Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Anaheim Ducks General Manager Brian Burke apologized Tuesday for the Portland Pirates' failure to qualify for the American Hockey League playoffs.
The apology, which came in a brief statement issued by Burke at the start of a conference call with media members who cover the Pirates, was an unusual move from the chief executive of a team embroiled in the chase for the Stanley Cup.
"I want to apologize to the fans in Portland for the results this year," said Burke, who was in Minnesota for a playoff game Tuesday night. "We're committed to having a playoff team. Despite prodigious efforts to produce the playoff team in Portland, we were unsuccessful."
The season ended Sunday for the Pirates, who were 37-31-3-9 to finish sixth in the Atlantic Division after winning the division title a year ago.
"We're determined to correct this for next year," said Burke, who played for the Maine Mariners when they won the Calder Cup in their inaugural season in 1978.
"We've already begun the process for evaluating our personnel."
Burke said it was important for Anaheim to have a successful AHL team.
"It is not part of our contract (with the Portland organization), (but) we think it is important for the development of players to have a playoff team," he said.
Burke also denied any problems between his organization and the Pirates' owners.
"There's no friction between the two organizations," he said. "The fit has been wonderful."
But Burke admitted problems did exist last season during the first year of the affiliation.
"It was neither side's fault," he said.
"They were used to doing things one way and we were used to doing things a different way, and the gears didn't mesh."
Apparently those issues have been resolved.
"The difference in the relationship in one year is night and day," Burke said. "I would give the relationship a D maybe for last year, and I would give this year's relationship an A. "
Anaheim is committed to another season with the Pirates. By Oct. 1, each side can exercise options to extend the affiliation agreement for two more seasons.
"The only difficulty is geographic," Burke said. "The only issue is, does it make sense to have your farm-league team on the opposite coast? But that is the only issue. The relationship between the Pirates and Anaheim is great."
While it can be difficult to move a player from Portland to California in a timely fashion during a call-up, Burke said that drawback may be offset by the relatively short trips the Pirates have to make.
"When the team was in Cincinnati, it was on the road all the time and there was no time for practice," he said. "In Portland, the players get to sleep in their own beds most nights and we can have an adequate practice schedule."
Brian Petrovek, the Pirates' managing owner/CEO who listened to a recording of the conference call later Tuesday afternoon, appreciated Burke's comments.
"He doesn't mince words and he doesn't sit on things," Petrovek said. "As he focuses on his team winning a Stanley Cup, he also has time to think about us."
Burke also gave a vote of confidence to Pirates Coach Kevin Dineen, in his second season leading a pro team.
"We knew going into this year this was going to be a tougher year," he said.
"Coaching second- and third-year players is tough. In no way is this a poor reflection on Kevin Dineen. We think he did a great job."
Burke credited Dineen with the speedy development of defenseman Kent Huskins and forward Shawn Thornton, both now playing major roles with Anaheim.
Dineen traveled Tuesday to California with a contingent of Portland players who will serve as spares for Anaheim during the playoffs.
Unlike last season, when current Anaheim regulars Dustin Penner, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf spent time with the Pirates, the movement between Anaheim and Portland this past regular season was mostly in one direction.
During the regular season, eight players from Portland were called up to the NHL by Anaheim.
"We tried to replace those players," Burke said.
During the course of the regular season, 52 players appeared in games for the Pirates.
"It's not for lack of effort," Burke said. "We just couldn't find the right formula."
Staff Writer Paul Betit can be contacted at 725-8795 or at:
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At this point Brian Petrovek is pretty committed to staying in Portland. Unless a city offers him a sweet deal to relocate his franchise to another city expect the Pirates to remain in Portland.
I have heard a rumor about an arena being planned outside of Portland, but nothing is concrete at the moment.report abuse
But there were some odd gametime goaltender decisions that I didn't get, and I think a lot of that has to do with his lack of faith in starting a netminder in back-to-back games... But it's not like it was a habit; look at last year when Janne Hurme started over 3/4 of our games in the playoffs? Again I'll point at Leighton this season and his run of games before he was lost to waivers...
As for his replacements, again he did them at times when they made sense... During the middle of the season he pulled Mike Wall after the first and started Dov Gromet-Morris, and then pulled him after the second period and inserted Mike Wall again...
That was done because Dov pulled a muscle in his leg, and the Providence Bruins exploited the injury by scoring 3 goals in 2 minutes...
I don't want to sound like a spokesman for the Kevin Dineen express, but I don't blame him for the second half of the season... As a coach you can only do so much, the rest is up to the players. A lot of players became disenfranchised with things and their play showed... But that's not really the fault of the coach...report abuse
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