Sean Burke

For other people named Sean Burke, see Sean Burke (disambiguation).

Sean Burke
Born	(1967-01-29) January 29, 1967 Windsor, ON, CAN
Height	6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight	215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position	Goaltender
Caught	Left
Played for	New Jersey Devils Hartford Whalers Carolina Hurricanes Vancouver Canucks Philadelphia Flyers Florida Panthers Phoenix Coyotes Tampa Bay Lightning Los Angeles Kings
National team	Canada
NHL Draft	24th overall, 1985 New Jersey Devils
Playing career	1987–2007

Sean Burke (born January 29, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey goaltender who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the New Jersey Devils, Hartford Whalers, Carolina Hurricanes, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers, Florida Panthers, Phoenix Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning and Los Angeles Kings. His son, Brendan Burke, was drafted 163rd overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Burke was born in Windsor, Ontario, but grew up in Toronto, Ontario.

Playing career

Burke was drafted by the New Jersey Devils in the second round of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft. He earned national attention from his international play. He backstopped Canada's junior team to a silver medal in the 1986 World Junior Championships and a fourth-place finish for the national men's team at the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

Burke went from the Olympics to the Devils. He started 11 games for the Devils in the 1987–88 NHL season, including an overtime victory against the Chicago Blackhawks on the final night of the season that qualified the Devils for their first playoff series.

Dubbed a "rookie sensation", Burke helped the Devils go on a playoff roll, defeating the division-leader New York Islanders in the first round in six games and then the Washington Capitals in seven games. Burke was one game away from the Stanley Cup Finals but lost in Game 7 of the Wales Conference finals to the Boston Bruins.

Burke's play was widely heralded. The Hockey Digest declared, "Burke is now the franchise for the Devils, and to whatever heights he rises, the Devils will rise with him" and in December 1988 made Burke the first Devil to appear on its cover.

Because he played just 11 games in the 1987–88 regular season, he maintained his rookie status for the next season. The next season, Burke was elected into the NHL All-Star Game.

Burke played for the Devils through the 1990–91 NHL season, and then sat out the 1991–92 season in a contract dispute. Instead, he played for the Canadian national team and played in the Olympics for a second time. This time, he backstopped Canada to a silver medal.

On August 28, 1992, Burke was traded to the Hartford Whalers for Bobby Holik, a second-round pick in 1993 draft (Jay Pandolfo) and future considerations. He played there (and with the relocated Whalers team, the Carolina Hurricanes) for six seasons. Was voted Whalers' team MVP from '93–'97. Burke then played with several teams, including the Philadelphia Flyers, Vancouver Canucks, and Florida Panthers. He then signed with the Phoenix Coyotes, and played there for five seasons, where he was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy and 3rd finalist for the Hart Trophy in the 2001–02 NHL season.

After that, Burke played for the Philadelphia Flyers (for the second time) recording his 300th career win (the twentieth goalie to reach this milestone), and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Burke was placed on waivers by Tampa Bay before the 2006–07 NHL season, but was not picked up. He then played for the Lightning's American Hockey League affiliate Springfield Falcons. However, he struggled with the Falcons and lost his starting job to Karri Ramo. He was then placed on waivers by the Lightning and picked up off re-entry waivers by the Los Angeles Kings.

Burke, a 3-time NHL All-Star (1989, 2001, 2002), officially announced his retirement on September 18, 2007.

Personal life

On March 4, 2008, the Phoenix Coyotes hired Burke as the Director of Prospect Development. He was the Assistant to the General Manager and Coyotes' goaltending coach.

Burke and his fiancée Christy Williams welcomed their first son Hudson Burke on April 9, 2015. Burke also has 2 adult children Andie and Brendan. He currently resides in Paradise Valley, Arizona with his fiancee Christy and her two kids, Alexis and Jimmy.

Career statistics

Regular season

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	T	OT	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1983–84	St. Michael's Buzzers	MetJHL		25	—	—	—	—	1482	120	0	4.86	—
1984–85	Toronto Marlboros	OHL		49	25	21	3	—	2987	211	0	4.24	—
1985–86	Toronto Marlboros	OHL		47	16	27	3	—	2840	233	0	4.92	—
1986–87	Team Canada	Nat-Tm		42	27	13	2	—	2550	130	0	3.05	—
1987–88	New Jersey Devils	NHL		13	10	1	0	—	688	35	1	3.05	.883
1987–88	Team Canada	Nat-Tm		37	19	9	2	—	1962	92	1	2.81	—
1988–89	New Jersey Devils	NHL		62	22	31	9	—	3590	230	3	3.84	.873
1989–90	New Jersey Devils	NHL		52	22	22	6	—	2914	175	0	3.60	.880
1990–91	New Jersey Devils	NHL		35	8	12	8	—	1870	112	0	3.59	.872
1991–92	Team Canada	Nat-Tm		31	18	6	4	—	1721	75	1	2.61	—
1991–92	San Diego Gulls	IHL		7	4	2	1	—	424	17	0	2.41	—
1992–93	Hartford Whalers	NHL		50	16	27	3	—	2656	184	0	4.16	.876
1993–94	Hartford Whalers	NHL		47	17	24	5	—	2750	137	2	2.99	.906
1994–95	Hartford Whalers	NHL		42	17	19	4	—	2418	108	0	2.68	.912
1995–96	Hartford Whalers	NHL		66	28	28	6	—	3669	190	4	3.11	.907
1996–97	Hartford Whalers	NHL		51	22	22	6	—	2985	134	4	2.69	.914
1997–98	Carolina Hurricanes	NHL		25	7	11	5	—	1415	66	1	2.80	.899
1997–98	Vancouver Canucks	NHL		16	2	9	4	—	838	49	0	3.51	.876
1997–98	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		11	7	3	0	—	632	27	1	2.56	.913
1998–99	Florida Panthers	NHL		59	21	24	14	—	3402	151	3	2.66	.907
1999–2000	Florida Panthers	NHL		7	2	5	0	—	418	18	0	2.58	.913
1999–2000	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		35	17	14	3	—	2074	88	3	2.55	.914
2000–01	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		62	25	22	13	—	3644	138	4	2.27	.922
2001–02	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		60	33	21	6	—	3587	137	5	2.29	.920
2002–03	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		22	12	6	2	—	1248	44	2	2.11	.930
2003–04	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		32	10	15	5	—	1795	84	1	2.81	.908
2003–04	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		15	6	5	2	—	825	35	1	2.55	.910
2005–06	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		35	14	10	—	4	1713	80	2	2.80	.895
2006–07	Springfield Falcons	AHL		7	2	5	—	0	345	26	0	4.52	.856
2006–07	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		23	6	10	—	5	1310	68	1	3.11	.901
NHL totals				820	324	341	101	9	46,440	2290	38	2.96	.902

Playoffs

Season	Team	League		GP	W	L	MIN	GA	SO	GAA	SV%
1984–85	Toronto Marlboros	OHL		5	1	3	266	25	0	5.64	—
1985–86	Toronto Marlboros	OHL		4	0	4	238	24	0	6.05	—
1987–88	New Jersey Devils	NHL		17	9	8	999	57	1	3.42	.889
1989–90	New Jersey Devils	NHL		2	0	2	125	8	0	3.84	.860
1991–92	San Diego Gulls	IHL		3	0	3	160	13	0	4.88	—
1997–98	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		5	1	4	283	17	0	3.60	.860
1999–2000	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		5	1	4	296	16	0	3.24	.904
2001–02	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		5	1	4	297	13	0	2.63	.902
2003–04	Philadelphia Flyers	NHL		1	0	0	40	1	0	1.50	.889
2005–06	Tampa Bay Lightning	NHL		3	0	1	109	7	0	3.85	.877
NHL totals				38	12	23	2149	119	1	3.32	.888

International

Year	Team	Event			GP	W	L	T	MIN	GA	SO	GAA
1986	Canada	WJC			2	1	1	0	120	7	0	3.50
1987	Canada	WC			5	2	2	1	300	12	0	2.40
1988	Canada	OLY			4	1	2	1	238	12	0	3.02
1989	Canada	WC			5	—	—	—	275	10	1	2.18
1991	Canada	WC			8	5	1	2	479	21	0	2.63
1991	Canada	CC			0	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1992	Canada	OLY			7	5	2	0	429	17	0	2.37
1997	Canada	WC			11	7	1	3	608	22	3	2.17
2003	Canada	WC			6	—	—	—	329	7	1	1.28
Junior totals					2	1	1	0	120	7	0	3.50
Senior totals					46	—	—	—	2658	101	5	2.28

International play

Medal record
Men's ice hockey
Representing Canada
Canada Cup
	1991 Canada	Ice hockey
Olympic Games
	1992 Albertville	Ice hockey
World Championship
	1997 Finland	Ice hockey
	2003 Finland	Ice hockey
World Junior Championship
	1986 Canada	Ice hockey

Burke played in 11 games for the Canadian National team in the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics. He served as the back-up Goalie in the 1991 Canada Cup, and has also played in 130 games for other Canadian National teams from 1985 through 2003.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from NHL.com, or Hockey-Reference.com, or Legends of Hockey, or The Internet Hockey Database

• Jersey purges its demons, Hockey Digest, May, 2003, by Alex Gordon
• Bio on hockeygoalies.com
• NHLPA.com Player Biography – Sean Burke
• NHL.com Players – Sean Burke