Devils Advocates: Sean Burke

I became a big fan of Sean Burke before he was a NHL goalie. He outplayed Andy Moog on the 1987-88 Canadian National Team that played in the Calgary Olympics. Canada's weak teams could never beat the Soviet "amateurs," but things looked really promising on Alberta ice that year. Backed almost solely by the goaltending, Canada was even picked to win gold by Sports Illustrated. It didn't happen, but as Eric Duhatshek also recalls those were sweet memories.

Then Burke jumped straight to the NHL, going 10-1-0 to sneak the New Jersey Devils into the playoffs for the first time. He also took the Devils deep into the playoffs, before bowing to the Boston Bruins in the conference finals. A star was born.

Perhaps the last great stand up goalie, he was forced out of NJ with Martin Brodeur waiting in the wings. He went on to a lengthy and vagabond NHL career.


Here's the full Sean Burke biography