The man is just such an intelligent, articulate…brute.  Brian Burke is a brute, a brute through and through, and he loves brutish hockey.  He’s a brilliant man and is eloquent in his own grumpy way, but he remains, in the end, “big and crude” himself.

Posted by George Malik from South Lyon, MI on 06/27/09 at 06:52 PM ET

...we are not just talking the talk about this. We’re going to be bigger and cruder.

And now the East will get a dose of what the West has had to endure every time they faced the “crude” Ducks. Is it any surprise that once Burke left, the first thing the Ducks did was get rid of Chrissy Pinhead?

If Sutter can unload Phaneuf to some East-side team in order to sign Bouwmeester, the Western Conference just might be the ideal model of what a hockey league should be.

Okay, the West would have to get rid of TooToo and a few others as well, but just getting rid of the “goon twins” would be a huge step in the right direction. We’re halfway there.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 06/27/09 at 07:12 PM ET

I believe he’s an egomaniac who loves to hear his own voice even when he’s stating that he dosn’t speak to hear himself talk. YES HE DOES! And this whole rough, tough & crude stereo-type of a hockey player is antiquated, 30 years gone by. Look at the Red Wings ,Devils, Penguins and Oilers the most succesful teams the past 30 years, maybe 1 or 2 cementheads per team but not the team as a whole. Now take the supposedly “tough teams” from the past 30 years the Bruins, Flyers , Ducks, ect. Nowhere near the success of the more skilled teams. Brian Burke is to hockey (his philosophy), what the Neanderthal is to Homosapien.

Posted by Lindas1st on 06/27/09 at 07:12 PM ET

I honestly cannot wait to hear the cascading whines from the Washington and Pittsburgh fans out there after the 6th or 7th time they have to play a Burke-built bunch of dirty players.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 06/27/09 at 07:20 PM ET

I honestly cannot wait to hear the cascading whines from the Washington and Pittsburgh fans out there after the 6th or 7th time they have to play a Burke-built bunch of dirty players.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 06/27/09 at 08:20 PM ET

Not to mention the Flyers as well.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/27/09 at 08:10 PM ET

Does this mean he’s going to bring back Hollweg?

Posted by K24 from NYC on 06/27/09 at 08:32 PM ET

Look at the Red Wings ,Devils, Penguins and Oilers the most succesful teams the past 30 years, maybe 1 or 2 cementheads per team…

You’ve always been pretty free and easy with your bashing of the Wings, Lindas1st (not to be confused with Lindas2nd). So, enlighten us about who those one or two “cementheads” on the Wings roster are. Please. I can’t wait to find out who they are? And please also tell us who those guys are on each team.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 06/27/09 at 10:27 PM ET

Does this mean he’s going to bring back Hollweg?

Posted by K24 from NYC on 06/27/09 at 09:32 PM ET

Burke wants tenacity, not stupidity.

Posted by bkblades on 06/27/09 at 10:29 PM ET

@ OTC -

I don’t see Lindas1st’s comments as being bashing anyone other than Burke and the antiquated idea of success and winning through “goon hockey” (and his devoted love of the sound of his own voice).  He was pointing out that with a team based mostly on skill you can afford to have a couple of goonish players, but an entire team of them has not historically been successful.

He has bashed the Red Wings before, but not in this case.

(Although the Neanderthals weren’t quite as bad as he thinks.  They weren’t Geico caveman level sophisticated, but not quite the cartoon image of brutishness that we all grew up with.  They were out-competed by Homo sapiens, so that part of his analogy is more accurate than the brutishness part.) 

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 06/28/09 at 04:30 AM ET

First let me thank Baroque for understanding my point. Second, Maybe cementhead was a bit derogatory. I should have said “enforcer” if you like. But anyway here are some of the players I was writing about.I The Islanders had Nystrom and Gillies. The Oilers’ had Semenko and McSorely. The Penguins had Caufield, Tocchet to a lesser degree and now Goddard. Devils had Peluso, McKay and Stevenson . And your beloved Red Wings had Kocur & McCarty .Third , This is the best hockey blog on the web that I know of. I by nature always root for the underdog. Being this is Hockeytown in virtual realty and most of the commenters are “Wingnuts” (you’re word) I always feel compelled to voice an oppostion opinion. I can’t help it it’s in my DNA (and not just sports,all kinds of subjects,even politics). I only state what I beleive though. I DO NOT take an opposite opinion just for the sake of it. If you’re all honest you you would have to admit some of the comments are just false by some of you and nobody but a *troll (again your word) calls you out. *Troll? When somebody like me comes to read and comment gets ignored and is called a troll he gets offended.This does nobody good. Now ,I know you all have your Red Wing community here and would love to keep it all Red Wing all the time, but I don’t think that’s what Paul had in mind. Oh yeah here’s something you might like. I own a Steve Yzerman jersey.I bought it about 10 years ago because I was a real big fan of his. Remember this though,  when an objective hockey fan comes here he can easily be turned against the Red Wings with some of the unneeded bias. Thanx , I look foward for more comments and debate. Peace!

Posted by Lindas1st on 06/28/09 at 01:33 PM ET