Ducks hockey czar Brian Burke made a very difficult decision. He opted to exit a juggernaut he built to become a free agent for next season – and look for a more centrally located job.
“I’ve got four children from my first marriage that live all on the East Coast,” Burke said last month. “I travel back two weekends every month to see them - I’ve been doing that since I went to Vancouver in 1998. It’s a very difficult schedule.
“I’ve (also) got two little ones in California and I don’t see either group enough. That’s the principal concern.”
Burke could well end up in Toronto, a once-proud franchise starved for strong executive leadership. But Chicago could come calling, since current GM Dale Tallon is lingering as one of the few survivors of the old regime.
Bob Murray assumes control of the Ducks hockey operation as Burke slides into a consulting role for the rest of the season.
Burke did an outstanding job in Anaheim, building a Stanley Cup champion and then finding ways to keep those core players in place.
AROUND THE RINKS: If you watched the Penguins rally past the Red Wings Tuesday night, then you know why Jordan Staal could draw over-the-top offer sheets if he becomes a restricted free agent. Staal used his size and skill to score a third-period hat trick in that game. He is trapped behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh, but he could blossom into a strong No. 1 center elsewhere . . . How upset is Lightning coach Barry Melrose these days? For everybody’s sake, he took a day off and let his staff run the team. “The boys and I had a talk and decided it would be good if I went away for a day,” Melrose told the Tampa Tribune. Melrose is rumored to be in some peril, already. And there are rumblings around the NHL that the new Lightning ownership group is on shaky financial ground. There is a lot of that going around the NHL in these tough economic times . . . The Thrashers sent goaltender Ondrej Pavelec back to the AHL, but has shown enough to make veteran Kari Lehtonen expendable . . . The Ottawa Sun suggests that old friend Christian Backman has already worn out his welcome in Columbus. Go figure . . . Jason Blake was none too happy after Maple Leafs coach Ron Wilson made him a healthy scratch. “Maybe it’s not going to work out for me in Toronto,” Blake told the Toronto Sun. “It hasn’t through the first 16 games … If it’s not here, I don’t know . . . I’m not going to quit.” . . . Count Tomas Kana, the Blues’ second-round pick in 2006, as a major washout. After an uninspiring camp showing for the Note, he passed through Peoria for five games en route back to the Alaska Aces. The knock on him: He just doesn’t want to work. He makes Petr Cajanek look like Mark Messier by comparison. Too bad, because he had a productive junior career for various Czech national teams in international play . . . Suns center Olli Jokinen clashed with Panthers GM/coach Jacques Martin before getting dealt to Phoenix. Martin is still GM, but he hired Pete DeBoer to replace him as coach. “I always wish the best for the Panthers,” Jokinen told the Miami Herald. “I had a good seven years there. And I hear they finally have a good coach. That’s good.” That was shot, and right on goal, too.