What are you thankful for?
Kevin Burgundy | Nov 25, 2009 | Comments 6
The spirit of Thanksgiving has got me thinking. Without coming across as ignorant or insincere, I’m thankful for Brendan Burke and the braveness he showed by revealing his sexual orientation to the hockey world in a recent ESPN story.
I legitimately mean it. That’s not an easy thing to do for anyone, much less a young man who’s dad happens to be the Brian Burke. Brendan can’t be the only gay professional in hockey and it’s about time we as a society (and to a lesser degree the hockey community) accept it and move on.
Many have questioned whether this story is (hockey) newsworthy. I don’t really care either way. But thanks to Brendan Burke, we finally have a “controversial hockey story” that supersedes:
- Talking about headshots, why they happen, and what NHL GMs aren’t going to do about them.
- Injured NHL superstars like Malkin, Staal, Ovechkin, Toskala… OK, just kidding on that one.
- What Sean Avery may or may not have said to Bruce Boudreau according to his new book. (Since when do NHL coaches write books?)
- How many tickets the Coyotes, Thrashers, Hurricanes, Panthers and others haven’t sold.
- How many shots the Toronto Maple Leafs take per game.
- Who owns the Tampa Bay Lightning.
- How to make fighting safer. Even writing that feels stupid.
- Jim Balsillie, the Phoenix Coyotes, or anyone else even thinking of buying the franchise.
The positive reaction from the hockey world helps reinforce how great a sport this is. It also helps reduce the amount of times we talk about the same old debates. Thank you, Brendan!
Stay classy, Brendan Burke. In all seriousness, you’ve done a great thing. Good on you!
–
Kevin Burgundy is the chief writer for Stayclassy.net. Follow him on Twitter (@Stay_Classy) or email him.
I read the entirety of the Brendan Burke article. And, in all honesty…it’s the best thing I have read in a while. It’s also outstanding that Brian Burke and the hockey community were so accepting and understanding. It’s yet another reason why I’m proud to be a great of this great sport.
Definitely, Steve. If I expected any pro sports league to handle a situation like this properly, it would be the NHL.
While I am thankful that the Burke story at least brought the issue to light, that it created so much buzz I find sad because really it shouldn’t be a story. That’s just my opinion though.
Even though I’m in Canada and I celebrated metric Thanksgiving last month, I am still thankful for Dustin Penner. The Oilers are treading water real close to the bottom of the Western conference right now and he has been instrumental in keeping us afloat.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by BDGallof and Mark Willoughby, HockeyIndependent. HockeyIndependent said: New HI: What are you thankful for? http://bit.ly/8MKD59 #nhl [...]
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Twitter by BDGallof: Tonight on HockeyIndependent: Stay Classy’s Burgundy Tells Us What We Should Be Thankful For….http://bit.ly/5m54AL #nhl #leafs…
Definitely, Ryan. Penner has been flat out amazing while a bunch of other Oilers have really slumped (Horcoff, Cogliano, etc…).
You guys have to be pretty glad the Heatley trade never happened! I’m not sure the Oilers would be any better with him over Smid/Cogs/Penner. In fact, I think there’d be 1-3 less wins.
Enjoy Heatley’s return tonight! Give him a good booing from us Ottawa folks!