Legends of Team Canada: Sean Burke

Long before he established himself as a top NHL goaltender, Sean Burke was a household name in Canada.

After getting a taste of international hockey in the 1986 world junior championships, the highly rated goaltender opted to apprentice with the Canadian national team instead of the minor professional leagues. In the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons the lanky Burke stopped pucks in 78 official games with the national team, winning 46 of them. 

His performance was strong enough to make the 1988 Olympic team, though he’d have to share goaltending duties with NHL holdout Andy Moog. The duo formed a formidable tandem - arguably the best tandem anywhere in the world -  but ultimately the team could only finish in fourth place in front of a Canadian audience.

Burke would go on to the National Hockey League and quickly prove to be a big league netminder. By 1991 his strong play combined with his international experience made him a solid choice as the third goalie for a victorious Team Canada at the Canada Cup. He never played a minute of action as he backed up Bill Ranford and Ed Belfour.

While most of the members of the 1991 Canada Cup championship team quickly disbanded back to their NHL clubs, Burke became involved in a contract dispute with the New Jersey Devils that would ultimately cost him the entire NHL season. Burke returned to his roots and joined the Canadian national team for most of the season. It was perfect timing as 1992 was another Olympic year. Burke would post a strong 5-2 record with a 2.37 goals against average as he backstopped Canada to an impressive silver medal performance.

"There are two ways of looking at this," said Burke at the time. "First of all, I have been forced. I was backed into a corner. But I knew the chances of something happening might not happen so I was prepared to be here. It wasn't a difficult decision at all. I know how much I benefited from this program and realized I could learn a lot and this is as good a place to learn."

"Some of the best times I've ever had in hockey have been with this team, playing in the (1988) Olympics and the experiences leading up to them. I'm ready to go through it again," Burke said. "Hopefully, I can get as much out of it the second time as I did the first time."

"I feel a real sense of loyalty to Dave (King)," he added.

"The rules don't allow it, but you could put the C on Sean Burke and it wouldn't be out of place,' said the head coach admiringly. "He's very much an ordinary hockey player. That's what I like about Sean. He doesn't have the quirks of some goalies. He's a basic, typical hockey player. He has a good fitness level. He's a tremendous guy when he's not playing. Just a great leader. Some goalies don't bring it to a team.'

When pressed, Burke could not choose which Olympic experience was his favorite.

"To play as the host country in 1988 was such a unique experience," he said, but added "obviously winning the medal in 1992 was extra special."

Like Ryan Smyth, Burke could always be counted on to play for Canada whenever called upon.

Burke often played with weak NHL teams and often were knocked out of the playoffs early. As a result Burke extended his season four times as he participated in four world championships. Having won silver medals in 1989 and 1991, Burke’s 7-1-3 record including three shutouts earned him a rare Canadian gold medal at the prestigious tournament.

Because of his extensive international experience, Burke always seemed to be on the cusp of rejoining Team Canada for major events. Such was the case in 2002 when Ed Belfour edged him out of the reserve goaltender role. Had he made the team, it would have been Burke’s third Olympic games. That would have set a record for Canadian goaltenders and would have tied Terry O’Malley, Wally Schreiber and Eric Lindros among all hockey players.

And now Burke returns to a very different Canadian Olympic program. In 2017 he was asked to be Team Canada's general manager for the 2018 Olympics. The dominating story line there of course being the absence of NHL players.

Burke has no lack of Olympic experience, and is quickly rising in the management ranks. He surrounds himself with former Olympians including Dave King, Tom Renney, Martin Brodeur and Craig Woodcroft.

One thing is for sure - Sean Burke will do Canada proud yet again.

New Hockey Heroes Coming to Pyeongchang and GreatestHockeyLegends.com

Canada's Olympic gold medal hockey hopes lie in the hands of Sean Burke.

It's not the first time.

Burke, of course, was a really good NHL goaltender with a number of really average-at-best teams over 18 seasons and 820 games. He was a regular workhorse for Canada on the international scene, representing Canada at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary and the '92 games in France, winning silver. He played another 130 games for Canada in various international tourneys, including World Championship teams in 1997 and 2003. He also was a back up goalie at the 1991 Canada Cup.

This summer Burke was named as General Manager of the Canadian Olympic team. A dream job, right? Well, yes, and I'm sure Burke - an up and coming star on the hockey management scene - certainly thinks so. But, in case you have not heard, he will not have NHL pros to choose from. He won't even have most AHL players available. And no, no junior stars. NCAA players and pros playing in European leagues are what we have to look forward to.

Burke was hired by Tom Renney. Renney, a junior coaching sensation with the Kamloops Blazers, joined hockey Canada shortly after the 1992 Olympics. Two years later he guided the team to another silver medal, losing to Sweden in a heart breaking shootout.

Renney would graduate to the NHL and coach in Vancouver, New York and Edmonton, and worked alongside Mike Babcock in Detroit. He remained close to Hockey Canada, serving in a number of capacities in 10 world championships, winning three gold. That included the 2004 tournament when he was head coach.

Fast forward to today.

Renney replaced Bob Nicholson as President and CEO of Hockey Canada in 2014.  Coming off of Nicholson's long string of many successes on and off the ice, it was always going to be a difficult challenge for Renney or for anyone else, for that matter. And Renney's job got significantly tougher in 2016 when the NHL opted out of sending it's talent to the Olympics.

Nicholson had it relatively easy. Hire the likes of Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman, Pat Quinn and Mike Babcock and bring the NHL's best. Renney has to hire guys more-or-less unaffiliated with the NHL and bring in players that fall into two categories - has-beens and never-heard-ofs - to participate at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, Korea.

Renney allowed Burke to name his management team, which is full of some interesting connections.

Burke has brought aboard fellow goaltending legend Martin Brodeur, an assistant manager in St. Louis. The two time gold medalist's role is not quite as clear as everyone else's. One report suggest Brodeur would not be part of the European league scouting once the NHL season starts due to duties with the Blues. He's relatively new to the management scene, but he knows how to win - including memorable Olympic gold medals in 2002 and 2010.

The next hire was coach Willie Desjardins. Coach Willie has a fantastic coaching record in junior and the minor leagues, but struggled as time went on in his only NHL assignment with the rebuilding Vancouver Canucks. Before that he was a Memorial Cup champion in Medicine Hat, a Calder Cup champion in Texas (AHL), and World Junior Champion as Pat Quinn's associate coach in 2010.

Desjardins' coaching staff features up-and-comers Scott Walker (three time player at World Championships) and Craig Woodcroft (who played with the Canadian national team throughout his career but missed the 1994 Olympics as one of the last cuts), along with Hockey Canada legend Dave King.

Desjardins and King go back a long way.  Following a junior career in Moose Jaw, Swift Current and Lethbridge that did not lead to the pro ranks, Desjardins enrolled at the University of Saskatchewan where he continued to play under a mostly unknown head coach named Dave King. After graduating King helped to land him a spot with Vissers Nijmegen in the Netherlands. Desjardins became team captain and led the team to the Dutch championship. It was what Dave King did best - gave young players opportunities.

A good case could be built that King, an Olympic and IIHF Hall of Famer, could be head coach, as he was under very similar situations throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. King had a true national team to work with as he battled the not-so-amateur Soviet juggernauts at the 1984, 1988 and 1992 Olympics, as well as at five world championships. He rejuvenated the beloved Canadian national team program that Father David Bauer started in the 1960s.

Those national teams were generally built around something that Tom Renney, Sean Burke, and Dave King know all to well. Youth. Names like Glenn Anderson, Randy Gregg,  Jim Nill, Paul MacLean, Russ Courtnall, Kevin Dineen, Patrick Flatley, Dave Tippett, Kirk Muller, James Patrick, Dave Gagner, Doug Lidster, Bruce Driver, Brian Bradley, Zarley Zalapski, Trent Yawney, Tim Watters, Paul Kariya, Eric Lindros, Joe Juneau, and of course Burke himself.

Yet while they know youth was a real key for their relative success in the pre-NHL Olympic era, they are either unable to or unwilling to find a similar path for the 2018 games.

A look at Canada's list of invitees (all playing in Europe) to a couple of tournaments in Russia is kind of uninspiring. Kevin Poulin, Justin Peters and Ben Scrivens in net? Carlo Coliacovo could be Canada's number one defenseman? Mason Raymond still plays? Same goes for Gilbert Brule, Rob Klinkhammer, Derek Roy, Cam Barker, Max Talbot and Andrew Ebbett. But at least we have heard of these players. Who knows who Paul Szczechura is? How about Brandon Buck? Eric O'Dell? Chay Genoway? No offense, fellas.

I suspect a few of the invitees will actually make the team. Maybe we will see some NCAA talent?

While the 2018 Olympic tournament pales in comparison to the NHL-era games, new heroes will emerge. Just like they did King's days in the 1980s and 1990s, or Father Bauer's era back in the 1960s.

Remembering past Olympic heroes will be a major focus of GreatestHockeyLegends.com through out this season. I will focus a lot on Canadian players, but will look at international players, too.

Because every hockey player has a story worth telling.

I can tell you this has reinvigorated me a great deal. Stay tuned for some great hockey stories this season. Just like you will find great stories coming out of the NHL-less Olympics in 2018.

Devils Advocates: Sean Burke

I became a big fan of Sean Burke before he was a NHL goalie. He outplayed Andy Moog on the 1987-88 Canadian National Team that played in the Calgary Olympics. Canada's weak teams could never beat the Soviet "amateurs," but things looked really promising on Alberta ice that year. Backed almost solely by the goaltending, Canada was even picked to win gold by Sports Illustrated. It didn't happen, but as Eric Duhatshek also recalls those were sweet memories.

Then Burke jumped straight to the NHL, going 10-1-0 to sneak the New Jersey Devils into the playoffs for the first time. He also took the Devils deep into the playoffs, before bowing to the Boston Bruins in the conference finals. A star was born.

Perhaps the last great stand up goalie, he was forced out of NJ with Martin Brodeur waiting in the wings. He went on to a lengthy and vagabond NHL career.


Here's the full Sean Burke biography

Olympic Legends: Sean Burke

Long before he established himself as a top NHL goaltender, Sean Burke was becoming a household name in Canada.

After getting a taste of international hockey in the 1986 world junior championships, the highly rated goaltender opted to apprentice with the Canadian national team instead of the minor professional leagues. In the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons Burke stopped pucks in 78 official games with the national team, winning 46 of them. His performance was strong enough to make the 1988 Olympic team, though he’d have to share goaltending duties with NHL holdout Andy Moog. The duo formed a formidable tandem, but ultimately the team could only finish in fourth place in front of a Canadian audience.

If there is anyone who understands the pressures of tending to the Canadian Olympic net on home ice, it is Burke. He recently spoke about the pressures, and more importantly the amazing opportunities, Martin Brodeur, Roberto Luongo and Marc Andre Fleury face.

Sean Burke Retires

It's hardly surprising, but still it is sad. Veteran goaltender Sean Burke is leaving the ice.

I was always a big fan of Burke, although he never really accomplished anything in terms of championships. He was the Marcel Dionne of goaltenders, if you will. Great talent, terrible teams to play with. As a result, he never was able to make a name for himself in the NHL playoffs. In fact, in 20 years in the bigs, he only had a chance to play in 37 playoff contests.

I became a big fan of Burke before he was a NHL goalie. He outplayed Andy Moog on the 1987-88 Canadian National Team that played in the Calgary Olympics. Canada's weak teams could never beat the Soviet "amateurs," but things looked really promising on Alberta ice that year. Backed almost solely by the goaltending, Canada was even picked to win gold by Sports Illustrated. It didn't happen, but as Eric Duhatshek also recalls those were sweet memories.

Then Burke jumped straight to the NHL, going 10-1-0 with the traditionally sad sack New Jersey Devils. He also took the Devils deep into the playoffs, before bowing to the Boston Bruins in the conference finals. A star was born.

Perhaps the last great stand up goalie, he was forced out of NJ with Martin Brodeur waiting in the wings. He went on to star with Hartford, Philadelphia, and Phoenix with brief stops in Carolina, Vancouver, Tampa Bay, Florida and Los Angeles.

Burke was an obvious inclusion in my book Legends of Team Canada. He played in 5 world championships, 2 Olympics and should have been the third goalie in the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake. He was definitely good enough, a great leader, and deserving of that elusive epic victory.

Alas he will likely fade away in hockey's history. A really good goalie on some real bad teams. But I will always remember Sean Burke as one of the best goalies of his era.