Burrows plays in 500th NHL game
As results go, the game was forgettable.
But it will always be memorable for Alex Burrows.
The Vancouver Canucks winger played his 500th career NHL regular-season game Tuesday as his club dropped a 3-1 decision to the Predators in Nashville.
His presence in the Vancouver lineup was testimony to the fact that many scouts and general managers misjudge young talent, and unheralded players can reach the pinnacle of the sport if they really want to.
Burrows, a 30-year-old Montreal-area native, was never drafted after two seasons with Shawinigan of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League and rose up from the lowly East Coast Hockey League, where he played two seasons for three different teams -- the Greenville Grrrowl (no, that is not a typo) in South Carolina, the Baton Rouge Kingfish and the Columbia Inferno, also based in South Carolina -- and tried at one point to live on a salary of $450 per week.
First, Burrows moved on to the American Hockey League, where he played for the Manitoba Moose, the Canucks' former top minor-league. Burrows was signed to an AHL deal by Craig Heisinger, then Moose's general manager and now an assistant GM with the Winnipeg Jets.
Heisinger, a Jets equipment manager during their first NHL go-round, also knew a thing about rising up through the ranks. He liked what he saw in Burrows, and was fortunate to have an extra roster spot that was created by the NHL lockout in 2004-05.
The next season, Burrows managed to get an NHL contract with the Canucks and was called up midway through the season. He got the promotion after then Moose coach Alain Vigneault recommended him.
But the next season, Vigneault was promoted to the Canucks himself and he almost cast Burrows adrift. Vigneault was unimpressed with the winger's preseason showing and said he was "on the bubble" when it came to sticking with the team. Motivational ploy or not, Vigneault's comments lit a spark under Burrows and he turned his game around.
In the intervening years, he has increased his salary considerably (to a hometown discounted $2 million), reduced his penalty-prone ways and become a regular linemate for twins Daniel and Henrik Sedin after Vigneault and predecessor Marc Crawford had struggled to find them one that lasted for more than a season. (Where have you gone, Anson Carter?)
This season, Burrows has a chance to surpass 30 goals for the second time in his NHL career and has recorded at least 20 goals in four straight seasons, including this one. He now has 22 goals.
In other words, he has become a poster boy for undrafted and unknown players who are not afraid to dream big.
On Tuesday, Burrows was, arguably, one of Vancouver's best players as he made some timely defensive plays, recorded three shots and went a modest minus-one. In his previous two games, he recorded four points while helping his line produce 16.
So Tuesday's loss to the Predators will soon be forgotten. But the inspiring story of Alex Burrows will be remembered for a long time to come.
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