http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck- ... 18456.html
"What's the Pittsburgh model?"
Brian Burke snapped that question back to the media during a postseason press conference on Tuesday, examining the carcass of the 2011-12 Toronto Maple Leafs' season.
The initial question had been about preaching patience to the fan base and a form of long-term rebuilding that's been foreign to the Leafs: Collecting high draft choices through years of unsuccessful hockey, only to have a franchise resurrected as a Stanley Cup contender.
"They got a lottery. They won a god damn lottery and they got the best player in the game. Is that available to me? Should we do that? Should we ask the League to have a lottery this year, and maybe we pick first?" he said.
"The Pittsburgh model? My ass."
Burke continued: "They got the best player in the game in a lottery. Ray Shero's done a good job. He's an excellent GM and he's a friend of mine. But I love when people talk about the Pittsburgh model. The simple fact is that they got the best player … we came in second that year in Anaheim. We got Bobby Ryan. Impact player, good player. They got Sidney Crosby in the lottery."
(Anyone want to wager what percentage of Burke's ire here is based on the premise that he'd still be living in California if the Ducks had landed Sidney Crosby?)