Burke: "An underachieving wannabe"

by Jonathan Willis on Jul 4, 2008 6:07 PM MDT

Kevin Lowe just had a big-time interview on the Team 1260, and if you want a clue as to how explosive it was, take a look at how the HFBoards folks have responded. 13 pages so far, and the interview was only an hour ago.

I missed the original interview, but below are some fun quotes from the 10 minutes that they replayed. On Burke:

"He’s a moron, first of all."

"He loves the limelight... he’s in a pathetic hockey market where they can’t get on any page of the newspaper, let alone the front page of sports."

"This guy is an absolute media junkie."

"I hate the fact that my name is linked to his because he’s an underachieving wannabe."

"He’s won a Stanley cup, I’ve won six, you wanna count rings."

"A guy like Burkie, he lives everyday to preserve his job."

"MacTavish said it best: He’s like the Wizard of Oz, pull the curtains away and there’s not much substance."

"He left Dave Nonis nothing in Vancouver. He destroyed that team. If it wasn’t for DN’s incredible deal to con Mike Keenan for Luongo that team would have taken a nosedive two years ago. That’s his MO."

"They have not much coming. Bobby Ryan has been a questionable pick at number two."

On Burke's comments that Lowe destroyed the second contract:

"Rick Nash’s contract and Bergeron’s and Kovalchuk… that set the standard years ago."

"If they’re unhappy about him (Perry) hey, trade him our way, we’ll be glad to have him.

"I stand by my offer sheets... Thomas Vanek is going to be a 35+ goal scorer for the rest of his contract… Dustin Penner is going to be a 20+ goal scorer for the rest of his contract."

"He’s sort of living by the old system, prior to the new CBA."

He also had some nice things to say about Ritch Winter, widely viewed as Lowe's implacable foe since the Mike Comrie fiasco:

"The topic of Ritch and I… has in my view been much overblown. Ritch does a great job in his business… he’s seen it all… he brought Frank Musil out of Czechoslovakia…. I never had an issue with Ritch, it was overblown… there were some tough times in the Mike Comrie situation and of course we wish it hadn’t happened for a lot of reasons… I really applaud Ritch"

All in all, a real fun interview for Oilers fans. Burke had it coming, and I think Lowe's stretching it a bit, but it's nice to finally see Lowe strike back a bit rather than just leaving Burke's attacks unanswered.

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"He’s sort of living by the old system, prior to the new CBA."

I agree with this. I'm no accountant, but I fail to see how any contract is inflationary in the New Salary Cap & Escrow NHL. It's a self-contained system, isn't it? You can redistribute the wealth all you want, but the only way the players as a group are going to get more is if the league gets more too. So exactly what the fuck is Burkie complaining about?

by Bruce on Jul 4, 2008 8:48 PM MDT reply actions

I agree.

by Jonathan Willis on Jul 4, 2008 9:18 PM MDT reply actions

As far as I'm concerned the players and league continually get more at the ticket payers expense. Sure the players will always get 54% (or whatever) but that 54% keeps getting bigger and bigger as ticket prices go higher and higher

by Backhand on Jul 4, 2008 9:55 PM MDT reply actions

Does Stauffer's show get archived? That's gonna be comedy gold, if I can hear it personally.

by Doogie2K on Jul 4, 2008 10:49 PM MDT reply actions

I agree.

Oops, right you are. I thought I got caught up on all your posts*, but I only made it as far as "A Couple of Days Late" and missed the "Grousing" one. (Nice pic of Burkie with his boytoy Bertuzzi btw ... you know how to "pic" 'em.)

Anyway, I don't suppose either of us said much new in this instance, I think the redistribution of wealth was discussed in detail by MC79 (I'm pretty sure it was him) sometime during the season. And it seems a self-evident point that a gigantic intellect like Brian Burke fancies himself should be able to grasp. But I guess he was just too busy failing to take Penner to arbitration and then signing Bertuzzi to replace him.

(* - Fine posts all, I must add. You are doing one hell of a job on this blog, Jonathan.)

by Bruce on Jul 5, 2008 1:32 AM MDT reply actions

Anyway, I don't suppose either of us said much new in this instance, I think the redistribution of wealth was discussed in detail by MC79 (I'm pretty sure it was him) sometime during the season.

Well, given that Mc79 discusses everything in detail, it seems pretty likely ;) I like the Oilersphere so much more when he's updating his blog, because even when I don't agree with him he makes well-reasoned, compelling arguments. It's almost enough to make me forget he's from Dawson Creek.

by Jonathan Willis on Jul 5, 2008 8:23 AM MDT reply actions

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Northwest Standings

	GP	W	L	OTL	PT
Vancouver Nucks Misconduct	54	34	15	5	73
Colorado Mile High Hockey	56	28	25	3	59
Minnesota Hockey Wilderness	54	25	21	8	58
Calgary Matchsticks and Gasoline	55	25	22	8	58
Edmonton The Copper & Blue	54	21	28	5	47

(updated 2.11.2012 at 1:04 AM MST)

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@ Calgary Matchsticks and Gasoline	Tue 02/21	7:00 PM MST

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Chicago Second City Hockey	Thu 02/02	W 8 - 4
Colorado Mile High Hockey	Tue 01/31	W 3 - 2