Sportsnet Analyst and Former NHL General Manager Brian Burke to Headline Celebrity Dinner

WOLFVILLE, N.S. – Brian Burke, Sportsnet hockey analyst and former NHL general manager will headline this year's Acadia Axemen Celebrity Hockey Dinner in June.

"We're so excited to have Mr. Burke headline this year's dinner," said Axemen head coach Darren Burns. "Mr. Burke has had a Hall-of-Fame worthy career as a hockey executive and is well on his way to repeating that success in television. Our guests will be very entertained."

Prior to joining Sportsnet in 2018, Burke served as President of Hockey Operations of the Calgary Flames, President and General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and General Manager of the Anaheim Ducks (winning the Stanley Cup in 2007), Vancouver Canucks and Hartford Whalers. Burke was also General Manager for the United States national men's hockey team for the 2010 Winter Olympics and is a member of Rugby Canada's board of directors.

Noted for his brash personality, outspokenness, extensive vocabulary and unwillingness to wear a tie, Burke is one of the insightful, informative and entertaining figures in the hockey world.

Born in Providence, Rhode Island, and raised in Edina, Minnesota, in a family of ten children, Burke graduated from Providence College in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. While attending Providence, he played for the Friars Division-I hockey team, where, during his senior year, he served as captain.

In 1976-77, Burke played seven games with the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey League (AHL). He then proceeded to play one full year in the AHL with the Maine Mariners, who won the Calder Cup championship. Burke retired after the 1977-78 season and attended Harvard Law School, where he graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1981.

The Dinner will celebrate its twenty-first anniversary and Len Hawley, Chairperson of the event for the last 15 years was there in its infancy.

Original organizers in 1998 never would have dreamed that the life of this event would last over two decades.  Fortunately, a strong volunteer base and some of hockey's biggest names have helped to keep the celebrity dinner a reality.

"It's not surprising we continue to receive a great response from the community when you consider we have hosted Gordie Howe, Ron MacLean, Ray Bourque, Jean Beliveau and a host of hockey icons over the past 20 years," said Hawley.

"Right across the country, athletic programs are relying more and more on fundraised dollars to be sustainable and compete at the highest level.  An event such as the celebrity hockey dinner at Acadia is a critical fundraiser each year," noted Hawley.

The 21st Acadia Axemen Celebrity Hockey Dinner takes place on Wednesday, June 26^th at the Andrew H. McCain Arena in Wolfville.  Since starting in 1998, the event has raised close to $425,000 in support of the men's varsity hockey program at Acadia.  Tickets and corporate tables are available by registering online click here

For further information on the Celebrity Dinner event, contact Len Hawley, Chairperson at (902) 585-1044 or via email len.hawley@acadiau.ca