Brian Burke rants; calls Sam Bennett “grumpy” and Tony DeAngelo a “head case”
Brian Burke is well known for his fiery rants. Last night during Sportsnet’s Saturday night hockey coverage he delivered again. The former NHL GM gave more than his two cents worth on both Sam Bennett and Tony DeAngelo.
Brian Burke blasts Sam Bennett’s trade request
Burke began the segment by going off on Sam Bennett and his trade request. “You got some nerve asking for a trade, and I like Sam Bennett,” he warmed up.
“I call him grumpy because he’s always grumpy,” Burke continued in a very ironic moment.
“You’re asking for a trade, this is your tenth game – you’re a minus 6 – you’ve got one assist and no fights,” Burke explained with his GM hat on.
“I have no chance of getting value for you unless you play better and harder,” he concluded. Of course, Bennett did score a goal after Burke’s comments.
Brian Burke calls Tony DeAngelo a head case.

“Whether you take a guy that’s got a reputation as a head case depends on the strength of your room,” Burke said. For anyone to take on Tony DeAngelo, that GM has to believe that the culture in the locker room can set him straight.
“I’m not sure that’s the case here,” Burke said pointedly. “This is not a second chance for Tony DeAngelo, he’s on his third team already,” Burke went on. “You’ve got a right shot defenseman with a high skill-level – he’s got a very poor sense of timing.”
He then broke down the timeline of what went down with DeAngelo since his unsportsmanlike penalty and subsequent scratches.
Burke stated that if he was going to make a deal he’d request an interview with the player. “This kid is supposed to be well liked by his teammates, he’s not a problem in the room – he just has bad timing and no filter.”
“I believe in second chances but I don’t give a lot of them where I doubt character.” Burke finished by saying, “I’d look into it but if I were another GM I probably wouldn’t.”
The full rant is below.
Check out today’s NHL Trade Rumors
More on Sam Bennett today, and what’s going on in Vancouver?
Latest NHL News and Scores
Auston Matthews is on a 7 game goal scoring streak and Sam Bennett finally scores a goal in his return to the lineup. That and much more here.