Report: Toronto Maple Leafs fire general manager Brian Burke

The Maple Leafs fired general manager Bruce Brian Burke (left). The team has not made the playoffs since 2004. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The Toronto Maple Leafs fired Brian Burke as general manager on Wednesday, just days before the season is going to start after a four-month lockout, reports The Sports Network.

Burke was hired as the president and general manager of the Maple Leafs in 2008.  Before that, he was the general manager of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, who won a Stanley Cup in 2007 under his tenure.

Burke had two more seasons left on his contract that paid him about $3 million a year. The NHL will play a 48-game schedule starting Jan. 19, according to reports.

Burke's NHL career began in Vancouver in 1987 when he was hired by Pat Quinn to be the director of hockey operations for the Canucks.

Burke was the general manager for the United States national men's ice hockey team for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.