Burke shares heartbreaking reality of Chiarelli's situation following his firing...

The news of Peter Chiarelli being fired broke after the Edmonton Oilers lost 3-2 to the Detroit Red Wings in the middle of the night Tuesday, and it did not take long for almost every Oilers fan to jump for joy and celebrate his firing. 

Without doubt, Chiarelli had lost the town, the media, and to make things worse, he had lost his own players. 

The Oilers are now - without wasting any minute - looking for a replacement while assistant GM Keith Gretzky takes over Chiarelli's duties in the meantime. 

Former NHL GM and now Sportsnet analyst Brian Burke took a moment last night during the Toronto Maple Leafs and Washington Capitals' contest to explain the heartbreaking reality Chiarelli is now facing, based on his own experience. 

"When you're a banker and you get fired, your wife, your family knows about it and that's it. When you get fired as a Canadian team GM, the whole world knows," Burke explained. 

"When I got fired, I walked around with a baseball cap on my head for weeks."

He also stated that Chiarelli, even though he probably knew this was coming sooner or later, had a tough time dealing with the news. 

"The drive home that night must have been the longest..."

Burke also wanted to defend some of the moves made by Chiarelli during his tenure as general manager of the Oilers. While many find fault in every single trade or signing Chiarelli did in Edmonton, Burke seemed to want to offer his fellow former GM some support. 

"Peter Chiarelli is a good friend of mine, he's a good guy, he was a good college hockey player, he's got a Stanley Cup ring as a GM. He didn't become terminally stupid overnight," Burke commented, adding that the Griffin Reinhart trade was pushed internally very hard.

While we don't know how Chiarelli is feeling days about his firing, Burke is right in a sense that the GM is a Stanley Cup winner and was brought in for a reason in Edmonton. 

It remains to be seen if he will get another shot down the line, with another team, taking the reigns and proving he can make good trades and legitimate signings that fans will understand and appreciate. 

Do you feel bad for the Oilers' former GM?