COLOGNE, Germany – Team Canada assistant GM Sean Burke had a lot on his mind when he watched the world championship.
Burke, who said he expects to be the man to head up Canada’s Olympic entry sans NHL players, viewed the IIHF top tournament as more than just a cheerleader. He kept an eye on countries whose roster might closely resemble the ones they’ll ice at the Pyeongchang Games in barely more than nine months.
In the days to come, however, Burke will turn his attention towards finding a coach – likely one without a contract or an assistant with head coaching aspirations.
“We do have to get on that fairly soon,” Burke said. “We have our list and we are going through it. I would imagine, in the next month, we’ll have a coach in place.”
Burke said three-time Olympic team coach Dave King will be on the staff in various capacities. King served as an assistant coach at the worlds, was an associate coach on Canada’s winning entry at the Spengler Cup last December and headed up a silver-medal performance at the Deutschland Cup a month earlier.
Burke’s connection to the Olympics extends beyond his preliminary preparations for Pyeongchang. The former goaltender played on the 1988 and 1992 Olympic teams, two of the most recent Games without NHLers (1994 being the last). He won a silver medal in 1992. After an 18-season NHL career, he began working for Hockey Canada before the 2014 world junior championship.
Burke, who doubles as a scout for the Montreal Canadiens, caught up with Sportsnet.ca before Canada’s world championship final against Sweden to discuss the Olympics, his experiences and the work and uncertainty that lies ahead.
SPORTSNET.CA: Why did you decide to get involved with Hockey Canada after your playing career?
SEAN BURKE: Just my long history with them. First of all, going back to ’86-’87 when I joined Dave King with the national program. I’ve had a long history with them in a number of areas. For me, any time you can put on the jersey and the next best thing when you’re done playing is to be around the tournaments. It’s really special.
What were the Olympics like for you as a player?
They were different. Both of them were unique. In ’88, I was so young. I’m just going there trying to play as well as I could. I didn’t really take in much of the Olympics. I was in the village, but didn’t really go to any other events. I enjoyed it, but I did think that I let that stuff go by because I was so focused. In ’92, I took in more of the spirit of the Olympics and felt more of not just the hockey team, but Team Canada as a whole. The focus and everything was still there, but I think I enjoyed the experience a bit more.
They must have been different given one was in Calgary, in Canada, and the other was in France. But did either of them seem like they didn’t have that lustre with NHL players?
In those days, there was no real thought of NHL players. The Olympics were what they were at that time. You had a national team. You trained year-round for the Olympics. Looking back, at all those rosters, especially on our team in ’92 when we had (Eric) Lindros and Joey Juneau, we had guys who went on to have very good NHL careers. The Russian team did, too. Some of the other clubs – Teemu Selanne was one of the leading scorers. In ’88, the Big Red Machine was still there. I don’t think there was any lustre lost. In those days, Olympic hockey was great. It was presented by great teams. We never thought of NHL players participating.
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You mentioned Lindros and Juneau. What allowed those types of young players to have success besides their status as top prospects?
They were just really good hockey players. Eric at that time was 18 and a prodigy, big, strong, more of a man for that age. Joey Juneau was just a smart player. But the Olympic experience at a young age like that really helped those guys as well.
Are those the types of players that could be beneficial to have, guys that are young and on the cusp? Are those the types of players you’re seeking?
We hope. We don’t really know who’s eligible. If we’re looking at it today, we’ve got good players playing in Europe. But those aren’t what you’d consider young, up-and-coming players. They’re mostly guys that have had short NHL careers or haven’t had the opportunity or were drafted and went to Europe for different reasons. So it’s a little different. Until we know who’s eligible, it’s hard to really long beyond the guys playing in Europe, most of the guys we’ve seen. There are some really good hockey players. To find a young Eric Lindros or an Auston Matthews or someone like that who played over in Europe last year, that’s a rarity.
You mentioned guys playing in Europe, one on the world championship team is Chris Lee, a 36-year-old defenceman who had 65 points for Magnitogorsk Metallurg of the KHL. What do you like about his game?
He’s a great skater. He’s a real power-play specialist. I don’t say that in a negative way because sometimes that can conjure up an image of a guy who can’t play in his own end. Chris has found his game later. He never had an NHL career. He came over to Europe and came into his own. He’s smart and he can handle the puck. On the big ice, when you’ve got those skills and you’ve got the head for the game, it’s a nice combination.
What have you learned by putting together the Deutschland and Spengler Cup teams?
The first thing I learned, surprisingly, which I probably should have known, is just what an honour it is for everybody to wear the jersey. When you play for Canada at different events, especially the Olympics and world juniors and world championships, you sort of take for granted that not everybody gets that opportunity. Those tournaments, we used a bunch of guys who’ve never put the jersey on. For them to play in a Deutschland Cup or a Spengler Cup, meant every bit as much to those guys as it did to these guys at a world championship or an Olympics. It brought back and drove home for me what that means for guys. These Olympics, whether it’s NHL players or it’s not, there’s not a different feeling for whoever puts that jersey on for Canada. That’s beauty for any of our players. If they have that opportunity, they’re going to go out and play as hard as they can and as proud as they can with that jersey on.
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I know you don’t know about player eligibility, but do you have timelines in mind regarding whittling down to a final roster?
The first thing is we have to submit a long list in October. That’s going to be a challenge. We’re probably going to have to put on just about anybody we think would be possible. If they’re not on that list, they can’t play. That’s the first thing – going through and making sure we don’t leave off anybody that’s a possibility. Then, our schedule becomes important. How do we find the right competition? How do we get in the right events and bring our team together and mold our team throughout the year? We only have so many opportunities to do it with these guys playing in so many leagues. That’s the important thing. How do we have a schedule that benefits us?
Would it be exhibition games in the new year or closer to the Olympics? Is that what you’re hoping for?
Well, it would be around the European breaks. There’s one in August, there’s one in November and there’s one in December. Those three breaks, we have access to our players if they are the European guys. If NHL decides that there are some other players eligible, we’ll adjust at that point. For now, we’re looking at those breaks and how we can fill those periods with good games and good competition to narrow our team down as best as we can.
Given that your team is comprised of all NHL players, other than Chris Lee, do you learn anything from watching their games or have you been focusing more on teams who don’t have NHL players?
A little of both. But the interesting thing at these tournaments is that for a number of these teams – the Finnish team being one, the Czech team being another, the Swiss and the German teams – this is what the majority of their Olympic teams will look like. You realize that we’re using our NHL players and those teams are competing with us. You realize in a hurry that it’s going to be very tough (in Pyeongchang). Those countries have come a long way. I’m trying to watch those teams right now, as Dave King is and the rest of our staff, to just get a beat on them. We’re going to see a lot of those players in the Olympics. At that point, nobody’s going to care. There’s no excuses. Canada is expected to perform well. We’re always expected to win. Internally, we expect to win. So, it’s a good tournament from that standpoint. We’ve had a good look at a lot of these guys already. But we don’t know who our team is yet. That’s the challenge.
