Taking a gamble on Burke is worth the gamble, but …

Sporting News, The, March 16, 1998 by Larry Wigge

The voice on the other end of the telephone is not quick to agree that he has just traded the Stanley Cup to his old buddy Bobby Clarke in Philadelphia. Maybe that's because Canucks, coach Mike Keenan thought Sean Burke was going to be his No. 1 goaltender and lead his team to the Promised Land about two months ago.

"I think Sean's got the talent, but I can't answer for the attitude," Keenan says of Burke's 7-11-5 record and shaky .899 save percentage in 25 games with Carolina and Vancouver this season. "I don't know where his head will be come playoff time.

"His athleticism has been proven over the years, but I just think the domestic problems he had earlier this season In Carolina (when he was charged with assault stemming from an altercation with his wife, paid a $200 fine, got 18 months probation and is required to take part in a program on domestic abuse) are holding him back."

If this were last season, acquiring Burke (2.69 goals-against average in 51 games for a bad Whalers team) might have been enough to guarantee the Flyers would win the Stanley Cup. He certainly has never had the propensity of letting in the soft goals Ron Hextall and Garth Snow did in the Finals against Detroit that put the Flyers in an early hole in each game.

"The last couple of years in Hartford he was keeping that team in games it had no right to be in," Canadiens right winger Mark Recchi says of Burke. "But he isn't the same goalie this season.

"Can he regain his touch and help the Flyers win the Stanley Cup? Sure. He was unconscious one night against us in Carolina. Will he? Well, you've got to remember Sean hasn't been in the playoffs in a while (not since his days in New Jersey when he led the Devils to the conference finals in 1988 and then went 0-2 in 1990). I know one thing: You're not going to get me to say anything bad about Ron Hextall. Maybe Hexxy can't win the Stanley Cup, but he certainly got the Flyers there last year with his performance against the Rangers in the conference finals."

Woulda/coulda/shouldas don't mean diddly, however. And that's partly why getting Burke isn't the same as Colorado acquiring Patrick Roy from Montreal and then winning the Cup two years ago.

One thing is certain: The Flyers have a better chance to win it all--because Hextall and Snow have continued to self-destruct against the better teams as the 0-7-1 record against Dallas, Detroit, Colorado and New Jersey indicates.

Since last year's loss to Detroit in the Finals, the Flyers have added steady defenseman Luke Richardson and they have sent Mikael Renberg to Tampa Bay for forward Chris Gratton. But it's clear the Flyers are still not strong enough up front to support an average goalie. And while coach Wayne Cashman raves about the Burke he had that won the World Championships for Canada last spring and pro scout Paul Holmgren knows all about the solid goalie he coached in Hartford, this is a different Burke.

"This is a chance to win a Stanley Cup," Burke says. "I'm not going to blow it."

Well, that attitude, if real, is the first step back to the Burke that could guarantee the Flyers a Cup.

The bottom line: Getting Burke was worth the gamble. Clarke didn't have to give up Rod Brind'Amour, the player Carolina wanted earlier this season. And he didn't have to trade youngsters Janne Niinimaa or Dainius Zubrus, often mentioned in deals to Edmonton for Curtis Joseph, to Toronto for Felix Potvin or to Florida for John Vanbiesbrouck. All he had to give up is Snow, who is no more than a career backup.

Still, Clarke knows he doesn't have Mr. Goalie. He admitted , after making the trade that he was able to get Burke only because he is a free-agent-to-be. Clarke also says he's likely to obtain another goalie through free agency next summer.

Can you say Flourtown, Pa., free-agent-to-be Mike Richter? More important, can you say the Flyers' chances of winning their first Stanley Cup since 1975 are still iffy at best?

Unless Burke has a miracle up his sleeve.

RELATED ARTICLE: Hawks and doves

Remember when the Blackhawks went after Tampa Bay free agent Chris Gratton last summer, only to lose him to a free-agent offer sheet from the Flyers? Well, here's big center search, Part 2.

"We lost out on Gratton, but we got the next-best big guy," Blackhawks G.M. Bob Murray says of a acquiring 6-4, 215-pound Chad Kilger and defenseman Jayson More from Phoenix for defenseman Keith Carney and tough guy Jim Cummins. "Some big guys are late bloomers. We think enough of Chad to give up a No. 3 defenseman (Carney) to give up a No. 3 defenseman (Carney) for him."

Oilers G.M. Glen Sather, for one, thinks Murray made a heck of a deal. "I've been trying to get Kilger for more than a year," he says, "but Phoenix always told me he wasn't available."

Bottom line: Phoenix got the best player now in Carney, but big centers such as Keith Primeau and Gratton are proof that Kilger, fourth pick overall in the 1995 draft, might be worth the wait.

More wheeling and dealing: Yes, Dominik Hasek is a world beater. But he hasn't won anything for the Sabres--and his agent's demand for a new $8 million contract by the March 25 trade deadline is outrageous. ... With the Burke to Philadelphia deal blocking his way, Oilers goalie Curtis Joseph is now reportedly headed to Ottawa. ... With proven players such as Esa Tikkanen, Dave Gagner and Kirk Muller soon to be made available by the non-playoff bound Panthers, surprisingly the player drawing the most interest is defenseman Gord Murphy, who would look pretty good on the power play in Los Angeles. ... That outrageous $2.2 million a year contract over three years to over-the-hill Stephane Richer is already coming back to haunt the Lightning. Rob Zamuner rightfully has gone to management and asked for a new deal that starts at $2.5. million a year. Dallas, Colorado, Philadelphia and Washington are waiting on Tampa Bay G.M. Phil Esposito's doorstep for a potential trade.