Yesterday came the stunning news that Burke was out as Toronto Maple Leafs GM. The timing couldn’t have been worse for an Original Six franchise that thinks too much of itself. Let me repeat. Burke was fired as general manager a couple of days following the end of the lockout. He will be replaced by former Dave Nonis. Amazingly, Burke is expected to stay on as a senior adviser.

There are no words for an arrogant organization that does things their way even if it defies logic. Before word leaked out as to why, I guessed that it had something to do with Roberto Luongo. The Leafs have been hot and heavy for the overrated goalie the Canucks can’t wait to get rid of. Vancouver is ready to hand over the reigns to Cory Schneider, who they’ve groomed for a while making the long-term deal Luongo signed an albatross. It makes plenty of sense for the ‘Nucks to find a taker and clear some room.

The thing that puzzles me is why the Leafs are so hell bent on coveting Luongo that they’d even give a classy guy like Burke the axe. Apparently, he didn’t want to acquire the veteran goalie who was part of Vancouver’s meteoric rise. That should tell Toronto something. Even if they think Luongo is the answer to their problems between the pipes, it still made no sense to do what they did to Burke- leaving many around the league shocked.

“Not very often I’m at a loss for words, but today I am,” said TSN’s Bob McKenzie. “For him to be fired before a single game played is nothing short of shocking, especially given his role in the CBA negotiations,” added McKenzie’s colleague and ESPN writer Pierre LeBrun.

“We didn’t get the job done last year and now he’s paying the price. Obviously it doesn’t feel good for any of us,” expressed Joffruy Lupul, who was one of Burke’s best acquisitions- coming over with Jake Gardiner as part of a trade for Francois Beauchemin.

“A lot of things are happening pretty quickly. It’s definitely weird timing,” Mike Brown stated. “I wish him the best and thank him for everything.”

None of it makes sense. Fire a guy you hired to rebuild your organization right after an ugly work stoppage. I’m not the biggest Burke supporter. He’s had his ups and downs with the Phil Kessel trade the low point with archrival Boston winning the Stanley Cup thanks to contributions from No.1 pick Tyler Seguin. The Bruins also drafted Canadian defense prospect Dougie Hamilton and Jared Knight. Two of the three were No.1 picks Burke parted with to acquire Kessel, who won All-Star MVP and got off to a great start in ’11-12 before plateauing.

Burke stole Lupul and Gardiner from Anaheim. He also robbed Calgary blind, trading for current Leaf captain Dion Phaneuf. He also is responsible for selecting Tyler Biggs and Morgan Rielly, who both participated in the #WJC2013 for USA and Canada respectively. He re-signed top center Mikhail Grabovski and stole James van Riemsdyk from the Flyers for Luke Schenn.

Not every move a GM makes is going to pan out. Kessel is the Leafs’ best finisher. So, he hasn’t underachieved. But doesn’t quite measure up to how much Burke gave up. It happens. The Leafs also have Tim Connolly for the rest of this season. I fail to see how the Maple Leafs came to this decision. I agree with Burke on Luongo. What are they prepared to trade? The mismanaged Nazem Kadri, James Reimer and one of their top prospects for a fading goaltender.

I don’t get it. I don’t think anyone can rationalize the Leafs anymore. They are an enigma, living in their own world, probably with Mayans. A classless move by an arrogant organization.