One of Brian Burke's former star players takes hilarious jab at him in congratulatory text
Tuesday's announcement that Brian Burke would be joining the Pittsburgh Penguins organization as the President of Hockey Operations took a lot of people by surprise, as up to that point, all of the talk was regarding the General Manager position.
Burke's departure from Sportsnet and hiring in Pittsburgh was particularly shocking due to statements the former Flames, Leafs and Ducks GM had made back in November regarding the Pens being long overdue for a rebuild, declaring his opinion that they do not have what it takes to win anymore.
Now that the dust has settled and Burke is on his way to Pittsburgh, there has been an outpouring of support for the former Sportsnet analyst, but one message in particular really took Burkie by surprise.
Anaheim Ducks captain Ryan Getzlaf took the opportunity to deliver a bit of a back-handed congratulatory poke at his former GM, which Burke attributed to one of his former players trying to keep him humble.
"Got a lot of really kind notes wishing me well in my new role," Burke tweeted on Wednesday, "then the following from Ryan Getzlaf: 'Congrats Burkie great to see you back in the game. Never were very good on TV anyway!!'"
Well played, Ryan Getzlaf.. well played. Burke, who does have a great sense of humour, definitely appreciated the comical jab from one of his former stars. Hockey is a game of chirps, after all. The joke was well received and I'm sure Burke is looking forward to getting to work in his new role imminently.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Taylor Hall | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Brayden Point | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Bryan Rust | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Pavel Zacha | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Quinn Hughes | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Carter Verhaeghe | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Erik Karlsson | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Elias Lindholm | - | 3 | 3 | |
| David Pastrnak | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Tim Stutzle | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Adam Gaudette | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Dylan Holloway | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Brad Marchand | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Aleksander Barkov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sam Bennett | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Sean Couturier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex DeBrincat | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Drury | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Cutter Gauthier | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 23 | 18 | 5 | - | 36 | |
Hurricanes | 22 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 33 | |
Wild | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 32 | |
Devils | 25 | 15 | 8 | 2 | 32 | |
Capitals | 22 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 31 | |
Golden Knights | 23 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 31 | |
Maple Leafs | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 23 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 28 | |
Panthers | 23 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 27 | |
Kings | 23 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 27 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||