Brian Burke will be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2023 in November. And, yes, there's a New York Islanders connection.
Brian Burke will be inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Class of 2023 in November.
And, yes, there's a New York Islanders connection.
Were it not for the guidance of Lou Lamoriello it is very unlikely that this honor would never have happened.
The Islanders' boss made Burke what he is today and you can bet Brian is satisfied.
As a matter of plain written fact, the new HOF nominee devoted not one but two full chapters to Lou in Brian's autobiography, "Burke's Law -- A Life In Hockey."
Try page 19 where Burke explains that he's known Lou for more than four decades. He played for him at Providence College. He worked for Lamoriello at Lou's hockey school and competed against him as a rival general manager.
What's more, when NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman hired Burke to handle player discipline at the league's head office, he had to deal with Lou as then GM of the Devils.
"No one has been more influential in my professional life than Lou," is the way Burke put it in his autobio. "I owe him a lot. He got me through four years of college and got me a scholarship to pay for my education. He's the only reason I went to law school. I have learned so much from him."
As every single media type -- not to mention everyone else in the whole wide world knows -- "Lou's rules are Lou's rules, no matter who you are and no matter how long you've known him."
That's what Burke wrote and that is the way it is.
Not that Brian needed to be reminded of that but he certainly was reminded shortly after Lamoriello was hired by the Islanders to be hockey major domo in 2018. Coincidentally, Burke had become a media guy getting a job with Rogers Sportsnet.
According to Burke, they schmoozed for a while, chatting about families, when Lou suddenly cut off his old buddy with an abrupt, "Okay, see you later."
The usually strong-willed Burke was surprised by Lou's sayonara,; especially since Brian wanted Lou to discuss his new Islanders gig.
"Don't you want to talk about your team?" Burke inquired only to receive the perfect squelch:
"No," Lou fired back, "I don't talk to the media."
If I may be so bold, it was Your's Truly, The Maven, who suggested to Gary Bettman in 1993 that he hire Burke when the new commissioner was looking for a league disciplinarian. By this time, Lou was in his sixth year running the New Jersey Devils.
Burke: "When I was working for the league no one was easier to deal with than Lou, even when I was coming down on one of his players. I'd call him and tell him I was suspending one of his guys for a game or two or three, and he'd just say okay -- no argument at all."
When Burke ran the Hartford Whalers he and Lou made a deal that helped both clubs. Lamoriello sent defenseman Eric Weinrich and goalie Sean Burke to the Whalers for center Bobby Holik.
"Burke was our MVP that year," Brian wrote in his autobiography, "and Holik became a big part of Lou's first Stanley Cup team."
The Burke-Lou friendship has endured for a long, long time. If you think I'm kidding it would be worthwhile to read "Burke's Law."