Age is no barrier for Burrows
35-year-old veteran again proves his worth to Canucks
Alex Burrows has been around long enough to cite the influence Todd Bertuzzi had on his career, so when he showed up at the Vancouver Canucks training camp in September and found himself skating on the fourth line, his situation didn’t have to be explained to him.
He was a 35-year-old coming off a nine-goal season, who was in the last year of his contract.
Some in the organization believed he could still help the team. There was a stronger belief he should be bought out or buried in the minors.
Burrows didn’t ask a lot of questions. He went about making himself an indispensable part of this franchise one more time.
It has always been known that the Montrealer is wired differently than most. This year just proves it yet again.
“I wasn’t sure where he’d fit in this year,” Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins said on Saturday as the Canucks prepared for this afternoon’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets in Vancouver.
“I didn’t know. The good thing is he knew. He knew what he wanted to do. He wasn’t going to come back and just try to hang on. I guess he’s proven people wrong his whole career. People have always wondered if he’s going to take the next step or keep doing it. But he always finds a way.”
Even if Burrows is the only one who can see a way.
On Friday night, Burrows drew the primary assist on Luca Sbisa’s goal, then added an empty-netter in a 4-2 victory over Tampa the Canucks needed the way roses need rain water. On the season he has returned to top-six duty, and his six goals and 14 points have been found money for a team desperate for offence.
But those numbers don’t begin to tell the story of the influence Burrows has had on his young linemates Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi, nor his impact on the locker-room.
Desjardins’ team is in tough virtually every time it takes the ice, but there have been games this year that Burrows has coaxed a winning effort out of the group through his sheer will.
That he’s done that at all is impressive enough. That he’s done it when he looked to be the forgotten man heading into this season might be the most remarkable chapter of his remarkable career. “He’s made our team better,” Desjardins said.
“Look at his career,” said Horvat. “He’s always had to work for everything.”
Horvat was seven when Burrows broke in with the East Coast league’s Greenville Grrrowl 14 years ago, and, with Baertschi, the trio forms an odd confederacy.
Desjardins admits he was just throwing names into a blender when he came up with the configuration for a Nov. 15 game against the New York Rangers. But that night the Canucks snapped a nine-game losing streak with a 5-3 win and the line has been the team’s most consistent unit ever since.
“He [Burrows] has a passion for the game and I think his will to win drives our line,” Horvat said. “It makes Sven and I better players and he keeps us honest.”