"Where do I begin?" asked Kevin Lowe.
"He's a moron, first of all. Secondly, he really believes that any news for the NHL is good news. Thirdly, he loves the limelight and I don't think anyone in hockey will dispute that. Lastly, he's in a pathetic hockey market where they can't get on any page of the newspaper let alone the front page of the sports, so any of this stuff carries on."
Where did this come from?
After being relatively silent for the past year after Brian Burke chewed up the former all-star defenseman turned GM about the Dustin Penner offer sheet during last off-season, today Kevin Lowe fired back.
Lowe stated that Burke pretty much destroyed the Vancouver Canucks franchise before he left, citing that Dave Nonis' deals to get Roberto Luongo were the only thing that kept Nonis there as long as he was there.
And then the punchline - "He won a Stanley Cup? Great. I've won six Stanley Cups, you want to count rings? Who cares, it's just a little pathetic that he carries on."
And rightly so. Burke's latest claims that the Penner offer sheet was the reason for the increased and inflated playing salaries for younger players seemed to finally set the Oilers GM off. Burke blamed Lowe after he had to re-sign Corey Perry to a deal that will play the young star forward just over $5 million a year.
"I mean, if he wants to debate what our offer sheet did to them or to the salaries, anytime," Lowe explained in his interview with Edmonton radio station Team 1260.
"The reality is, Rick Nash's contract a number of years ago, Patrice Bergeron's and Ilya Kovalchuk's; that sets the standard - that's been going on for decades. I'm sick and tired of it. I know everybody in hockey is. I know our peers are like, 'Well, that's Burkie.'"
"This guys is an absolute media junkie and I guess he's achieving what he wants because he gets his name in the headlines."
Lowe also cited problems with Burke in terms of acquiring Scott Niedermayer as well as Chris Pronger en route to their 2007 Stanley Cup.
The feud has reached a point where other GM's didn't believe that the rivalry was that bitter. Many thought the two were doing it to increase controversy and grab headlines. However, nothing could be farther from the truth.
Now we wait for a rebuttal.
Or for Burke to shut his trap...for once.
Sources:
www.tsn.ca/nhl
www.habsinsideout.com
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3 months ago
Good call. If people think Brian Burke built the Anaheim Ducks to win, they're wrong.
Bryan Murray set the table for him, and the only way Burke got Nieds and Prongs was because Scotty wanted to play with his brother, and Chris wanted to get out of Edmonton.
Any GM in those situations would have also looked like geniouses.
3 months ago
I have to admit, Brian Burke has made some moronic moves with the media, and is a media junkie, but as far as GM's go, ill take my moron. But Lowe is building Edmonton to be a contender. This is making the summer fun.
3 months ago
Brian burke is a pathetic gm, he destroyed vancouver,when he got to anaheim the foundation was in place,all he did was aquire pronger and niedermayer,where does he get the balls to insult kevin lowe,winner of 6 stanley cups,and getting close to a 7,the leafs want to hire burke,what else is new?they should rehire jfj to replace richard peddie,and voila another comedy act for years to come.........
3 months ago
Good for Lowe, Katz must have given him the green light as the committee ownership they had prior probably didn't want Lowe sounding off while they owned the team.
3 months ago
While I agree with pretty much everything Lowe said about Burke, I don't think Lowe is in a strong position to talk.
The Oilers have been a bit of a laughing stock for the past few years and all Lowe has done is thrown big gobs of money around, helping to fuel salary inflation and not really helping his team much in the process.
Things look like they might get a little better this season in Edmonton but I wouldn't get too excited just yet.
3 months ago
oy, they both need to just grow up and shut up. this is just getting ridiculous. i am tired of hearing the two of them mitch and boan to each other about who did what. maybe if they spent more time building and less time arguing they'd both be in the finals again.
from 3 months ago
haha mitch and boan, good call
3 months ago
Kevin Lowe let me know when you win the cup as a GM. You did such a wonderful job taking a cup final team and watching them not make the playoffs. Keep on counting you cup rings from when you were given a gift to play for who you did back in the day. But now it means nothing. This guy is one of the reasons that they will be another lockout on 2 years. Burke is no prize either. But at least he makes a hockey point to his bashing. Lowe cannot even do that.
3 months ago
Burke vs. Lowe... Wrestlemania 25! Make it happen Vince!
3 months ago
burke signs a guy then blames Lowe for how much he paid him...uhhhhh sorry to burst your bubble mr burke, but Kevin Lowe isn't Perry's agent. If you didn't want to pay him that much then you shouldn't have offered it to him.
The problem is bettman raising the cap yet again. Teams that can afford to pay players are going to do it as long as the cap doesn't stop them. I'm glad Lowe finally fired back. To burke, I say in the name of limp bizkit (for those of us old enough to remember) "just shut the fuck up!"
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