The Canadian tour company, Expo Cruises and Tours, is trying to get government help to expedite the evacuation of McDonald's group, along with about a thousand other Canadians, trying to get out of the country.