When the Toronto Maple Leafs opened with no wins in its first eight games there was no place to hide for general manager Brian Burke.
The team president and general manager, who negotiated his way out of a contract with the Anaheim Ducks to accept the prestigious job or running one of the NHL's oldest and most mishandled organizations, did a lot of bold talking about how he wanted his team to play and insisted nothing short of making the playoffs this season would be acceptable.
And to complicate matters, Burke made one of the riskiest trades in league history by sending two first round draft picks as well as a second-rounder to the Boston Bruins for injured 22-year-old winger Phil Kessel. The decision was based upon Kessel's 36 goals in just 70 games last season. Burke got himself a legitimate scoring threat, but did he pay too high a price?
With each mounting loss by the Leafs, the first round choice Toronto transferred to Boston got closer and closer to being a lottery pick and potentially the first overall choice. All the while Kessel remained sidelined while rehabbing his surgically repaired shoulder.
It all changed against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Kessel's much-anticipated debut didn't help the Leafs win, but it sure took some of the heat off his boss. It also brought a smile to the faces of Leafs' fans - when was the last time that happened?
It would have been nice if one or two of his 10 shots actually found the back of the net, but there was no denying his effort or the impact he had on a team desperate for a scoring threat. Only the solid play of Lightning goaltender Antero Niittymaki prevented Kessel from scoring more than one.
And if you thought Burke's heart skipped a beat at training camp when he was told Jonas Gustavsson had a bum ticker, well just imagine how he felt when Kessel was steamrolled by Lightning defender Mattias Ohlund on just his third shift of the game. Kessel got up slowly, dazed and confused, and was taken to the dressing room.
A few minutes later, however, Kessel re-emerged with his marbles not nearly as scrambled, and proceeded to play the best game of any Leaf this season. In 23 minutes and 50 seconds of playing time (so much for bringing him along slowly) Kessel also took seven shots that were blocked, delivered one hit and won both face offs attempted.
There was a concern coming into the game the Leafs had nobody to get Kessel the puck. After all, he was spoiled playing last season on a line with super passer Marc Savard who assisted 22 of the 36 goals. Sticking him with centre Matt Stajan, whose career-high in assists is 40, along with Jason Blake, who also likes to get the puck in a shooting position, didn't exactly smack of a match made in heaven.
Turns out it wasn't bad, though.
What was most impressive, aside from Kessel surviving the big hit from Ohlund, was the fact Kessel was able to retrieve loose pucks. He gives the Leafs a triggerman the team has lacked since Mats Sundin left the scene and he's the organization's first 50-goal threat since Alexander Mogilny.
At the end of the day I still wonder about the decision to surrender two first round picks and a second round draft choice for a player who was not included amongst the NHL's top 50 players by three different publications, but what is done is done. It may yet be Burke's undoing in Toronto, but for one night thousands of long-suffering Leafs fans were happy to have Kessel wearing the blue and white.
Now if Kessel averages 10 shots a game for three games and doesn't score …