Sean Burke

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Sean Burke
Born (1967-01-29) January 29, 1967
Windsor, ON, CAN
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position Goaltender
Caught Left
Played for New Jersey Devils
Hartford Whalers
Carolina Hurricanes
Vancouver Canucks
Philadelphia Flyers
Florida Panthers
Phoenix Coyotes
Tampa Bay Lightning
Los Angeles Kings
National team  Canada
NHL Draft 24th overall, 1985
New Jersey Devils
Playing career 1987–2007

Sean Burke (born January 29, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils, Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning and Los Angeles Kings. His son, Brendan Burke, was drafted 163rd overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Burke was born in Windsor, Ontario, but grew up in Toronto, Ontario.

Playing career

Burke was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the second round of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. He earned national attention from his international play. He backstopped Canada's junior team to a silver medal in the 1986 World Junior Championships and a fourth-place finish for the national men's team at the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

Burke went from the Olympics to the Devils. He started 11 games for the Devils in the 1987–88 NHL season, including an overtime victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on the final night of the season that qualified the Devils for their first playoff series.

Dubbed a "rookie sensation", Burke helped the Devils go on a playoff roll, defeating the division-leader New York Islanders in the first round in six games and then the Washington Capitals in seven games. Burke was one game away from the Stanley Cup Finals but lost in Game 7 of the Wales Conference finals to the Boston Bruins.

Burke's play was widely-heralded. The Hockey Digest declared, "Burke is now the franchise for the Devils, and to whatever heights he rises, the Devils will rise with him" and in December 1988 made Burke the first Devil to appear on its cover.[1]

Because he played just 11 games in the 1987–88 regular season, he maintained his rookie status for the next season. The next season, Burke was elected into the NHL All-Star Game, becoming the first rookie goaltender to play in the All-Star game.

Burke played for the Devils through the 1990–91 NHL season, and then sat out the 1991–92 season in a contract dispute. Instead, he played for the Canadian national team and played in the Olympics for a second time. This time, he backstopped Canada to a silver medal.

On August 28, 1992, Burke was traded to the Hartford Whalers for Bobby Holik, a second-round pick in 1993 draft (Jay Pandolfo) and future considerations.[2] He played there (and with the relocated Whalers team, the Carolina Hurricanes) for six seasons. Was voted Whalers' team MVP from '93–'97. Burke then played with several teams, including the Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, and Florida Panthers. He then signed with the Phoenix Coyotes, and played there for five seasons, where he was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy and 3rd finalist for the Hart Trophy in the 2001–02 NHL season.[3]

After that, Burke played for the Philadelphia Flyers (for the second time) recording his 300th career win (the twentieth goalie to reach this milestone), and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Burke was placed on waivers by Tampa Bay before the 2006–07 NHL season, but was not picked up. He then played for the Lightning's American Hockey League affiliate Springfield Falcons. However, he struggled with the Falcons and lost his starting job to Karri Ramo. He was then placed on waivers by the Lightning and picked up off re-entry waivers by the Los Angeles Kings.

Burke, a 3-time NHL All-Star (1989, 2001, 2002), officially announced his retirement on September 18, 2007. On March 4, 2008, the Phoenix Coyotes hired Burke as the Director of Prospect Development.[4] He is now the Assistant to the General Manager and Coyotes' goaltending coach.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season Team League GP W L T OTL MIN GA SO GAA SV%
1987–88 New Jersey Devils NHL 13 10 1 0 — 688 35 1 3.05 .883
1988–89 New Jersey Devils NHL 62 22 31 9 — 3,590 230 3 3.84 .873
1989–90 New Jersey Devils NHL 52 22 22 6 — 2,914 175 0 3.60 .880
1990–91 New Jersey Devils NHL 35 8 12 8 — 1,870 112 0 3.59 .872
1992–93 Hartford Whalers NHL 50 16 27 3 — 2,656 184 0 4.16 .876
1993–94 Hartford Whalers NHL 47 17 24 5 — 2,750 137 2 2.99 .906
1994–95 Hartford Whalers NHL 42 17 19 4 — 2,418 108 0 2.68 .912
1995–96 Hartford Whalers NHL 66 28 28 6 — 3,669 190 4 3.11 .907
1996–97 Hartford Whalers NHL 51 22 22 6 — 2,985 134 4 2.69 .914
1997–98 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 25 7 11 5 — 1,415 66 1 2.80 .899
1997–98 Vancouver Canucks NHL 16 2 9 4 — 838 49 0 3.51 .876
1997–98 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 11 7 3 0 — 632 27 1 2.56 .913
1998–99 Florida Panthers NHL 59 21 24 14 — 3,402 151 3 2.66 .907
1999–2000 Florida Panthers NHL 7 2 5 0 — 418 18 0 2.58 .913
1999–2000 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 35 17 14 3 — 2,074 88 3 2.55 .914
2000–01 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 62 25 22 13 — 3,644 138 4 2.27 .922
2001–02 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 60 33 21 6 — 3,587 137 5 2.29 .920
2002–03 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 22 12 6 2 — 1,248 44 2 2.11 .930
2003–04 Phoenix Coyotes NHL 32 10 15 5 — 1,795 84 1 2.81 .908
2003–04 Philadelphia Flyers NHL 15 6 5 2 — 825 35 1 2.55 .910
2005–06 Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 35 14 10 — 4 1,713 80 2 2.80 .895
2006–07 Los Angeles Kings NHL 23 6 10 — 5 1,310 68 1 3.11 .901
NHL totals 820 324 341 101 9 46,440 2,290 38 2.96 .902

International play
Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Competitor for Canada Canada
Canada Cup
Gold 1991 Canada Ice hockey
Olympic Games
Silver 1992 Albertville Ice hockey
World Championship
Gold 1997 Finland Ice hockey
Gold 2003 Finland Ice hockey
World Junior Championship
Silver 1986 Canada Ice hockey

Burke played in 11 games for the Canadian National team in the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics.[5] He served as the back-up Goalie in the 1991 Canada Cup, and has also played in 130 games for other Canadian National teams from 1985 through 2003.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Jersey purges its demons, Hockey Digest, May, 2003, by Alex Gordon
  2. ↑ Bio on hockeygoalies.com
  3. ↑ "Vote totals for NHL awards". USA Today. June 21, 2002. 
  4. ↑ "Sean Burke joins Coyotes front office". CBC News. March 5, 2008. 
  5. ↑ NHLPA.com Player Biography – Sean Burke
  6. ↑ NHL.com Players – Sean Burke

External links

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