Brian Burke, Hockey Legend and N.H.L. General Manager, Visits Sochi

Brian Burke, the President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and General Manager of the U.S. Hockey team, visited Sochi on Saturday, April 28.  Mr. Burke planned on arriving in Sochi on Friday, the 27th, but due to fog his flight was diverted to Krasnodar. He waited all evening in the Krasnodar airport until the flight was cancelled at about 10 p.m.  Because his schedule is demanding and time was short, Mr. Burke caught a taxi and persuaded the driver to make the 6 hour trip overnight on the serpentine Black Sea route to Sochi.  He arrived at about 5 a.m. After a quick shower and cup of coffee, I showed him central Sochi, Adler and the Olympic Park before he departed for Sweden. When I asked him about staying in a hotel in Krasnodar, instead of driving all night to Sochi, he told me there was no assurance he would have been able to fly here the next day. This may have required him to cancel Sochi.  He said it was important to him to see the environment where players would be living and competing and that he could not speak credibly about it and the issues they would face unless he had been here.  It is not hard to see how his attention to detail and work ethic has led to so much success, both in the NHL and for the U.S Hockey team.  

Brian Burke was born in Providence, Rhode Island into a family that eventually included 10 children.  When he was about 11, the family moved to Edina, Minnesota.  In Minnesota, he received a late introduction to hockey, the sport that would dominate his life as a player, agent and eventual General Manager of the Hartford Whalers, Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks and currently, the Toronto Maple Leafs.  The Maple Leafs are one of the marquee franchises not only in hockey, but in all North American sports.  Remarkably, he is the first American-born G.M. of the Maple Leafs. Brian also was the General Manager of the U.S. men's hockey team that won a silver medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics.  He attended Providence College and Harvard Law, so his educational pedigree is as strong as his hockey background.  

Brian and I talked about the Olympic Park and the construction that Sochi is undergoing.  He noticed the numerous apartment buildings, road and street projects being constructed and we walked around the airport.  He told me that the Olympic Park and venues were "very impressive" and that the new airport is an excellent facility for an Olympic city.  He also told me that the overall changes that Sochi is undergoing are remarkable.  

The entrance to the Olympic stadium is only about 100 meters from the Black Sea, so we stopped there and took photos.