Color of Hockey: Burgin inspires on, off ice as GM in British Columbia league

William Douglas has been writing The Color of Hockey blog since 2012. Douglas joined NHL.com in 2019 and writes about people of color in the sport. Today, he profiles Mark Burgin, a 2024 Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award finalist who is in his first season as general manager of Delta of the British Columbia Hockey Conference.

Don’t expect Mark Burgin to confine himself to his office or arena stands as general manager of the Delta Ice Hawks of the British Columbia Hockey Conference.

“I'll be jumping on the ice throughout the season, jumping on with the players,” Burgin said. “I was doing that at the start of the season because you see how guys are skating, how they're moving, that I don’t think you get when your in the stands. I told them at the beginning of season that with me, they're going to experience something that's very different than what they're typically used to.”

Burgin, a 2024 Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award Canada finalist, is in his first full season with the Ice Hawks, a Delta, British Columbia Junior A team.

Delta is off to a strong start since his hire on April 2. Its 23 points were the most in the 22-team BCHC entering Sunday and it led the Mainland Division at 11-4-1.

Burgin is one of the few Black general managers in amateur and professional hockey and he draws inspiration from Mike Grier, who played 1,060 games with four NHL teams over 14 seasons (1996-2011), was an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils (2018-20) and was a hockey operations adviser with the New York Rangers (2021-22) before becoming the NHL’s first Black general manager when the San Jose Sharks hired him on July 5, 2022.

“When I see a guy like Mike Grier in the general manager’s chair," Burgin said, "that gives me hope that the game is progressing in areas and for what he’s done in putting together such a skilled, talented roster. Him having the ability and opportunity to make those decisions, I think that representation is powerful. 

"That's why I jump on the ice from time to time. Young athletes need to see that someone like myself is truly involved on every level, from off the ice to on the ice to (player) development, every single way.”

Burgin brings a coaching, player development and mentorship portfolio to the front office. He was a board member and coach in the Semiahmoo Ravens Minor Hockey Association serving White Rock and South Surrey, British Columbia, and on the board of BC Hockey, the steward of amateur hockey at all levels in British Columbia and Yukon.

Working in grassroots hockey, the 57-year-old South Surrey resident has coached, developed and mentored players who have gone on to play in major junior, NCAA hockey and the NHL.

He has worked with and mentored players like Cayden Lindstrom, a Michigan State forward who was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets with the No. 4 pick in the 2024 NHL draft.

Burgin and his family took in Lindstrom when he was a 15-year-old trying out for Team BC and didn’t have a place to stay. The 20-year-old Columbus prospect has been welcome in the Burgin home ever since, bunking there in the offseason.

In 2022, Burgin established Diversity Athletics Society, a nonprofit aimed at keeping youth involved in hockey and other sports despite financial obstacles, and to help promote inclusiveness.

The organization has a mentorship group that includes retired NHL forward Anthony Stewart; Blake Bolden, a pro scout and growth and inclusion specialist for the Los Angeles Kings; and Todd McMillon, a retired cornerback who played for the Chicago Bears and the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League.

Burgin was also part of an all-Black coaching staff which put 35 young players through their paces during the Vancouver Canucks inaugural Black Excellence Skate in February 2025.

He said he shares his hockey experiences as a Black kid from London, England, who fell in love with the sport when his family moved to Winnipeg despite encountering some racial obstacles along the way.

“I said the greatest thing that I can bring to them is my diverse background, and it has not always been in my favor,” he said. “I tell them that I have been called names, but if I let those things bother me or let them derail me, I probably wouldn’t be here with you today. I talk to parents and say, ‘The one thing I can teach the boys is how to be really thick-skinned and resilient.’”

Burgin said being a GM has been an enjoyable and learning experience, the main lesson being that the job is nonstop.

“I was laughing the other day because my phone is constantly ringing, and from numbers I don't even know,” he said.

Burgin said he hopes the lessons learned will lead to getting a call from a professional team someday.

“Would I want to be the general manager of a pro team? Yeah,” he said. “I think I would want to go as high as I can go to influence the game, the human side, the performance side of the game, which is what it's all about.”