From Al Strachan at FoxSports:
[Brian Burke] started off as GM of the Hartford Whalers, a team that had just made the playoffs for seven consecutive seasons. Once Burke got there, they missed.
But he was much better in Vancouver. There, he won a playoff round. Granted it took six seasons to do so, but geniuses can’t be held to the same standards as everyone else. In those six seasons, he missed the playoffs twice and went out in the first round three times.
Of course, Strachan fails to mention the levels to which Vancouver sucked before Burke came to town, but what the hell—Al is on a roll in this column.
[A] very good case could be made that the three people most responsible for Burke’s Stanley Cup win are 1) Bryan Murray for providing the team, especially Rob Niedermayer; 2) Chris Pronger’s wife and 3) a referee.
Last year, Burke’s team returned to form and went out in the first round. So if we take out the Stanley Cup year, Burke has won the whopping total of three playoff rounds in nine years. Even if you include the Cup, he has won seven rounds in 10 years. This is a genius?
Geez. Maybe Al’s not too happy about Burke’s Lester Patrick Award that was announced this morning?
Whatever, it’s definitely the thing to read if you feel like hating Brian Burke, so do check it out. No matter what you may personally think of Burke, I don’t think you could possibly hate him more than Al does.
Loaded with so much vitriol, sarcasm and bitterness, I almost felt relieved the guy managed to get it all off his chest before he had a stroke.
Plus it’s quite fun to read. In fact, I propose someone review Al Strachan’s career using the same approach sometime… ;)
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