And while he spoke passionately about his commitment to the fight against bullying, particularly when the targets are young kids, Burke touched (hammered might be a more appropriate word) on a number of other issues, including his take on the 2014 Stanley Cup final, and what it takes to win in the NHL. Burke, the GM of the 2007 Stanley Cup winning Anaheim Ducks and now president of hockey operations with the Calgary Flames, said the New York Rangers, a team that lost 4 1 in the final against Los Angeles earlier this month, just weren tough enough to beat the Kings.
(Rangers) hit a goal post in every overtime, and I know they were closer than the score (indicated), but the fact is, they weren big or ugly enough. That my view from watching it. It was like gladiators against civilians, said Burke. have to have a little bit of edge to your game. at a roundtable at Wilson home a gathering that included current Leafs GM Dave Nonis, Leafs VP of hockey operations Dave Poulin, Leafs defenceman Dion Phaneuf and John Shannon of Sportsnet Burke harkened back to his time with the Ducks, a tough and skilled team that largely bulldozed over the competition during the 2007 playoffs, losing only five games in four series.
need snipers and you need stars. (But) I think we started the arms race in Anaheim with a big, ugly team, said Burke. had a lot of skill on that team. It was a classic top six, bottom six team. Andy McDonald was a key guy on that team, Teemu Selanne was a key guy on that team. (Ryan) Getzlaf, (Corey) Perry. We scored a lot of goals. And were we big and ugly? Yeah. Our bottom six were big and ugly. And I think it started the arms race.
don think you can win a championship without stars, I don think you can win a championship without skill, but I don think you can
wholesale cardinals jerseys win a championship without sides of beef either, added Burke, famous for his require . proper levels of pugnacity, testosterone, truculence and belligerence speech when he was hired by the Leafs in 2008. We getting dressed. If you want to skate, we going to beat ya. Guess what? We had a 100 point team that won the Stanley Cup. That the model now. praised the Kings for putting together a team that included equal measures skill and toughness and suggested that a major reason for their success was their astute drafting. In fact, all involved in the roundtable agreed that the NHL draft (which will be held June 27 28 in Philadelphia) is still probably the most important aspect in terms of putting together a winning team. Kings just won a Cup. I think they drafted 12 of their players. It still the backbone of what we do. And it still the less expensive way to get assets, said Burke. I got Dion in Toronto, but it cost me a fortune to get him. It cost a lot of players. The best way to get a top player is to draft him still. In a hard cap system, you only get players if you draft him, trade for him or sign him as a free agents. I think the draft has higher importance now than it ever did.
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draft in a hard cap system is vital, Burke continued. (Calgary) have the fourth pick in the (2014) draft. Our only chance to get a stud defenceman, or a stud forward, or a stud goaltender is in the draft (because) those guys don get traded. made some other interesting observations about this year draft, namely that he believes the first overall pick (owned by the Florida Panthers) is in play and that there may wholesale saints jerseys be a lot of movement before the selections begin as teams try to move up in what is considered a very strong and balanced first round.
think we in for a circus right until the draft starts, said Burke, adding that the Flames are perfectly happy to pick fourth if a deal to move doesn materialize.
we sit there with our thumb up our a., we get a good player, he said.
Burke speculated that for the Flames to move up and get Florida No. 1 pick, they probably have to give up something like their fourth overall pick, some age group assets and their 34th overall pick in the second round. Nonis said that the Leafs will be looking to move up from their eighth overall pick if the deal and the money makes sense.
There was no stopping the often hilarious and sometimes cantankerous Burke at the event, but his main reason for taking part was to raise awareness, and money, for the fight against LGBTQ bullying and to support the Canadian Safe School Network. Burke is a leading advocate in ending homophobia in sports and every year participates in the Toronto Gay Pride activities. His son Brendan, who came out in 2009, died at age 21 in a car accident the next year. His dad said the most important thing everyone can do to help the cause is to preach and teach acceptance at home.
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Brendan told me