ducks
05-24-2007, 08:54 AM
SHOOTER CHARLEY WALTERS
Brian Burke never dreamed about the Stanley Cup.
"I grew up in Edina, didn't start playing hockey until I was 13 years old; my dream was to play Division I college hockey," Burke said Wednesday from his home in Anaheim, Calif.
Next Monday in Anaheim, Burke's Anaheim Ducks, in his second year as the team's general manager, will begin playing Ottawa for Lord Stanley's famed trophy.
Burke, a 1973 Edina West graduate, achieved his hockey goal, walking on as a freshman player at Providence, earning a partial scholarship his sophomore year, then full tenders his junior and senior seasons and becoming co-captain with Ron Wilson, who coaches the San Jose Sharks.
"I had no aspirations of working (in) or playing pro hockey," Burke, 51, said. "It was just too remote for me. All I wanted to do was play D1.
"For an Edina kid who started playing hockey so late, to even have a job like mine ... I have a dream job. I can't wait to get to work in the morning. I feel so fortunate."
In just two years as the Ducks' GM, Burke's team has played in seven playoff series."That's pretty special," he said. "This is a pretty good feeling. I haven't been to this dance before. It's pretty cool."
There are three primary reasons, he said, for the Ducks' current success.
"Signing Scotty Niedermayer as a free agent, naming Randy Carlyle as head coach, and trading for Chris Pronger," he said.
The Stanley
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Cup will make its way to Minnesota this summer, no matter which team wins it. That's because each member of the winning team, by tradition, gets to keep it for a day in his hometown.
The Ducks have two Minnesotans - center Ryan Carter of White Bear Lake and forward Joe Motzko of Bemidji - and the Senators have defenseman Tom Preissing of Rosemount.
"I think this kid's going to be a player," Burke said of Carter, the former Minnesota State Mankato standout who spent most of the season at the Ducks' Portland, Maine, affiliate in the American Hockey League.
Motzko played for St. Cloud State.
Patrick Eaves, son of Wisconsin men's hockey coach Mike Eaves, played a season for Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault and is with the Senators.
Nigerian Festus Ezeli, 17, a 6-foot-11, 255-pounder from Yuba City junior college in California, is interested in the Gophers, Hoopmasters.com reports.
Hall of fame pitcher Bob Feller, 88, will drive to the Mall of America from his home in Van Meter, Iowa, for an autograph session June 2 at Field of Dreams.
Chris Weinke of St. Paul will be among at least 30 former Heisman Trophy winners expected to participate in a golf and VIP weekend June 28-July 1 at the posh Barton Creek resort in Austin, Texas.
Weinke, 34, a former Cretin-Derham Hall and Florida State quarterback released this spring by the Carolina Panthers, is still without a football job for next season.
University of Arizona men's basketball coach Lute Olson will be in town Saturday for a testimonial for retiring Augsburg College fundraiser Geroy Carlson.
Pat (Paradise) Harris, a member of one of St. Paul's great sports families, the Paradises, has died of cancer at age 60. Memorials can be made to the Dick Paradise Scholarship Fund at Cretin-Derham Hall. Among the eight Paradise children, four - including Bill and Jim - have passed away.
An "In My Own Words" 30-minute Fox Sports Net North special on Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, including how his 2006 MVP Award has changed his life, will air at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, after the telecast of the Twins-Toronto Blue Jays game.
That was Wild curator Roger Godin chatting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper last weekend in Ottawa. Both belong to the Society of International Hockey Research, which held its spring meeting in Ottawa.
"He was aware of the (Minnesota) Fighting Saints, and the glass boards at the old Civic Center . . . he's quite knowledgeable," said Godin, who is a vice president representing the western United States in the research group.
Former Gophers slugger Jack Hannahan of the Detroit Tigers' Class AAA Toledo club hit a 400-foot home run the other day against Matt Garza, pitching for the Twins' farm club in Rochester, N.Y., with Twins scouts in attendance. Hannahan, a utility infielder from St. Paul, can become a six-year minor league free agent this winter.
Charley Walters' column appears Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at [email protected]
DON'T PRINT THAT
If Portland chooses 7-foot center Greg Oden with the No. 1 pick in next month's NBA draft, it could mean 7-1 former Gopher Joel Przybilla will be traded. The Timberwolves would seem a logical suitor for the shot blocker-rebounder from Monticello.
Przybilla, 27, has the largest guaranteed sports contract of any Minnesota native in history at $32 million for five years. He lives in Door County, Wis., during the offseason with wife Noelle and their 1-year-old son, Anthony.
Sidney Ponson, released by the Twins with a $1 million contract after seven starts and a 6.93 earned-run average, performed better than current starter Ramon Ortiz, who has a 6.88 ERA after his past seven starts but has a $3.1 million guaranteed deal this season, stickandballguy.com points out.
http://www.twincities.com/walters/ci_5972240
Brian Burke never dreamed about the Stanley Cup.
"I grew up in Edina, didn't start playing hockey until I was 13 years old; my dream was to play Division I college hockey," Burke said Wednesday from his home in Anaheim, Calif.
Next Monday in Anaheim, Burke's Anaheim Ducks, in his second year as the team's general manager, will begin playing Ottawa for Lord Stanley's famed trophy.
Burke, a 1973 Edina West graduate, achieved his hockey goal, walking on as a freshman player at Providence, earning a partial scholarship his sophomore year, then full tenders his junior and senior seasons and becoming co-captain with Ron Wilson, who coaches the San Jose Sharks.
"I had no aspirations of working (in) or playing pro hockey," Burke, 51, said. "It was just too remote for me. All I wanted to do was play D1.
"For an Edina kid who started playing hockey so late, to even have a job like mine ... I have a dream job. I can't wait to get to work in the morning. I feel so fortunate."
In just two years as the Ducks' GM, Burke's team has played in seven playoff series."That's pretty special," he said. "This is a pretty good feeling. I haven't been to this dance before. It's pretty cool."
There are three primary reasons, he said, for the Ducks' current success.
"Signing Scotty Niedermayer as a free agent, naming Randy Carlyle as head coach, and trading for Chris Pronger," he said.
The Stanley
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cup will make its way to Minnesota this summer, no matter which team wins it. That's because each member of the winning team, by tradition, gets to keep it for a day in his hometown.
The Ducks have two Minnesotans - center Ryan Carter of White Bear Lake and forward Joe Motzko of Bemidji - and the Senators have defenseman Tom Preissing of Rosemount.
"I think this kid's going to be a player," Burke said of Carter, the former Minnesota State Mankato standout who spent most of the season at the Ducks' Portland, Maine, affiliate in the American Hockey League.
Motzko played for St. Cloud State.
Patrick Eaves, son of Wisconsin men's hockey coach Mike Eaves, played a season for Shattuck-St. Mary's in Faribault and is with the Senators.
Nigerian Festus Ezeli, 17, a 6-foot-11, 255-pounder from Yuba City junior college in California, is interested in the Gophers, Hoopmasters.com reports.
Hall of fame pitcher Bob Feller, 88, will drive to the Mall of America from his home in Van Meter, Iowa, for an autograph session June 2 at Field of Dreams.
Chris Weinke of St. Paul will be among at least 30 former Heisman Trophy winners expected to participate in a golf and VIP weekend June 28-July 1 at the posh Barton Creek resort in Austin, Texas.
Weinke, 34, a former Cretin-Derham Hall and Florida State quarterback released this spring by the Carolina Panthers, is still without a football job for next season.
University of Arizona men's basketball coach Lute Olson will be in town Saturday for a testimonial for retiring Augsburg College fundraiser Geroy Carlson.
Pat (Paradise) Harris, a member of one of St. Paul's great sports families, the Paradises, has died of cancer at age 60. Memorials can be made to the Dick Paradise Scholarship Fund at Cretin-Derham Hall. Among the eight Paradise children, four - including Bill and Jim - have passed away.
An "In My Own Words" 30-minute Fox Sports Net North special on Twins first baseman Justin Morneau, including how his 2006 MVP Award has changed his life, will air at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, after the telecast of the Twins-Toronto Blue Jays game.
That was Wild curator Roger Godin chatting with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper last weekend in Ottawa. Both belong to the Society of International Hockey Research, which held its spring meeting in Ottawa.
"He was aware of the (Minnesota) Fighting Saints, and the glass boards at the old Civic Center . . . he's quite knowledgeable," said Godin, who is a vice president representing the western United States in the research group.
Former Gophers slugger Jack Hannahan of the Detroit Tigers' Class AAA Toledo club hit a 400-foot home run the other day against Matt Garza, pitching for the Twins' farm club in Rochester, N.Y., with Twins scouts in attendance. Hannahan, a utility infielder from St. Paul, can become a six-year minor league free agent this winter.
Charley Walters' column appears Sundays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. He can be reached at [email protected]
DON'T PRINT THAT
If Portland chooses 7-foot center Greg Oden with the No. 1 pick in next month's NBA draft, it could mean 7-1 former Gopher Joel Przybilla will be traded. The Timberwolves would seem a logical suitor for the shot blocker-rebounder from Monticello.
Przybilla, 27, has the largest guaranteed sports contract of any Minnesota native in history at $32 million for five years. He lives in Door County, Wis., during the offseason with wife Noelle and their 1-year-old son, Anthony.
Sidney Ponson, released by the Twins with a $1 million contract after seven starts and a 6.93 earned-run average, performed better than current starter Ramon Ortiz, who has a 6.88 ERA after his past seven starts but has a $3.1 million guaranteed deal this season, stickandballguy.com points out.
http://www.twincities.com/walters/ci_5972240