Former Leafs GM Brian Burke makes special visit to team’s dressing room

Very cool story. Good on you, Burkey.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 5 years ago
Former Leafs GM Brian Burke makes special visit to team’s dressing room
Zuma Press

On the night that Nazem Kadri played his 500th NHL game the person he probably last expected to have to deal with was his former general manager Brian Burke. But, according to Toronto Maple Leafs insider Jonas Siegel of The Athletic, that’s exactly who was waiting in the Leafs’ dressing room to congratulate Kadri on his milestone. 

Check it out:  


Brian Burke came by the Leafs dressing room to congratulate Kadri this morning. Kadri was Burke’s first draft pick as Leafs GM way back in 2009.

How cool is that? While Burke’s history with the franchise is definitely checkered, it still shows that he’s a man of integrity and honour to meet with Kadri the way he did. 

Of course, Burke was the man who drafted Kadri 7th overall nearly 10 years ago at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. Leafs fans may recall that Burke and the Leafs went hard in an attempt to acquire the first overall selection to grab John Tavares, but were thwarted by New York Islanders GM Garth Snow. Strike One. Then the plan changed. The Leafs already had defenseman Luke Schenn under contract and it was believed that Burke was hot after his brother Brayden Schenn with the 7th overall pick. Alas, the younger Schenn went to the Los Angeles Kings at 5th overall. Strike two. Burkey wouldn’t strike out with his selection of Kadri though. The former London Knights playmaker has turned into an excellent two way hockey player and has 147 goals and 319 points in 499 NHL games. Game 500 goes tonight. Congrats, Nazem.

Source: Jonas Siegel