Burning to the Top: 18 Years old and in the NHL
Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Posted by GSH-Editor

Every young lad growing up in Canada dreams about one day stepping out on the ice and playing in the National Hockey League. For most this dream is born and ends on a local pond or street hockey game. For the few, this dream becomes a reality. GongshowHockey.com sits down with nineteen year old Minnesota Wild defenseman Brent Burns to get a first hand perspective on being the youngest hockey player to skate in the NHL last year at only eighteen years old. ..... You started your Junior hockey career off in the Ontario Provincial Junior “A” Hockey League with the Couchiching Terriers, how was that experience?

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It was a great experience for me, a lot of great guys like Sean Berkley. “Burky” used to drive me to the rink every day, so we got to know each other real well, and that was a great experience for me, he kinda brought me along slow. At the rink our coach was great Ray Flaherty, he was a great coach, and I owe a lot to our General Manager he helped me out a lot to get to Brampton the next year as well.

As a Junior “A” player, as you know you must at some point make the choice of whether you should try and get a scholly or head to Major Junior and try to fast track to the Pro’s. What was this choice like for you?

Actually, I had my head set on going the school route up to a month before the OHL season, and then I had a meeting with Stan Butler down in Brampton, and he showed me what Brampton had to bring, and he told me if I wanted to play in the NHL this was my best route to go. I came home and thought about it, and then signed a contract in the next few days, so they made the choice pretty easy for me.

After only 1 year in the OHL, you find your self drafted 1st round and in the NHL. How did you get up there so fast?

It was tough, I still remember going to those first few practices and thinking to myself holy shit what am I doing out here? You see all the older guys and you think they wouldn’t be working hard, but there’s guys like Wes Waltz you see coming to the rink two hours before practice getting ready and I had never seen that before, and they are the same guys that are staying two hours after working out in the gym. It took a while to get use to it, the first two months I couldn’t walk, it takes a while to get used to the mental drag the NHL season causes, its tough to be traveling all over the country, you go to different cities and playing games practicing the next morning, its pretty tough, its the older guys that keep you going and your spirits high, and I owe a lot to the older guys in Minnesota...

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You expected when camp was over and the GM called you in to his office, that you would be heading back to the OHL as most eighteen year olds do. What’s going through your head when he tells you he wants to sign you to a contract and keep you up with the big team?

Oh man, I still remember getting called in to Riseborough’s office and I thought for sure I was heading home, and he says I was just talking to your agent about getting a contract signed. They told me that there was a rule that unsigned players couldn’t play in exhibition games, so we got it signed and done. I got to play in Montreal my first game; all my family came down to watch so it was great....more


Did the vets have some good advice for a young player like you? The older guys like Roloson, Johnston, and Brunette, they came and asked me about the money and made sure I had someone to take care of me and that I could trust. They wanted me to make sure my parents were involved also. Little things like that really helped me, a lot of guys took me out to dinner, good places to eat, and showed me shortcuts to the rink, and all the guys were really great. There’s no guy that you couldn’t get along with in the rink, all the guys were great to get along with.

As the “kid” in the dressing room, you take some heat with the carves flying around the room?! Oh ya, I know for the better part of the season I was referred to as “ear muffs” from the movie Old School so, they are all over me about everything. I didn’t mind at all, it was the time of my life last year; I’d take getting made fun of every day if I can do this for a living. Tell us a bit about the feeling when you first stepped out on the ice for your first NHL game. It happens so quick it was kind of a weird feeling; we played Chicago our first game. I remember some of the older guys in the room asking before the game who’s first NHL game it was and why there was no money on the board. So I went up and threw some money down beside my number on the board. The guys were all over me in warm-up, trying to trip me so I’d fall and little things like that. Ya, but there’s nothing to explain walking out to the rink.

How was rookie initiation in Minny and what was is it?

In Minnesota they don’t try and punish the rookies, they just try and have everyone have a great time at the rookie’s expense. We were on the road in Phoenix for a 4 day road trip staying at a really nice resort and most of the guys were golfing and just relaxing. We had the rookie dinner at the Ocean Club, and I’ll tell you the guys weren’t ordering cheap drinks that night. There was no one else; I was the only rookie so it was all on me. The account took a really big hit that night. They chipped in a little bit when they saw the bill and realized it was all on me. $14 000 later it was a great night. When I showed my parents the bill when I came home they had the same shocked reaction I had when I got it.

How did it feel getting to the NHL and what sacrifices did your family make to help you get there?

Obviously my family was a big part of getting me here. My dad filmed all my games so we could go over all the stuff when we got home and he’s a big part of me being where I am now. A lot of coaches when I was young helped too, but I think family is most important and they certainly gave up allot for me.

You're 18, you went from riding crappy busses, then a year later you're making good coin playing in the NHL. What did you spend it on?

It was a big thing for me to be able to go to the mall and get that shirt I always wanted. My sister she wants to go to university and be a doctor so I bought her a laptop for her and one for me as well. My brother wanted to learn how to play guitar so I got him one so he could practice. I bought myself a Cadillac Escalade SUV, and this past summer I treated myself to a new TGSV Cadillac sports car. I got my parents a few Christmas presents, and just little things like going out to dinner are real nice to be able to do.

When you first got to Minny, we heard you didn’t have a license?

When I got there I didn’t have my license for 6 weeks, so I would get Bouch (Pierre-Marc Bouchard) to drive over and then he would hop in with me because I was only allowed to drive if another licensed driver was with me. The guys were all over me for that in the room.

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Did you have your own pad in Minny? Well Bouchard lived with a billet the year before, the management asked if I’d feel comfortable for my first year taking that route, so I did and it turned out great. They were a great family and took really good care of me. Was there an opponent in the NHL you were in awe of when you met them? Oh ya. It was our first game against the rangers, and it was game day and the other team was coming in all at different times, and I was in the hallway taping my sticks talking to our trainer. Next thing I know Mark Messier walks by me and I look to my trainer and say “did you see that, that’s Mark Messier!” My trainer is like “Ya I’m good friends with him, no big deal Burnzy.”. So he leaves and a few minutes later he comes back with Messier and I couldn’t even talk. Messier said “Hey Burnzy how you doing? my name is Mark.” I was stuttering, he was wearing his UnderArmour game shirt and was so jacked it was intimidating. He was my favorite player growing up as a kid so it was a real honor to meet him. Do you and the boys go out to the bars much after your games and if so, do you ever get sick of fans coming up to you when your trying to wind down? In Minny, we didn’t get to go out much its just to difficult with the season to go out a lot. When we could at the right time, we would head out for a few drinks. As for the fans, not to many eighteen year old guys I know would get sick of girls coming up to them asking if you’re the “NHL guy”...As a NHL player, you get to meet some famous people. Who’s the most famous person you have ever met ? Actually when we played in NY, it was the night Richter retired, and me and Butch were talking with these kids along the glass a couple hours before the game, and we gave them a few sticks. The kid is like you should come meet our Dad, so we were like "no no, its ok", we were kind of laughing. The kid was like “no really you should”. So he brought us over and it was the late Christopher Reeve, it was a pretty cool feeling, and we were pretty thrilled to meet him. I phoned my parents that night and told them I had met Superman.

We have nearly 10 000 members on GongshowHockey.com . What advice do you have for the aspiring hockey player on our website that want to be a professional hockey player like yourself? Well just work hard. I know everyone says that, but you don’t realize the amount of hard work it takes to get to this level. So just put your head down, and work. You have been bounced back from forward to defenseman, what position do you like better? I feel more comfortable playing Defense, because you get the puck a lot more. You get a lot more shots on net, and its a lot of fun keeping the puck out of your own net as well. .

You jumped through three leagues in three years. Which was the biggest step?

Every year I started off pretty slow. My second half of the year in the OHL it all started to come together. My biggest step obviously was to the NHL, it was so hard to get use to all the hard work, and the busy schedule. It’s a big grind, its one of hardest things to get use to, you can’t really have a day off, because there’s always someone waiting to take your spot.

You’re playing in Houston in the AHL during the lockout. What is the biggest difference between back home in Ajax, Ontario and Houston, Texas?

The heat, today is 98 degrees, the ice isn’t that good, but the city is great hey, let me tell you there’s nothing wrong with cowgirls!

During the off-season how do you get ready for the upcoming hockey season knowing there probably would be no NHL?

I just wanted to work as hard as I could so I could do well wherever I ended up with the lockout this season. I stayed in Minny and worked with the Wild strength coach and put on about 20 lbs of muscle. With that everything else seems to improve as well.

You have a chance to go back to win gold for Canada in the World Junior Hockey championships this Christmas.

Well I hope to be a part of it, whoever gets to go there is really lucky because I had the time of my life last year in Finland. I know Canada will give it there all so it should be interesting.

You’re a 1st round pick in the NHL. Last year you had a chance to play with former 1st round pick Alexander Daigle who after a 2 year hiatus from the NHL came back to lead your team in points. What advice did he have for you as for playing in the NHL at such a young age like he did many years ago?

Ya well Dager is a great guy and he took me right under his wing at the start of the year. He took me out to dinner in Calgary, and he told me how hard it is to get use to all the media hype. It’s a big difference from junior hockey and he told me to keep myself on an even keel and not get too low or too high. It was real exciting to see him come back to the game and do so well for us.

On behalf of our members at GongshowHockey.com, thanks for taking the time out of your busy schedule to meet with us, and best of luck this season.

It's been my pleasure lads. Take care!

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