The Toronto Maple Leafs have relieved Brian Burke of his job and replaced him with his Dave Nonis, one of Toronto's assistant General Managers. The news came as a shock today when the decision was made, and was followed up by a press conference from Toronto at 1:45pm this afternoon. Burke has been appointed a new role for the Maple Leafs as a senior advisor.

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North York - January 9, 2013 - The Toronto Maple Leafs have relieved Brian Burke of his job and replaced him with his Dave Nonis, one of Toronto's assistant General Managers. The news came as a shock today when the decision was made, and was followed up by a press conference from Toronto at 1:45pm this afternoon. Burke has been appointed a new role for the Maple Leafs as a senior advisor.

Burke, who was the GM for the Leafs for the last four years, had a losing record in his tenure with Toronto. He just recently signed Randy Carlyle to take over as the coach at the tail end of last season. Considering the fact that the NHL and the NHLPA have finally come to a deal after four months of lockout, the timing of this news is rather odd. Why not fire Brian Burke in the summer? Or why not fire him in the dead months during the lockout? The timing doesn't seem right for a change to just happen. What made this decision happened just a few days prior to training camp for the 48-game shortened NHL season.

During the press conference held this afternoon, it was noted several times that the decision to let Burke go wasn't anything reactionary, but rather that the relationship with Burke "wasn't something that would last long-term". But could there be something else? Is it possible that Burke's headstrong morals, that may have rubbed other general managers the wrong way and interrupted possible trades, be the reason that he lost his job? At this point, no one knows, but maybe in time the answers will be revealed.

All these questions aside, there is one far more important to Maple Leafs fans, what does this mean for Roberto Luongo coming to Toronto?