Manitoba Moose

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Burki's the Invisible Man

No monster games for ex-Wheatie and barely any Monster games

By: Paul Wiecek

18/10/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

CLEVELAND -- He was The Man in Brandon.But in Cleveland, Winnipeg's Codey Burki hasn't even met The Man.

And with his once promising hockey career suddenly surrounded by uncertainty, the former Brandon Wheat Kings phenom is starting to wonder if he ever will.

The Man in Cleveland is, of course, LeBron James, NBA superstar and the heart and soul of the beloved Cleveland Cavaliers.

James is everywhere in this city and his image is plastered all over the Quicken Loans Arena, the 20,500-seat facility James and the Cavaliers uncomfortably share with Burki and the Lake Erie Monsters.

Uncomfortably, you understand, because the Monsters are to the Cavaliers in this city what, well, Burki is to James -- a lightweight cousin who tries hard and has tons of promise but just cannot seem to get either recognition or opportunity.

So no, Burki -- a second-round draft pick of the Colorado Avalanche of whom much was expected -- hasn't met James in the three seasons he's played with the Monsters. He hasn't, in fact, ever even seen the man despite the fact the Cavaliers dressing room is located just metres down the hall from the one the Monsters use.

"I never thought of it before," Burki said Saturday morning, "but now that you mention it, that is kind of strange that I've never seen him around."

It is the least of Burki's worries right now, however. He's been a healthy scratch here each of the last two nights as the Monsters took on the Manitoba Moose and it was a frustrated 21-year-old Winnipegger who left the ice Saturday morning after having put in some extra practise time to not even play.

"Going into my third year, I really thought I was going to get a shot. And sometimes it doesn't work out like that and it's really frustrating," said Burki.

"I don't care how young I am -- I'm in my third year and at some point everyone's entitled to their shot."

It is not, suffice to say, where Burki expected to be when the Avalanche selected the centreman 59th overall in the 2006 NHL entry draft. That same year, he led the Wheat Kings in scoring with 36 goals and 85 points, finished fifth overall in scoring in the Western Hockey League and was named the top player at the 2006 CHL Top Prospects Game.

The following year, the Avalanche gave him a big vote of confidence, signing him to a three-year contract as former Avalanche GM Francois Giguere called Burki "a part of the Avalanche future."

All that seemed a long time ago Saturday morning.

"I don't know what they're thinking now," said Burki. "Things were great when they spent a lot of money on me and I was confident things were going to go well. But as you can tell right now, it's not the way I pictured."

Burki has split time between the Monsters and their East Coast Hockey League affiliate in each of the past two seasons, but has played more in the A than the E. He had a respectable output last year, scoring nine goals and 10 assists in 54 games with the Monsters. But after being held scoreless in three games this season, he's found himself in the unfamiliar position of having to watch hockey.

It doesn't help that his team is playing here before a couple thousand people a night in a city where hockey teams -- from the WHA's Crusaders to the NHL's Barons to the IHL's Lumberjacks, Falcons and Indians -- have gone to die.

Owned by the Cavaliers, the Monsters franchise was put in place here three seasons ago to fill the Quicken Loans -- formerly Gund -- Arena another 40 nights a year. But unlike the Cavs, who sell out here almost every night, the Monsters almost cannot pay people to come out to their games, which have the same high octane game-day production values as Cavs games but absolutely none of the enthusiasm.

A $1 hotdog, $1 soda promotion here Friday night, for instance, drew an announced crowd of 3,806 that looked more like half that.

It would be a bleak place to play hockey. It is an unbelievably bleak place to not play hockey.

"Coming from junior hockey in Brandon," says Burki, "what stands out is the crowd and how people treat the game and understand hockey. It's not front and centre here. You come here on weekdays and the rink's so big, it almost seems empty.

"But if you want big crowds, you've got to go to the NHL. They'll be loud for you there."

The problem for Burki is that the path to the NHL goes through the AHL. And until he starts playing, he can only wonder about what it would be like to be The Man again, this gigantic phantom of man that seemingly everyone in Cleveland has seen with the exception of him.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 18, 2009 C3

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