Kukla's Korner Hockey

Covering Burke Could Be A Story
by Paul on 11/29/08 at 08:13 PM ET
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from Tom Harringon of CBC Sports,
Five years ago, I began doing research for a possible documentary on Burke for Sports Journal, the current affairs program I hosted for seven years. My interest was peaked after reading about a Vancouver radio host who made a lewd, suggestive remark about the wife of then-Canucks star Todd Bertuzzi.
Burke was outraged. He revoked accreditation for the station’s hockey reporters and pulled the club’s advertising from the station. The host was fired.
I contacted a wide range of reporters who covered the team on a regular basis to find out what was behind Burke’s actions. Whether they worked for newspapers, radio or television stations, one after the other told stories of Burke’s interfering, often intimidating style….
A producer described being invited to lunch by Burke then facing a verbal attack in front of stunned patrons. A hockey columnist said Burke met with his publisher on several occasions, demanding they dismiss the writer because of the thrust of his columns.
Others recalled scenes of Burke chewing out a reporter in the hallway outside the Canucks dressing room, in front of colleagues, with language that would make Andrew Dice Clay blush.
Filed in: NHL Teams, Toronto Maple Leafs, | KK Hockey | Permalink
Tags: brian+burke
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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.
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