Burnside on US Olympic GM Choice

In his February 5th column Scott Burnside said that of the four NHL GM’s that make up the USA committee, Don Waddell of Atlanta (and previous GM for the last Olympic games), Ray Shero of Pittsburgh, Brian Burke of Anaheim and David Poile of Nashville that the choice should be obvious as to which should take the reigns, and that is Brian Burke. Burnside is absolutely right.

He sites his reasons for Burke as his connections to US coaches and other GM’s and players plus, and to me more importantly, the fact that he is very aggressive and pushes for what he wants. He is fiery and passionate and has no qualms with earning the ire of others if it accomplishes his goal. That is exactly what is needed for this position. Burke has demonstrated his GM skills and accomplished much both working within limits (Vancouver) and when given more open and free reign control (Anaheim).

But for the sake of argument let’s take a look at the other candidates.

Dave Poile
Poile has been the Nashville GM since the team started and has done a good job building within. He is very patient and can scout talent well. But Poile has also had his hands tied a lot by dealing with an expansion team in a non-traditional market, no easy task. Poile though hasn’t been given much free reign at all and as he likes to stick with things for a while, may not be the best to pick a squad.


Ray Shero
Shero has proven to be a smart GM unwilling to blow his wad so to speak on deadline deals and free agent acquisitions. Like Poile who he worked with as an assistant GM until coming to Pittsburgh, he has much patience and a knack for understanding his players. Still he is rather inexperienced in the grand scheme of things being only a second year GM.


Don Waddell
I don’t hide my dislike for his GM abilities (or lack thereof), and it showed for the last Olympics. Waddell was more interested in having names on the roster, but unfortunately those names were mostly past their prime. The team comprised mostly of aging veterans and little youth or mid level talent, and it killed the US who had an extremely poor showing, and it wouldn’t be out of place to call it embarrassing. After his last showing, plus his continued mishandling of the Thrashers, frankly I don’t see how he is even on this committee.

So I must agree with Burnside that Brian Burke is the most logical choice. He values both youth and veteran talent and isn’t afraid to step on anyone’s toes to get things done right.


-Jordan