Brian Burke

A Harvard Law alumnus, Brian Burke is one of the most knowledgeable executives in hockey.  Starting as the Assistant GM for the Vancouver Canucks, Burke then became General Manager of the Hartford Whalers.  After that, he was the NHL’s Senior Vice-President and Director of Hockey Operations responsible for, among other things, player discipline.  He returned to the Canucks to be the President and General Manager, where he turned the organization around and
was named The Sporting News’ NHL Executive of the Year. Following a four year tenure as the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Burke joined the Calgary Flames as President of Hockey Operations. In 2018, he left the Flames organization and joined Rogers Media as a hockey analyst for the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs and worked as a hockey analyst for Sportsnet and on Hockey Night in Canada until he became the President of Hockey Operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins. In 2023, Burke was named Executive Director of the PWHL Players Association for the newly formed Professional Women’s Hockey League. In 2012, Brian along with his son Patrick, launched the You Can Play campaign, in the honour of his late son Brendan. The campaign is targeted at ending homophobia in sports.