Burke Strikes Back

Ducks’ GM Brian Burke spoke about the Penner offer sheet and Kevin Lowe during a conference call yesterday evening. For the most part, Burke held his tongue and stated things professionally, but you could tell he is fuming about the offer Kevin Lowe made. Burke let callers know he was not against the act of giving Penner an offer sheet itself; he was irate over the timing and amount of the deal.

Burke was in Penticton, British Columbia at the time of the offer for his induction ceremony to the BC Hockey Hall of Fame. Said Burke:

“Tonight is the induction ceremony for the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame. I certainly think this could have waited until Monday. I don’t think it shows a lot of respect for the BC Hockey Hall of Fame. I think it’s a classless move, timing-wise. I was not notified until an agent faxed in the offer to us. I thought Kevin would have called me and told me this was coming. I thought that was gutless“.

Burke also stated he thinks these kinds of over-inflated offers impact all 30 teams in the league and this was the second time Lowe and the Oilers made such an offer this summer (Lowe gave Thomas Vanek of Buffalo a seven year, $50M offer not long ago which the Sabres matched).

“I think it’s an act of desperation by a general manager who is fighting to keep his job. I wouldn’t have done it,” added Burke.

Burke also responded to questions regarding the potential retirements of Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne and if that complicates things regarding matching the Penner offer or not. He was also asked if the fact he has to resign Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry next summer (both will become Restricted Free Agents) weighs in. His answer was brief, simply stating that he won’t have an answer until he speaks to ownership about their cap situation going forward. He did mention that he told Selanne and Niedermayer they could have the entire summer to decide what to do and he won’t go back on that word.

In the end, I believe Lowe hurt his relationship with Brian Burke. When a caller stated that Burke and Lowe talked as much as any two GMs in the league, Burke’s answer was short and scathing:

“We used to, quite a bit”.

I think that says it all.