from Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun,

Burke was in rare Burke form at the fundraiser: Angry, charming, often hilarious, passionate about his fight against homosexual bullying, even suggesting at one point that, if he had the chance, he’d come back and work for the Leafs.

“I would take the job in Toronto again,” he said. “I had no regrets about working here. I loved it.”

As for the Toronto media, well, Burke didn’t actually bring the topic up. Someone asked for his thoughts and Burke, as he often does, held nothing back, suggesting at one point that 95% of the Toronto media are “conscientious, thorough guys.”

“The other 5%,” Burke added, “well, it’s a shame that we’re not allowed to kick the s--- out of them.”

Now, that quote has to be put in some context. Generally speaking, Burke was being funny. Indeed, he had the well-heeled crowd in the palm of his hand for most of the night with his often outrageous and caustic comments, particularly concerning the media. But there was a definite theme to his diatribes.

“It is a death of a thousand cuts,” said Burke when the subject of the Toronto media was raised during a Q&A. “And I loved working here. I thought I had the best job in hockey when I worked here. In Calgary, it’s not a whole lot better in terms of the media coverage. But you have 80% of the media that are ethical people that give a s---, want to get it right. The other 20% ruin it for everybody (he later jumped to the 95/5 formula).

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