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RedHawks' student manager buried in hometown

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AP photo/Members of the Miami (Ohio) college hockey team leave a memorial service for Brendan Burke, son of Brian Burke, president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010, in Canton, Mass. Burke was a student manager for the top-ranked RedHawks. He was killed in a car accident Friday, Feb. 5, in Indiana.

Mourners at funeral for Brendan Burke include RedHawks, NHL players and executives.

By Staff and Wire Report Updated 9:53 AM Wednesday, February 10, 2010

CANTON, Mass. — The Miami University hockey community continued to grieve Tuesday, Feb. 9, as one of its own was buried in his hometown.

Brendan Burke, student manager for the top-ranked RedHawks, was remembered for his compassion and courage four days after his death in a car crash on a snowy Indiana road.

“From birth, he had an unshakable faith in the genuine good that resides in all people,” his brother Patrick said at a funeral Mass.

Burke — a senior at Miami and son of Brian Burke, general manager for the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leafs and the U.S. Olympic hockey team — announced late last year that he was gay.

He played goalie at Xaverian Brothers High School in Westwood, Mass., but decided not to play as a senior because the locker-room atmosphere was becoming harder to deal with, according to an article on ESPN.com in December.

Burke, 21, died last Friday when his car slid sideways into the path of another vehicle. His friend, Mark Reedy, 18, of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., also died in the accident.

Many mourners stood for the Mass inside the packed St. John The Evangelist Church on Tuesday. Among those who attended were staff and players from Miami, wearing their red jerseys with white letters and numbers, and staff and players from the Maple Leafs.

Also there were NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Boston Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli, New Jersey Devils President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello, Edmonton Oilers coach Pat Quinn and Boston Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein.

“Brendan always had a smile on his face,” Miami coach Enrico Blasi said. “He just cared about not only his family, but the players and everyone around him. Anyone associated with Brendan knew you could count on him. He was just an incredible person. There wasn’t a day or even minute that went by that you didn’t see his pearly whites.”

Blasi learned of Burke’s death during last Friday’s game against visiting Lake Superior State. He spoke to Brian Burke during the second intermission.

“All Brian wanted to say was how much Brendan loved being a part of the hockey program at Miami,” Miami assistant athletic director Josh Fenton said. “He was just so grateful for what we were able to provide in terms of the environment for Brendan to be around.”

Burke spent last summer as an intern for U.S. Rep. William Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat, and was on schedule to graduate from Miami in May. He was planning to attend law school.

“He had aspirations of working in the NHL,” Fenton said. “We had no doubt in our minds that he would’ve eventually gotten to that point.”

For Patrick Burke, the lessons of his brother’s life live on.

“His vision of the world was a spark that lit a fire of hope in so many people,” he said. “That fire has not been extinguished by his passing. His memory will fan the flame of courage in all of us, inspiring all of us to be a little kinder, a little stronger, a little better, a little more like Brendan.”

Miami plans to honor Burke by wearing jersey patches the rest of the season, starting Friday night at Bowling Green.

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