Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

The New Management Team In Pittsburgh

02/10/2021 at 7:30am EST

from Ron Cook of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,

The hiring of one-time Penguins villain Ron Hextall as general manager was no surprise. He had been linked to the position from the moment Jim Rutherford resigned last month. Hextall is a terrific hire. He proved his worth in Philadelphia even though he was fired there in November 2018, largely building a Flyers team that is capable of winning the Cup this season.

On the other hand, the hiring of hockey lifer Brian Burke as president of hockey operations — Hextall’s boss — was shocking. At 65, he seemed entrenched as a popular analyst who was glib in front of a television or radio microphone for Rogers Media in Canada. His work running the franchises in Hartford, Vancouver, Anaheim, Toronto and Calgary received mixed reviews. He won a Cup with Anaheim in 2007 after acquiring Hall of Fame defensemen Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer. He failed in Toronto after trading two No. 1 picks and a second-round pick to Boston for Phil Kessel, who couldn’t handle being the big fish in a huge hockey pond.

It also was surprising that the Penguins went from having one man head their hockey ops to two.

“It’s the people,” team president/chief executive officer David Morehouse said. “With these two guys, we have two of the greatest minds in hockey. Once I saw we had this opportunity, I think I would have been a fool not to take it.”

The question now:

Can “Hexie” and “Burkie,” as they repeatedly referred to each other Tuesday, play nice together?

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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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