“I know what fans are saying,” said Burke. “Why doesn’t he do something? The only answer I can tell you it’s not for lack of trying.

“Do you think I like driving home after every game? I understand the fans frustration, believe me. If anyone driving home from (Tuesday’s) game (against Los Angeles) is discouraged, imagine my ride home.

“The fact is, the team’s not winning and I haven’t made any changes. I understand, this is the GM’s problem. I accept that. You want to blame somebody, blame me. It’s my job to get it right. It all ends up on my desk ... I thought we had something (a trade) in November. That fell apart.

"Unfortunately, (talking trade) is like being a farmer. You plant your crop and then you do nothing but wait.”

It’s not like Burke has a lot of wait for. The mess of mediocrity he is surrounded by is compounded by the ridiculous contracts he inherited. There is no trading of Jason Blake, Lee Stempniak, Jeff Finger or Vesa Toskala. Tomas Kaberle, maybe the most tradeable commodity, hasn’t asked to waive his no-trade deal.

You can deal the rental players like Alexei Ponikarovsky and Matt Stajan, but last year the Leafs attempted to trade both and came away empty handed. Talking to agents, there does seem to be some interest in Ponikarovsky, but likely closer to the deadline. And Stajan is one of those typical Toronto players who gets overvalued in this market, but not overvalued by clubs that regularly scout the Leafs.

There also may be some interest in Niklas Hagman, who has one year left on his contract, but again, anything that would happen with him would likely occur in March.

Which leaves what?

“I can hang up (on) you and make a bad trade right now. That’s easy,” Burke said.

Burke understands people are looking at him quizzically. Burke understands that people expected more from him, more from the Leafs in his first full season in Toronto. Burke knows that the longer the Leafs struggle the less anyone cares about his Stanley Cup in Anaheim, or his Sedin master manipulation in Vancouver, or the Chris Pronger draft in Hartford. All that seems like ancient history to Leafs fans. They want some history of their own. They want a reason to believe.

They want a team that looks, appears, to be headed in the right direction.

No one wants to pay the highest prices in hockey to watched the 28th best team.