Burke defies Bettman, accuses Lowe of tampering

[edicius 3,269]

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=243086&lid...os=secStory_nhl

Wonder what Bettman will say about this. Wait, what am I thinking? It's Brian Burke. Nevermind.

And why is Burke crying, "TAMPERING! TAMPERING!"?

Because Lowe said this:

''Anaheim has decent players - Corey Perry is a hell of a player,'' Lowe told the radio station. ''What I really want to say about his (Burke's) bickering about parity and the salary cap is if you're unhappy about them, then trade him (Perry) our way, we'll be glad to have him.''

Because of that...

Burke has asked the league to consider tampering charges against Lowe.

''It is our understanding that clubs are not entitled to express interest in the services of a player belonging to another NHL organization,'' said Burke. ''Our understanding is that such an expression of interest constitutes tampering. We have asked the league to investigate whether a tampering episode has taken place.''

Seriously, you can't make this s*** up.

Edited July 11, 2008 by edicius

[henrik40 76]

Burke is a complete moron, he just needs to shut the hell up.

[PaVel DaTsYuK fan13 0]

Burke is a joke...

[puckloo39 5,686]

I would hope by now that everyone has figured out what most of us have known for a long time... Burke is a whining fool.

Thank you, Lord, for Kenny Holland. Amen.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

Burke and Lowe need to hug it out...

[Duck Guy 86]

this is bullsh!t burke is now just being ridiculous iam tired of this

Burke is a complete moron, he just needs to shut the hell up.

/agreed with that part

Edited July 11, 2008 by Duck Guy

[redwinger4747 6]

Wait a minute, how is that tampering? Don't GM's talk all the time about players they are interested in acquiring, especially at trade deadline time?

[HomeNugget 2]

Burke has been making comments for Lowe for a year, and Lowe has kept his mouth shut until now. Now that Lowe has finally responded Burke is demanding that he be punished in some way. This just doesn't seem fair to me.

[weGotTheCup89 41]

burke is my favorite GM actually... right after Isaiah Thomas

[jvxp 0]

Burke has been making comments for Lowe for a year, and Lowe has kept his mouth shut until now. Now that Lowe has finally responded Burke is demanding that he be punished in some way. This just doesn't seem fair to me.

[BlueMonk 102]

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=243086&lid...os=secStory_nhl

Wonder what Bettman will say about this. Wait, what am I thinking? It's Brian Burke. Nevermind.

And why is Burke crying, "TAMPERING! TAMPERING!"?

Because Lowe said this:

Because of that...

Seriously, you can't make this s*** up.

Burke is a fecking asshat. So out of one side of his mouth he says they're going to follow the league's order and drop all of this. Great, its about time he shut the f*** up. But then out of the other side of his mouth he wants the league to look into possible "tampering"?

Please Burkie. You are an ******* (takes one to know one) and you're simply doing this b/c you want to prove how much of an ******* you are. So if Ken Holland comes out tomorrow and says, "Man, we'd love to have a player like Jerome Iginla on our team" what next, is somebody going to accuse him of tampering?

This is a joke, Burke is just being a dick b/c he can't let Lowe get the last word in.

Burke needs to be a man. If you say you're going to drop it, then drop it.

[Guest Shoreline]

"Alright I'll abide by the rules not to get into it with Lowe. P.S. f*** You Lowe. You're a great man Bettman and I respect your decisions, even though Lowe is a douchebag. Thanks and have a great season everyone."

[next week -- Burke offers to Lowe to sign the guy and his monkey to an offer sheet]

Edited July 11, 2008 by Shoreline

[Grim 5]

Wait a minute, how is that tampering? Don't GM's talk all the time about players they are interested in acquiring, especially at trade deadline time?

its only tampering if you contact players who are still under contract... without consent from both managements.

[Doggy 130]

Burkie loves the attention.

[Redwingsfan18 1]

Burke is like the NHL's "Brian" he's always a douchebag

little Dane Cook for everyone there

[Grim 5]

Sounds like to me, Burkie is trying to writhe his way outta Anaheim...

heck, if there actually was any tampering it should be the Leafs for messing up Burke's extension talks.

[Holmstrom96Screens 0]

Burke is a complete moron, he just needs to shut the hell up.

honestly what will it taketo make burke stuff a cork in it?

[rage 24]

I still can't believe that anybody would dare defy Bettman. The nerve!!!

[Earthhuman 8]

"Alright I'll abide by the rules not to get into it with Lowe. P.S. f*** You Lowe. You're a great man Bettman and I respect your decisions, even though Lowe is a douchebag. Thanks and have a great season everyone."

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

[Guest CaliWingsNut]

There has been an exchange of blows between two franchises recently – the Anaheim Ducks and the Edmonton Oilers – and the NHL has stepped in and has stopped that fight. We respect that. We believe that the NHL has a perfect right to do that. They have the authority to do that. We intend to abide by the league's directive, which is to stop the criticism. There is no question in our mind or defiance about the league's authority here. We accept their authority to stop this and we intend to stop it. However, several things were said last Friday that I believe need to be addressed. Specifically, No.1: the Anaheim market; No.2: a comment about Corey Perry; No.3: a comment about Bobby Ryan and No. 4: a comment about Scott Niedermayer.

That's all you had to say... you should have shut up right now.

First, let's talk about our market. The Anaheim Ducks do not have to take a back seat to anybody based on their performance over the last three seasons and that's all I care about. Those are the only seasons I have been there. No NHL team has played in more playoff rounds in the last three years than Anaheim. Detroit has played in the same number, which is eight. No organization, if you add their NHL and AHL team, has played in as many playoff rounds as Anaheim and Portland, which is 14.

Yeah umm... I know you've only been the GM there for the last 3 years, but maybe you should have waited to pull out that comment until.. I dunno... your playoff reign was maybe even half of ours? (please note, I have been an avid red wings fan since before anaheim had a team, and I know I'm not a minority on this board in that respect).

The Anaheim Ducks can justifiably say that no team in the NHL has outperformed the Ducks at both levels or at the NHL level in the last three years. No one has won more than one Stanley Cup. We've averaged 103-plus points. The team itself has nothing to be defensive about or apologize for. More important, we believe our fan base is as supportive, as rabid and as loyal as any fan base in pro sports, not just in the National Hockey League. We've played to 77 straight sellouts. I believe that is the third-best string in the NHL. All of our suites are sold. Club seats are at record levels. No one can question the commitment, support and loyalty of the Anaheim Ducks fan base. We believe they're the best fans in professional sports. We also feel that we've achieved this in a market that is absolutely jammed with competition with 10 other professional sports teams and several major college programs that generate the type of coverage that pro teams dream about – USC football, UCLA basketball and so on. I can't go through the entire list. We feel we get great coverage, great print coverage. We feel we get fair electronic coverage. When I say fair, I mean equitable fair, not fair as in fair-to-good. Considering the crowded marketplace we're in, we don't have to take a back seat to anybody, apologize or be defensive about our market or media coverage.

Honda Center (Ducks) Seating Capcity: 17,135 (Link)

17,135 x 77 = 1,319,395

Rextall Place (Oilers) Seating Capcity : 16,839 (Link)

Joe Lewis Arena's (I'll hurt you if you don't know) Seating Capacity: 20,066 (Link)

1,319,395 / 20,066 = 66 continous sellouts... (I think we've done that before...)

Aves have the nhl record of continous sellouts broken Oct. 2007... it's 487 (Link). I'm unsure if this is the current running record. Their stadium seats 18,129 when the Aves are playing.(Link)

You talk like 77 is something special for the NHL.

No. 2, comments about Corey Perry. It is our understanding that Clubs are not entitled to express interest in the services of a player belonging to another NHL organization. Our understanding is that such an expression of interest constitutes tampering. We have asked the league to investigate whether a tampering episode has taken place. We've asked them to make a full investigation into that. We will have no further comment on this and we will abide by whatever the league's decision is on this.

Are you serious?!?!?!

No.3, Bobby Ryan. We believe that players belonging to another organization should be exempt from criticism by the Ducks. We think such criticism is unwarranted unless you're talking about something a player does or says that affects our team. In other words, you're playing another team and a player on their team does something to one of your players and you have to comment on it or they say something that you have to react to. Otherwise, we believe that players in another organization should not be criticized by the Anaheim Ducks. Bobby Ryan needs no defending. He is a wonderful young prospect and had an amazing playoffs in the American Hockey League. I think for Bobby Ryan to have been dragged into this in any way or criticized in any way goes outside what we believe the treatment of players should receive.

HUH?

And umm... if Bobby Ryan didn't need defending, why the hell are you talking about it?

No. 4, we signed Scott Niedermayer as a free agent in the summer of 2005. There were no allegations of impropriety of any kind at that time. Now an impression has been created that there was impropriety. We have asked the National Hockey League to conduct a full investigation into the signing of Scott Niedermayer. Once they have done so, we expect to be exonerated of any misconduct and then we expect the league to act appropriately. We do not feel it is our place, for example, to create an impression of wrongdoing or misconduct on the part of another team without being able to back it up.

HAHAHA wouldn't it be hilarious if they did find something wrong?

Thank you.

No... Thank you!

Last Edit... I promise.

BTW... I live in West LA, and work about 15 minutes from the honda center. I'd be more inclined to see a Kings Game.

Edited July 11, 2008 by CaliWingsNut

[Duck Guy 86]

err when burke was talking about the playoffs he was talking about the 3 years he has been there not in team history... and since burke has been there ducks have made the playoffs 3 years in a row (franchise best) not near what the wings have under there belt but thats what he is talking about how can you compare a original six team to one started in 93 (playoff appearance wise)

Edited July 11, 2008 by Duck Guy

[Doggy 130]

Yeah that sellout streak will end quick next season when the Ducks are a smouldering pile of turd.

[55fan 5,133]

From next week's news (no link as it hasn't happened yet):

Bettman Fines Lowe for Comments

Commissioner Gary Bettman fined the Oilers' Lowe today. The amount of the fine has not yet been disclosed, and inside sources refused to comment.

This is the latest in a series of events which began with Brian "why's that camera off?" Burke accusing Lowe of offering offer sheets to players whose value was of less to Burke than to Lowe. After a year, Lowe commented. Commissioner Bettman told Burke and Lowe that no further comments would be allowed. Burke responded to comments which Lowe had made before the comment ban.

Yesterday, a reporter asked Lowe for a comment, to which Lowe replied, "I have no comment." Bettman levied the fine immediately.

"You see," explained Bettman, "Lowe commented when he said he had no comment. That was a comment, and so he was fined. Burke did not comment, he responded. I think that is fine, so there was no fine. Had he commented, rather than responding, that would not have been fine, and he'd have been fined. Should Burke comment on the fine, that is not fine, and there will certainly be a fine, on which I will comment at that time. Lowe should have told the reporter that he had no response, which would have been the responsible thing to do, and that would have been fine, although I may have fined him anyway, as I am responsible for both comments and fines, which is fine; and I have no further comment."

Tune in next week to "As the Puck Turns". Let's play some hockey.

(In case anyone was wondering, I made that up.)

Edited July 12, 2008 by 55fan

[P. Marlowe 748]

"You see," explained Bettman, "Lowe commented when he said he had no comment. That was a comment, and so he was fined. Burke did not comment, he responded. I think that is fine, so there was no fine. Had he commented, rather than responding, that would not have been fine, and he'd have been fined. Should Burke comment on the fine, that is not fine, and there will certainly be a fine, on which I will comment at that time. Lowe should have told the reporter that he had no response, which would have been the responsible thing to do, and that would have been fine, although I may have fined him anyway, as I am responsible for both comments and fines, which is fine; and I have no further comment."

That's poetry.