Interesting Brian Burke Videos from his time as the GM of Canucks

[nucklehead2]

Found some cool videos of Burke from his time in Vancity. Say what u want about the guy but he is definaitely behind the team he is with 110%

Brian Burke on Bure wanting out of Vancouver the day after

Brian Burke's Best Quotes #1

Brian Burke's Best Quotes #2

Henrik and Daniel Sedin selected NHL Entry Draft 1999

Brian Burke Officiating Rant During 2002 Playoffs vs Detroit Red Wings

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU-6IjSgEnk

brian burke gets snubbed - trev jersey ceremony

[uber_pwnzor]

I think Burke did a lot of good for this franchise.

[Rey]

He's always been loyal. Maybe a bit too loyal.

[Erik Karlsson]

I think Burke did a lot of good for this franchise.

[B_a_M]

Burke did do a lot of good things for the Canuck franchise, but at the same time I believe he did more wrong than right at the end of the day.

[KillerOrca]

That's ridiculous that he wasnt invited to the Linden Retirement ceremony.. but oh well.

[Tortorella's Rant]

I think Burke did a lot of good for this franchise.

[nucklehead2]

That's ridiculous that he wasnt invited to the Linden Retirement ceremony.. but oh well.

[King of the ES]

A little different than the Eeyore character who's running this franchise now, isn't he?

Great post, thanks for sharing.

[King of the ES]

Burke did do a lot of good things for the Canuck franchise, but at the same time I believe he did more wrong than right at the end of the day.

[VanGnome]

Brian Burke did 4 right things right with his time in Vancouver.

1. Drafted Trevor Linden, during his prime Linden was an invaluable leader on and off the ice which ultimately culminated in the Canucks receiving Todd Bertuzzi, leading to one of the most dominant lines in hockey.

2. Traded Pavel Bure and received Ed Jovanovski in return who went on to have a very good career with the Canucks.

3. Drafted the Sedin's, not much more needs to be said about that

4. He stood up for his team, his players and the city. He fought back against the league and provided ample entertainment from his epic bouts with the media.

Other things he did not so well at was maintain the prospect pool laden with anything remotely resembling talent, though I will say near the end of his tenure he drafted two great players in Bieksa and Kesler, no one else worth mentioning.

In retrospect, Nonis for being as so called "useless" as everyone called him out to be had a pretty good draft resume in Vancouver: Schneider, Edler, Hansen, Bourdon (RIP), Raymond, Grabner.

I don't recall if Nonis took over for the 2004 draft or if Burke was still here. Regardless, it could be argued that Burke had a hand in the decision process prior to his exit, scouting is a year long, sometimes two year long affair in which case Schneider, Edler and Hansen could be attributed to Burke.

[Tortorella's Rant]

.

[Rounoush]

I think Burke did a lot of good for this franchise.

[tas]

you know, most canucks fans have long since turned on burke, in stark contrast to the outcry at the time of his firing. they were furious then at the mccaw regime (and stan mccammon in particular) for choosing not to renew the contract of the "best gm in hockey." this blow was softened when his protege took over, however, and the wound gradually closed and left a scar of bitterness at the lack of post season success burke achieved in his tenure in vancouver. fans also began shredding personnel decisions in hindsight as if they hadn't viewed them as the single greatest player acquisition(s) in league history a mere 2 or 3 years prior.

i've been guilty myself of badmouthing the guy and enjoying his failures with the leafs, but it's things like this (and many others) that make my respect for him as a human being, if not an nhl exec, grow more and more. sure the guy has a bit of blowhard in him (he is a lawyer, after all), and a touch of arrogance, but it's plainly obvious that he has a ton of character and is a really stand-up guy. we get on his case now for shooting his mouth off to the media, but do we really even disagree with the things he's saying, or do we just get indignant because he's saying them in public?

here's the kind of respect and loyalty this guy garners: remember dave nonis sobbing during the press conference where he was crowned gm, stating that "he hadn't expected to get the position that way," alluding to burke being forced down the plank?

this trickles down a lot into team culture. over the last year and a half, i've personally soured pretty significantly on the mike gillis regime. and this isn't just bitterness or disappointment with the on-ice success; it's the whole culture.

gillis rode in to town essentially unopposed upon the recommendations of tony gallagher (it's fun to point out, actually, that at this time gallagher and ed willes virtually swapped positions with the province, heel for face, in the way they covered the team -- it had previously been willes for the regime and gallagher the voice of dissension, but this flip started switching when the aquilinis gained sole ownership and the transition finished with the way nonis was fired and gillis was hired -- followed thereafter by willes writing gradually less and less about the canucks due, presumably, to either a lack of permitted access to the team or disgust) and a courtnall. he brought with him a lot of promises about becoming a "destination" market for players. he promised to vastly improve the team's drafting department and team facilities. he was going to build the team around character and work ethic.

he also brought his own culture with him. at first, it seemed like the emphasis was on professionalism and character, with things like community involvement taken into consideration. he also did everything in his power to stand on the big stage with the big market teams. in a lot of ways, he's succeeded. the media and fans consider vancouver a big market team now, where only 8 or so years prior the team was putting 14000 butts in the seats and was on the verge of being moved slightly down the pacific coast (oh yeah, burke is the guy who single-handedly turned that around, by the way). but what has gillis really accomplished? drafting is marginally better, at best, and vancouver still isn't a destination for big name free agents. the team had an incredible year in their anniversary season and have been consistently great, but they've still only been out of the second round once. there's also the fact that all of the canucks' success the last 4 years has been on the backs of acquisitions from the previous regime, from the scouting department, to the coaching staff, to the entire core of the team (sedins, kesler, burrows, hansen, raymond, salo, bieksa, edler, luongo, schneider). meanwhile, what have gillis's acquisitions done? bernier failed. demitra failed. sundin showed up and got paid and doesn't argue when the players and management talk about the great effect he had on the team. ballard eats cap space. the only prospect to make an impact on the lineup, gillis's prize prospect, the epitome of gillis's philosophy of character, turned eric lindros and was shipped out of town. his replacement, while too early to judge, looks like he has a lot of potential he won't meet. hamhuis is good. malhotra is unfortunate. samuelsson was shipped out, crippling the canucks' offensive versatility.

but as these realizations have set in, i've also realized that's it's not so much professionalism and character as it is robotic players and organizational small man syndrome. while their bid to appear as a big market team has succeeded to an extent in the media and entirely with canucks fans, i get the impression that the bluster hasn't really paid off within the league's inner circle of front office types, agents, players, and veteran hockey analysts. this attitude has lead to a league-wide perception of arrogance, overratedness, and dirty play, always keeping in mind that when there's that much smoke there's a pretty good chance you'll find at least a little fire. the other problem is that the napoleon complex has spread to the fanbase. no longer do canucks fans view themselves as the lovable underdogs, the small market team that can compete with the big boys. instead, they view their team as an indestructible powerhouse, mocking any albertan, ontarian or quebecer they luck into crossing paths with, boasting how even their ahl players could field a better team than the lowly flames or leafs.

gillis has no doubt done good things, too. the improvements to the facilities, the outside the box thinking and research, the financial investment in the scouting and player development departments, the expectation of professionalism from the entire organization, and some other things as well have all made a marked impact on the team. it has become a very well run business. hence why the aquilini family was happy to extend his contract.

what you end up with, in a nutshell, as the difference between the gillis regime and the burke/nonis regime is the trading of respectability, honour and character for a whole lot of money, both spent and gained. don't worry, though, it was a hockey trade.

[tas]

holy god that rant turned long. sorry.

[mau5trap]

Brian Burke did 4 right things right with his time in Vancouver.

1. Drafted Trevor Linden, during his prime Linden was an invaluable leader on and off the ice which ultimately culminated in the Canucks receiving Todd Bertuzzi, leading to one of the most dominant lines in hockey.

2. Traded Pavel Bure and received Ed Jovanovski in return who went on to have a very good career with the Canucks.

3. Drafted the Sedin's, not much more needs to be said about that

4. He stood up for his team, his players and the city. He fought back against the league and provided ample entertainment from his epic bouts with the media.

Other things he did not so well at was maintain the prospect pool laden with anything remotely resembling talent, though I will say near the end of his tenure he drafted two great players in Bieksa and Kesler, no one else worth mentioning.

In retrospect, Nonis for being as so called "useless" as everyone called him out to be had a pretty good draft resume in Vancouver: Schneider, Edler, Hansen, Bourdon (RIP), Raymond, Grabner.

I don't recall if Nonis took over for the 2004 draft or if Burke was still here. Regardless, it could be argued that Burke had a hand in the decision process prior to his exit, scouting is a year long, sometimes two year long affair in which case Schneider, Edler and Hansen could be attributed to Burke.

[VanGnome]

.

[B_a_M]

It's really impossible to judge his performance, in hindsight. There was NO salary cap when he was here, and the CAD was worth $0.60 of the USD. Today's landscape is completely different. Back then, Vancouver could really only pickup the scraps that Colorado, Detroit, and/or New York didn't want.

He did good with the Bure trade. Jovanovski went on to have a very good career as a Canuck.

[Tortorella's Rant]

Burke may have not announced the pick at the draft, but as Director of Hockey Operations for the Canucks he certainly had a part in the decision process to pick Linden at the draft.

[IMyMeMine]

That's ridiculous that he wasnt invited to the Linden Retirement ceremony.. but oh well.