Jumbo Joe Was Almost A Duck?
By Michael Walters
Current hockey analyst and former NHL General Manager of several teams, Brian Burke, took to Twitter several days ago for a live Q & A session for an hour.
He was asked by Twitter user @KevinTulak “What is one trade you didn’t make that you wished you had, and what is one that you made that you wished you hadn’t.”
Burke addressed the first part of the question by talking about trying to acquire Joe Thornton when Burke was the GM of the Anaheim Ducks. In a two-part response, Burke said he offered up a total of four players(two roster players, a prospect, and a first-round draft pick) to current Boston GM Mike O’Connell at the time. Thornton was eventually traded to San Jose instead. Burke said, “I’m still bitter we didn’t him.”
Recently O’Connell responded by saying that Burke “fabricated” the proposed deal. Burke answered back on ESPN On Ice stating that current Ducks GM Bob Murray was in the room with him when he made the offer. Burke added a detail may have been off from what he stated recently, but he was adamant an offer was in fact made at the time.
We discussed the implications of a Joe Thornton trade to Anaheim prior to the 2007 Stanley Cup run on our last podcast show.
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April 7th, 2020