Burke already under fire on first day as president of hockey ops in Pittsburgh

The newly hired man had to answer some tough questions because of his big mouth but he is simply too good to get caught!

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 3 years ago
Burke already under fire on first day as president of hockey ops in Pittsburgh
Twitter

The Pittsburgh Penguins have named Ron Hextall as general manager and Brian Burke as president of hockey operations, co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle announced Tuesday. Hextall met with media to explain what might be coming next to the Penguins as he will attempt to adapt to the “win-now” mandate from team’s upper management as he is known for his rebuilding skills that took place years ago with the Philadelphia Flyers. 

“I’m not a one-trick pony.”

While it probably was reassuring for Penguins fans to hear Hextall, who has been  in NHL management for more than twenty years, talk about his desire for the ultimate goal of bringing another Stanley Cup to Pittsburgh, Burke is the one who stole the show in the press conference with epic quotes that will get folks in the Steel City to love him right away. And we know that’s not always easy. 

Burke started off with joking he missed out on Sidney Crosby back in the 2005 lottery as general manager of the Anaheim Ducks.

“Now, I have Sidney Crosby.”

He went on to compliment his new captain, saying Crosby was the best player he’s ever had play for him. He didn’t stop with the player and went on to refer the Penguins as “Cadillac class” and Pittsburgh as a “great sports city.”

“This is Cadillac class, here. This is not your run-of-the-mill team. This is not a run-of-the-mill ownership. I’m so excited to move to Pittsburgh.”

However, reporters didn’t forget what he has said since the start of the season on the Penguins’ cap issues and window closing for another championship. After saying all that on the air of Sportsnet as a panelist, he quickly had to recant himself and explained what he meant by his comments and how he’s supposed to fix things for the Penguins. He didn’t back down from his past criticisms of the Penguins. 

“There’s a whole bunch of teams with extreme salary cap issues who haven’t won a bloody thing. At least in Pittsburgh, Jimmy Rutherford got two rings on.”

Here is the full breakdown of his answer : he is simply to good to get caught!



Burke brings 31-years of NHL executive experience to the table. He won a Stanley Cup as general manager of the Ducks in 2006-07.

And it sounds like he is ready for one more with the Penguins - no matter what he said about their chances days ago...

Source: Twitter