The Shocking True Story of the Canucks BOLDEST GM!

[@TheBluelineHockey]

*Editor's Note* At 13:28, the NHL put a claim in for a 5 second clip of Trevor Linden. Instead of re-uploading the whole video, I trimmed out the segment. Here is the transcript of what was removed: "Simply because of the cost. The Canucks gave a first and a third for a player who only scored four goals as a member of the Capitals."

[@Roryz1]

Just today on Jeff Marek's show The Sheet, Burke mentioned that part of the Linden trade was to appease/keep season ticket holders which is what helped the team break even financially. Burke's law is a fantastic book, great video!

[@boxvango9021]

Blueline hockey! Glad there is content that's NOT about the current Canucks, and the soap opera reporting we've been subjected to for WAY too long. Glad to have your vids to watch during a sad sack, lackluster, year.

[@TheBluelineHockey]

Thank you! It has been tough to watch, but I still have hope. If they can get a piece on D and hang on to a wildcard spot, we could see Hughes - Hronek Marcus Petterssson - Myers Soucy - Willander By the playoffs, get Juulsen TF out of there already.

[@StanleyIpkiss275]

You make some really good Canucks docs. I feel you could make a part II talking about Burke’s replacement Dave Nonis and the trades, drafts and signings he made along with any drama that might have gone on behind the scenes and then do a part III with Mike Gillis. Just an idea...

[@lil_bear]

Ugh losing to the Wild in 02 is still painful. That was their year. We held on to cloutier way to long. With a better starting goalie I think they win a cup.

[@baiqi44]

The year before that, it was also Cloutier. We likely would've taken out the eventual champs in the first round in Detroit if Cloutier didn't let a goal in from the blue line. He was so mentally weak in the playoffs. That Nucks team in 01 and then in 02 was a power house. They might've won a cup or 2 if they had just a competent goalie. I mean, the Oilers went to the finals and took the Panthers to 7 with just Skinner.

[@M_11_m41n]

@@baiqi44 Even then, Stuart had moments in the Dallas series (It still hurts) and the Florida series where he sucked it up to get Edmonton the stops they need.

[@BrandonHilikus]

wing s in 02...

[@baiqi44]

@@BrandonHilikus Whoops, you're right. Original poster had the year for Nucks/Wild series wrong so I got the Wings year wrong as well. Yeah, Wild in 03 and Wings in 02.

[@dr.loomis4221]

@@baiqi44 Boys...let's stop with the "we" talk.

[@GLrebirth]

I would say he did a great job getting the Canucks back to contention after Messier and Bure. One major issue was not acquiring an elite goalie.

[@chrisphillips348]

Drafting the Sedins was a brilliant coup. Gretzky, i wish, ended up there with Bure..my other favorite player ever w/Gretz & Datsyuk

[@nerinamak3298]

Chaos to contender, funny, your next video should be titled: Contender back to Chaos

[@jonathanmartin8113]

Chaos to contenders to their fixed loss against Boston... Canucks should have won with relative ease, but papa Campbell wanted baby Campbell to win a Cup.

[@BeastmodeKes]

If Burke had the capital to work with, he wouldve brought the cup to Vancouver

[@dopeboygangsta]

😂😂😂😂😂 sure buddy

[@Tannerhenkel]

Great video. Burke has to be in conversation for best GM in Canucks history. I think he’s runner up behind Pat Quinn.

[@katrinacoleman6127]

Burke’s loyalties were severed quickly & he did almost everything he could to undermine the Canucks’ organization & our team’s success, from afar, in a very real & vindictive sense, once he was no longer a part of it. As GM/President of the Calgary Flames Burke had the Flames organization put an AHL team affiliate in the Canucks backyard in Abbotsford. Who wanted to see the baby Flames here? The deal nearly bankrupted the city of Abbotsford, but he still stubbornly wouldn’t sell to the Aquilinis, because that was the point. The Aquilini’s Canucks farm team desperately needed to find a place to go & landed in Utica NY, with the Comets, instead of a place closer to home, when the Winnipeg Jets got their NHL franchise back! Burke later on got CGY an affiliate in his very familiar hub of So-Cal teams, whom he had long been paid to “consult”. Harming the interests of the mutual division rival of the So-Cal teams & the Flames was an obvious goal of his for years. I do not consider Burke the “best of men”. He still doesn’t really care about the welfare of players who’ve endured on -ice violence through vigilante justice, often gone wrong. Hitting heads with fists…are still damaging hits to the head, none the less & nothing to be enthusiastically encouraged or fist-bumped in a pro/sport that has betting involved. How about encouraging proper consequences with supplemental discipline or more allowable use of. technology & higher refereeing standards void of the obviously foreseeable acquired biases displayed sometimes. Burke failed to learn the most important lessons that a mentor such as Pat Quinn had to offer him, …about character. Burke said he expects his kids to carry on with his vendettas once he departs the world. Burke endorses nepotism & has undertaken some shady deals to get his own way,…severing old loyalties in a heart beat. ^That’s just a portion of why he’s off my “thank-you” card list.

[@Tannerhenkel]

@ that’s your biggest issue with Burke? Some weird stuff about AHL locations? Don’t think that really has a significant impact on performance of NHL franchises. He’s gotta act in best interest of his employer (Calgary) taking Abbotsford as his AHL team probably served him decently well in a variety of ways. Can’t expect him to suck up to a franchise that no longer employed him.

[@katrinacoleman6127]

Nope it’s not at all my biggest issue with Burke, just one more part of a pattern of behaviours to add to earlier comments & observations posted by me, on the same topic. Burke’s admittedly a very vindictive man. I’ve taken issue with that in the many ways that he’s tried to undermine & harm the interests of the Vancouver Canucks franchise since departing it,…especially since the Aquilini family acquired it…& most targetedly when Mike Gillis was the team’s GM. He’s had a very adversarial relationship with Mr. Gillis over the years, since they initially faced-off in contract negotiations, where Gillis got the better of him. Gillis was the player-agent for Pavel Bure & others, while Burke was VP for hockey operations & negotiating contracts under the direction of Pat Quinn’. Just sayin, that Burke’s loyalties flipped on a dime, after the Aquilini’s bought the team, fired his bestie Dave Nonis as GM & hired Gillis. Whether working directly for the league or another NHL team, in every situations Burke’s old-school hockey philosophies clashed with Gillis’ more progressive pro-player hockey stances. Did Burke choose to sign-on or consult with teams in who were directly in opposition, conflict or contention with the Vancouver Canucks for a period of time, to prolong this feud? I don’t know…but, Burke drove the start-up to the whole division having So-Cal AHL teams - of which the Canucks had no invitation to join , as they had their prospects toiling out of Utica,NY & their start up costs in that. ..only to have the Abbotsford arena open up to them after CGY’s affiliated-Abbotsford-Heat ended their contract - leaving nothing but bitterness behind. Burke saw an opportunity to thwart his rivals plans, drain more money & expenses from the Aquilinis coffers, and he went there. A petty character & vindictive zero in this particular Canucks-fans eyes. I won’t applaud many of the actions he took, once he left the employ of the Griffith family & Mr. McCaw here in VAN. Only, the “You Can Play” campaign gets my thumbs-up,

[@cjveeneman]

we would have a cup already if they kept Burke. Best GM we've ever had.

[@traileater]

Well he did win a cup with the ducks shortly after

[@jimmietarapaski9330]

This guy named Pat Quinn was pretty damn good too

[@emperoralvis6559]

Burke is a very interesting point in this team’s history. He saved the team financially, he saved us from Keenan, and built an exciting roster. But the goalie graveyard that happened here while he was GM ultimately cost us any playoff success. But hey, at least we made it there. Keenan wasn’t able to do even that.

[@scottwunder9473]

Love your videos man! I know I keep repeating myself but your format would be amazing with a Canucks uniform history video.

[@TheBluelineHockey]

Thanks for the feedback, hopefully that video is in the works soon!

[@katrinacoleman6127]

Oh my goodness, where do I begin? Brian Burke may have been a decent VP of hockey operations to Pat Quinn & GM for the Canucks during the West-Coast Express era but his loyalty to the team morphed into one of the most historically-despicable vendettas in hockey history. 1) Brian Burke’s best buddy Dave Nonis was interim GM after Burke’s firing/departure. The Gaglardi group made a bid for the Canucks. Francesco Aquilini, a former member of the Gaglardi group, does this end run with his family & outbids the Gaglardis (who now own the Dallas Stars) to acquire the Canucks & Orca Bay interests from John McCaw. They subsequently hire Mike Gillis as GM, a former player agent & Burke’s arch-nemesis in negotiating Bure’s contracts & departure from the team. Burke’s bestie Nonis would likely have been retained as the team’s GM by the Gaglardi’s - but was not. Burke stated often that he’s a vindictive man who expects his children to carry on his vendettas once he’s departed this world. So it begins… 2) Burke becomes anti-Canuck in opposition to Mike Gillis, who is progressively pro-player & advocates for players’ rights to wellness. He even brought in the 1st hyperbaric chamber for use by an NHL team, to help speed healing. Gillis also wanted to build a team around speed & skill, anticipating rule changes in light of the science & changes away from thuggery & the dead-puck era of hockey in other leagues. Burke by contrast remained adamant that vigilante justice & fighting have a strong place in hockey culture & supported old-school referees & heavy-hitting hockey that at times may cross the line & he’s quite happy to determine where that line will be…through means that will become apparent to many soon enough. When he was the league’s top-sheriff responsible for supplemental discipline, he did little to protect the league’s stars or keep the game safer for players. Hard-nosed aggression, retributions & violent actions of every kind can endanger lives & careers, …but to Burke - it’s just hockey! 3) Burke as the TOR Maple Leafs GM attempted to poach the Sedin twins from the Canucks by unethically leaking possibly suspect information, that Mike Gillis was shopping around their teammates & arguably their closest friends, Alex Burrows & Kevin Bieksa to other teams. That’s a form of tampering. Burke was fined for this or something similar, after Gillis’ complaint about his unprofessional conduct as a rival NHL-GM. 3) During the 2011-SCFinal, then interim league sheriff in charge of supplemental discipline, Mike Murphy said he consulted with Brian Burke, (after the recusal of Colin Campbell to do so, when his son who played for BOS made the Final) about the possible suspension to Aron Rome after his hit on Nathan Horton. Murphy said he believed the hit was fair, but a second late. With no suspension history, malice, or any intent to injure & the fact that the previously concussed Horton was injured…the latter was the only criteria used to assign supplemental discipline. As a former league sheriff Burke’s input may have been useful, but as the avowed arch-nemesis of Mike Gillis and the Canucks ownership - & a born & bred Bostonian & buddy of favour to Jeremy Jacobs the Bruins owner - he should have recused himself, also. The Canucks had just lost a #1 or #2 defenseman (Dan Hamhuis) to injury early in this same series & a lengthy suspension would be devastating. Burke advised a lengthy suspension - that put Rome out for the series, this after Rome had already been ejected very early in that very pivotal & controversial game. Later in the series, Bruin’s player, Johnny Boychuk, cork-screwed by headlock Canucks forward Mason Raymond into the boards, breaking the player’s back. No puck in the area, an obvious hold or interference at least, there was no call of infraction on the ice tho. Post-game, no supplemental discipline would follow either, for any kind of reckless endangerment or intent to injure, based upon the injury sustained by the player. Did Brian Burke help Mike Murphy out with any thought process failing to review or even enquire about the player’s health after this very controversial play, also? There are things than make you go…hmmmm??? 4) Brian Burke’s rather unqualified pro-scout son shockingly gets a position on the Department of Player Safety after we were assured they would only assign qualified & long-serving veteran peers to that duty. Later on the DPS appoints players from teams that Burke has signed-on to “consult” with in Southern California, former players like Chris Pronger (ANA) George Parros (ANA) & Ryan Getzlaf (ANA) Are foxes now in charge of the hen-house? These are old-school hockey players who crossed the line & played with an edge . Their acquired biases alone should shelter the ANA Ducks organization for a time & has seen a heavier-hand applied to several suspensions for Canucks players throughout the body’s history. 5) One satisfying note: when the Sedins’ had their jersey raising ceremony in VAN, as an invited guest, Brian Burke, balled like a baby. No doubt he was feeling a tad guilty for costing these two-valiant ambassadors of the game & future hall-of-famers, their best chance at a Stanley Cup, all for some anticipated quid-pro-quo & a vendetta against their team’s owners & former GM. I personally think Mike Gillis is an honourable & gifted person, whom I would like to see get another shot at an NHL GM position, should he be willing to accept it, & if someone would offer it. He would say his biggest error was allowing a meddling Francesco Aquilini to pressure him into hiring John Tortorella. As a core-buster-in-chief, Tortorella systematically humiliated the Canucks franchise & alienated players from coming to the team & encouraged others to flee from it. He did shape Chris Tanev into an epic shot-blocker, but that’s not enough to excuse all the raging bullying from the bench or insidious head games like benching an Olympic gold-medal winning & record-breaking franchise goalie from playing in the only Heritage Classic Game staged in Vancouver Canucks history. That disrespect of Luongo, despite all the uproar from chanting fans was insane. Aren’t heritage classic games supposed to be FOR the fans? Doesnt the NHL want their biggest turn-outs possible then? Such a core-busting move & par for the course for megalomaniac persons like Tortorella & Keenan. Tortorella was gone after one drama-filled season, altho’ paid for 3. Gillis’ progressive vision of a more IIHF-styled quality of hockey team caught on in VAN. His players & their families respected him for advocating for that & other quality of life things for them. Why should national team players have their protections rolled-back, when entering the top-tier league of their sport? General enforcers are now gone. Evidence uncovered suggests pre-meditated lynchings, fights & other egregious actions signal vindictive bad-faith carry-over justice infringements, by officials &/or players,…& should have NO solid-footing in major league pro-sports, especially where betting is involved….this means the NHL, too! Players need to respect the rules & their union bros & their fans deserve to see every game play-out on its own merits - without nonsense or outside manipulations & interference.

[@matthewsmith5374]

I’m also a long time Gillis defender, however Aaron Rome playing wouldn’t have made a difference. And whether his hit on Horton awoke the bruins to come back from being down two games or if the bruins would’ve woke up without it is open to debate, but Rome playing??? He was a 6th-7th D, he wasn’t going to step up and replace Hamhuis who was hurt, Erhoff, Kesler,burrows, Bieksa all playing hurt, Samuelsson out the whole series, malhotra being blinded for life…what was left? The twins who just couldn’t score in that series, Alex Edler and Luongo who unfortunately performeded the way he did, unevenly. Bruins were deeper, bigger, stronger, more durable, and their goaltender was absolutely lights out and ours wasn’t. That’s why Boston won.

[@trevorfranklin1195]

This might be the worst take I've ever seen. Gillis is the reason they only made 1 final and the team pretty much fell apart afterwards. He inherited Burke and Nonis's masterpiece and destroyed it. Look at every key player on that team. All Burke or Nonis additions. Sedins, Kesler, Burrows, Edler, Bieksa, Luongo I can go on. Ehrhoff was a good pickup that's 1 like guy actively made the team worse through his tenure. Gillis is one of the worst GM's I've ever seen there's a reason he didn't get a single job post Canucks. Vs Burke who went to Toronto, Calgary and Pittsburgh. Nonis even took jobs. Are you trying to say you're smarter than every other hockey executive who hasn't given Gillis a job.

[@the5thlineplaymaker131]

@@trevorfranklin1195Gillis is a professor at UBC.. I think there’s a good chance he was offered a job and didn’t want to live anywhere else, considering he’d be giving a cushy job up at a big University where he lives. although I’m not high on him like the original commenter.

[@matthewsmith5374]

@@trevorfranklin1195 Erhoff, Malhotra, Mikael Samuelsson, Raffi Torres, Pavel Demitra and Dan Hamhuis were all much much better signings than Byron Ritchie, Brad Isbister and Jan Bulis.

[@katrinacoleman6127]

@@trevorfranklin1195 Gillis wasn’t looking to be an NHL-GM, again, as he had family considerations & other interests to pursue. We do not KNOW about any other job offerings, but we DO know that the very powerful voting-block of GM’s was decidedly against him, for that particular play-off round & the following year, as well. A team with the most power-plays…to virtually the least, overnight. It wasn’t until some better pro-player GMs rolled forth like Yzerman, Sakic, & others who saw a more progressive vision of hockey, as it was truly meant to be played & seen…as a force on the global stage for family entertainment as well & not some niche sport that tolerates habitual violent retributions & fighting - which is unlike the other major league sports. Growing the game for the better & managing to keep the best athletes in the world welcomed, interested & safer in playing PRO…by no longer employing meatheads, is a win. Now if they would only remove officials with obvious acquired-bias from premiere games. The IIHF doesn’t tolerate even the appearance of bias, where the NHL calls working a game that’s been botched with lots of gaffs, physical venting & drama…experience. Sorry, if a crew botches a game that’s failure & it does not warrant the same crew getting a do-over. Acquired bias regularly rears its ugly head in play-off games/series, & with betting now heavily involved, that’s unacceptable & a far better vetting process or even the black-balling of certain officials by teams, must be allowed. I want to know that the best-ranked referees are awarded the final 3 rounds, & they may not necessarily be the most senior ones! The less acquired bias the better, perhaps? How’s their speed in following the puck & play or their eyesight & hearing? The players should be demanding in the next CBA the right to rank officials & the league should be providing the “best of the best” for all post/season games. Bonus pay commiserate to performance & ranking,…what a novel & more inherently fair idea!

[@fpvstomper7020]

At the time, burkie was a great change of scenery after the mess/keenan debacle. But id say quinn was the best 'nuck gm of all time

[@cardboardempire]

I was stuck in an elevator with Burke when he was GM of the Leafs. Nice guy, but he wouldn't tell me anything about trade deadline deals. So I gave him my theories. He chuckled. 30m later we were free and we shook hands.

[@nuck97]

I either forgot or never heard about the rift between Keenan and Burke. That was some compelling stuff!

[@Rippinkitten18]

Bure trade deserves more credit. Jovo for all all his flaws, made the all star team as for the Canucks 3 times , and was a team Canada Olympian x2 and one time for,the World Cup.

[@nobuddy2012]

The Canucks had 3 great draft years in four years. 2015 was Brock Boeser. 2017 was Elias Pettersson. 2018 was Quinn Hughes. If they had only taken Tkachuk in 2016 instead of Olli Juolevi, they would probably have a SC by now.

[@katrinacoleman6127]

@@nobuddy2012 …or they could have passed on Jake Virtanen & taken RW player like David Pastrnak instead in 2014. Homeboy Jake had trouble growing-up & shaking-off a host of distractions & poor habits, including a leacherous & enabling hometown possee. Did Benning learn nothing from Tyler Seguin’s immaturity problems in BOS? Where was the vetting for character, maturity, PRO-level habits, smarts or even hockey/IQ with this guy? No way did his interview hit it out of the park! I picked Draisaitl as a prime target & he went 3rd. So much could have been mined out of that 2014 draft. Even Jared McCann, as a later first round pick by the Canucks, suffered from his associations with Virtanen & being gifted a roster spot upon the big team too soon. Oh my, to all of those ifs….?!!!

[@emperoralvis6559]

Pastranak over McCann as well. Or Nylander over Virtanen.

[@nobuddy2012]

@@emperoralvis6559 : McCann was a great pick. They just didn't hang on to him for some reason. It is more like Pasternak over Virtanen.

[@emperoralvis6559]

@ Pastranak is still the better player and he went to Boston with the next pick after Jared McCann.

[@daxydax9718]

I really wouldn't mind seeing a video on his time as GM with other teams Maybe do a series on multiple different GM's and Coaches at certain points of their career.

[@TheBluelineHockey]

What are your thoughts on Brian Burke? Is he one of the best or worst GMs in Canucks history?

[@BabyBlueMemories]

Inherited a ridiculously tough situation and made a bold decision to trade for the Sedins. 2003 I honestly felt if Dan Cloutier didn't disintegrate...the Canucks would have won it all.

[@Heterodoxism]

I became a fan when the West Coast Express played, so he's responsible for the fact that I watch the team with some interest today.

[@DucksUpDogsDownCatsSlide]

I wish the Canucks didn't fire him at the time.

[@Kevin-uj4uu]

great video what about mike gillis next?

[@TheBluelineHockey]

Working on it.

[@kahluacoke]

Burke, and afterwards Nonis, laid the foundation that would eventually become one of the best Canuck groups. Gillis did some tweaking but the core was already there for the push towards 2011.

[@scottcooneymusic6736]

Id love to see a video like this about the Ottawa Senators.

[@DannySG1]

He was a fine GM at this time, but soon after, he became a meme of himself and it has just gotten worse with more and more people giving him a media platform.

[@seanmcdaniel142]

Then he took over the leafs and.....yikes.

[@Iambetterthanyouanduknowit]

Exactly

[@emperoralvis6559]

Oh Burke was well past his prime when he was hired by the Leafs. Same with Pat Quinn.

[@Iambetterthanyouanduknowit]

@@emperoralvis6559 don’t even compare Burke to Quinn. At least the leafs made the playoffs and were a contender under Quinn. They didn’t even make the playoffs with Burke lmao

[@emperoralvis6559]

@@Iambetterthanyouanduknowit sure, but they were both past their primes by the time they were in Toronto.

[@betterdaysareatoenailaway]

Burke sucks at drafting but he can trade player for player. On TOR he sent Schenn to the Flyers for JVR. He fleeced them.

[@CrispyAssasin_-td3rr]

Can you make a video of downfall of canucks post 2011 and maybe a video on Nonis/Gillis era as a whole

[@TheBluelineHockey]

I'm working on a Gillis piece.

[@dsf-p5x]

Landing Messier didn't "doom the franchise for decades". Had we not signed Messier, we likely never would have traded Linden and gotten Bertuzzi for the WCE era just 4 years later, wouldn't have drafted the Sedins, and Naslund might not have ended up developing into the player he became. I get the hate for Messier but if you're going to make a documentary, you shouldn't allow that hate to skew the facts of what happened.

[@DenOndeMister]

Classic mistake of some sports business people is treating contracts and players like costs leading to success, not assets which can create growth and value which can lead to success. Not using free agency and trades to slowly build squad value up means you are mediocre. Not drafting well on top of it makes you just bad.

[@thetank5642]

I can see how underwhelming the picks Burke made in the 2000 draft class but at the position he was at who would have been a good pick? The 2000 class is rather weak and I don’t really see any center that would have contributed to the Canucks in the early 2000s

[@stoddard1953]

As a Leafs fan I will always appreciate Burkie for what he did to the team. No, that's not satire. Without him, there is no Kessel or JVR. Similar to Canucks fans, without Burkie there are no Sedin twins. He gets flack, sure, but he's the GM I'd have on my team 10/10 times come hell or high water.

[@Iambetterthanyouanduknowit]

You can’t be serious, his scouting ability is GOD AWFUL. He really thought the leafs could make the playoffs with Matt stajan and John Mitchell as their 1-2 centres. Like WTF and every year he would cry about how the team would fall off a cliff

[@Iambetterthanyouanduknowit]

Not to mention he absolutely refused to get Phaneuf a half way decent D partner

[@stoddard1953]

@@Iambetterthanyouanduknowit You can say whatever about his ability to scout; in reality, most GM's fail to properly scout. They only hit on a couple of names, and miss out on the rest. Burke took a team from the ashes and gave them life. The year he got fired, the team made the playoffs. The same team he built with the core of Kessel, JVR, Phaneuf, Kadri, Reimer, etc. That whole team was Burke's through and through. Burke wouldn't have signed Clarkson because he was never big on free agent signings. He also wouldn't have gotten Bernier because that move made zero sense - given goaltending wasn't a weakness. Nonis destroyed the team Burke built - just like how Gillis destroyed it in Vancouver; in fact, had it not been for the Luongo trade, Nonis would've destroyed it earlier. Burke's a better hockey mind than people give him credit for. He's passionate, unphazed, brutally honest, and knows what he wants. Given that he's succeeded everywhere he went - it's a fact that Burke was a good GM.

[@Iambetterthanyouanduknowit]

@ you realize Burke never made the playoffs with the leafs? Also that core you mentioned is total garbage, the only reason that team did anything that year was because we had Orr McLaren and Fraser they literally bullied every team they played. And I’m not saying Nonis is good either, I agree he made some bone head moves.

[@soyentak5076]

as a leaf fan in Vancouver at that time. nobody cared for the Canucks until burke came. he destroyed the apathy of the worst hockey fans, and made their fans great.

[@dana102083]

All I can say is I had a hiatus from cheering for my hometown team Oilers because I had a crush on the Russian Rocket😊❤ so dont say I didnt give you anything!!😂

[@brandonsitch6264]

Canucks should go back to those jerseys.

[@LetsPurge-f2q]

None of this comes close to what Sam Pollack used to pull off as GM of the Canadiens (Not remotely close) One brilliant genius move literally won the Canadiens 4 Cups in a row - No one can top that

[@Tannerhenkel]

The Bure trade is a loss. But Jovanivski is a good return. Jovo played 7 years with the Canucks and was a staple on the blue lines Bure had 2 60 goal season in Florida but was out of the league by 03.

[@SportsPlug-cp1eq]

Signing Messier didn't doom the franchise for decades, your implying at least 20/30 years, that makes no sense.

[@FirewagonHockey]

Yk it was a whole different era when games would just end in ties after regulation causing the 78pts Sharks to make the playoffs.

[@SCARLEMSCARS]

Peter Zeeeezel Lol.

[@TheBluelineHockey]

Lol, clearly I wasn't around in 98.

[@ryanmelis1873]

I disagree that the Burke lost the bure trade jovo was pretty damn solid

[@TheBluelineHockey]

I see your point. Jovo was good, but Bure was great and won back to back Rocket Richard Trophies. The trade could have been a win if Burke actually nailed the first rounder.

[@dmullz100]

"to contender" hahah that's the biggest joke I've heard in the last 5 years

[@moemanncann895]

Zeezle??😂

[@metuberob]

burkey imho did a pretty good job ... now this 2024/25 team is tanking from a pretend contender back to whatever they normally and historically were

[@fpvstomper7020]

And who scored the gm7 ot winner in 04 calgary series.....Gelinas...ouch!

[@erikrutherford8202]

Gretzky might not have been a good fit in Vancouver- he picked a better path

[@TheBluelineHockey]

I think he would have had success with Bure & Mogilny, but the lifestyle in New York beats Vancouver's.

[@NOZAL.]

Thats not how you say Peter Zezel

[@michaelmagic988]

i thought that was trump for a second. burke had no success in toronto, although he inherited a huge mess. leafs need to trade marner now for some depth. i could care less about the numbers hes put up this regular season. none of what hes doing will work in the playoffs

[@skyhigh388]

I thought that was Trump in the thumbnail.

[@Danny_Page_]

Brian Burke, the worst GM in Canuck history

[@kevinbadger8030]

I don’t know Donald Trump was a GM