There are few people who have had such a diverse career in the game and there are few people who have been as committed to the game both on and off the ice as Brian Burke. In addition to all the work he’s done either as a player or an agent or an executive at the club level or League level, he’s always been a part of giving back, using the game as a platform to be involved in the community. He’s always been the full package and the real deal.
Brian moved to Minnesota not as an infant but as an older child. He learned to love the game and he’s about the game in every form. He wants to see the game grow and he’s always been a part of that, which is probably the strongest testament as to why he’s been selected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as a Builder.
When I think of his image, the first thing that pops into my head is a picture he used to have in his office at the League of him on the ice in a Maine Mariners uniform with blood all over his face. That’s one image that he gives off. But the other image is somebody who’s concerned about people, who embraces people and relationships. If you’re his friend, he’ll go to all ends of the earth to support you and be there for you, which is the mark of a truly good human being.
I was also thinking about him and his necktie. Having the tie loose and around his neck was his statement of, ‘I’ll have the tie because that’s very formal, but I don’t want to tie the tie.’ But nobody wears ties anymore. So, he doesn’t need to do that. So that’s why he was ahead of his time and now behind it. That is perhaps the best statement of the paradox of Brian Burke. On one hand, the truculent battler, competitor; on the other hand, the teddy bear.
Jim Gregory was running hockey operations when I was named Commissioner in 1993, and later that year I hired Brian to do them. At the time, Brian was general manager of the Hartford Whalers. I thought in terms of what we needed to do in modernizing hockey operations and making it a more professional operation, he was the right person. He was smart, he was hard working, he had the knowledge, and he was somebody that I believed could share my vision to modernize the game.
The progress we made in the five years Brian worked for the League was dramatic. We had systems for monitoring games, for monitoring officials, he was involved in some rule changes. He gave us a very forward-looking approach to hockey operations.
One memory that stands out for me around that time was during collective bargaining in 1994 or 1995. We were at a steakhouse in Chicago, and I think he ordered the 48-ounce ribeye and much to my amazement he ate the entire thing. I guess collective bargaining made him hungry.
As a GM, I think he would be categorized as a wheeler-dealer in the sense that he has never been afraid to take big swings. With the Canucks, he managed to do what he had to do to get Daniel and Henrik Sedin with the No. 2 and 3 picks in the 1999 NHL Draft, which is no easy feat. He brought Hall of Fame defensemen Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger to Anaheim. He’s got that level of self-confidence, not arrogance, but self-confidence that he’s not afraid to try something that most people wouldn’t dare try. Not every trade he’s made has worked out, but he’s always had the intestinal fortitude to try big things.
As a person, Brian is among the most giving people that I know. He is committed and passionate about his relationships. His children are vitally important to him. He spent countless hours on airplanes commuting just so he could see his children on weekends. He’s an extraordinary dad.
He’s had the type of tragedy that nobody ever wants to have in losing his son, Brendan, in 2010. Brian was extremely supportive of Brendan, who came out in 2009, and he endured that tragedy. I’m not sure you ever get over anything like that, but he persevered. He’s done things in Brendan’s memory, including founding the You Can Play project, a campaign to end homophobia in sports, which gives Brendan an incredible legacy of making hockey welcoming to everyone. That’s part of Brian.
Burkie has had a variety of jobs, and he’s never really been without one that was hockey related. I think his working for the Professional Women’s Hockey League Players Association was another way to stay involved but just as important, to also give back. What the PWHL did to get started, and he was part of it, was extraordinary because they did it in a time frame that I don’t think anyone thought was possible. The success they’re having is a function of those early, embryonic days. Yes, co-owners Mark Walter and Stan Kasten and everybody has done a great job, but you needed to bring everything together and I think Brian was an important part of that.
For Brian to call me a mentor of his, I find that very flattering. When he worked here, I viewed us as partners, and you couldn’t ask for more loyalty and commitment from somebody you’re working with. To be considered in that context with Lou Lamoriello and the late Pat Quinn is an honor because they were and are quintessential members of the hockey community. It’s an honor to be mentioned with them and I find it very humbling and gratifying that Brian views me that way.
All inductions are special, and the Hockey Hall of Fame is like a cathedral. It’s like a religious rite of passage. For Brian, with all of the different places he’s been, the different career paths he’s had, with all of the things that he’s done in his life outside of hockey and all of the things that he’s managed in his life, both in and out of hockey, for him to get this recognition, I’m happy for him. He deserves it.
