Stu Cowan: New Canadiens assistant coach Alex Burrows a 'hockey nerd' - Montreal Gazette | Canada News Media
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Stu Cowan: New Canadiens assistant coach Alex Burrows a 'hockey nerd' – Montreal Gazette

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Pincourt native came very close to giving up on his dream of playing in the NHL during his third season of making $350 a week in the ECHL.

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Alex Burrows believes that every day in the NHL “is always a great day.”

That’s not surprising when you look at the road the new Canadiens assistant coach had to take to make it as a player in the NHL.

The 39-year-old Pincourt native played two seasons with the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes, but was never selected at the NHL Draft. After junior, he spent three years in the ECHL, playing for the Greenville Grrrowl, the Baton Rouge Kingfish and the Columbia Inferno, earning $350 a week.

“I remember my third year pro when I got sent down for the third year in a row to the East Coast league,” Burrows recalled Tuesday afternoon during a video conference from Vancouver. “That’s when all my buddies were finishing university and I told myself that if I was still in the Coast by Christmas I would have probably packed it in and go to university and try to get a degree.”

Burrows got the break he was hoping for after playing only four games with the Inferno in the 2004-05 season when he got a call from Craig Heisinger, who was general manager of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, the Vancouver Canucks’ farm team at the time.

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“I never looked back ever since,” Burrows said.

Burrows made his NHL debut during the 2005-06 season and would play 12 seasons with the Canucks, followed by two more with the Ottawa Senators before hanging up his skates and taking an assistant coaching job with the AHL’s Laval Rocket in 2018, joining his friend Joël Bouchard behind the bench.

Burrows said he was shocked and excited when he got a call from Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin on the night of Feb. 23, shortly after the team’s 5-4 shootout loss to the Senators in Ottawa. Bergevin informed Burrows he was firing head coach Claude Julien and associate coach Kirk Muller. Dominique Ducharme would replace Julien and Burrows would replace Muller.

The Canadiens arranged for a car to pick Burrows up at his Montreal home at 6 a.m. the next day to bring him to Ottawa so he could join the team for a flight to Winnipeg for a game the next night against the Jets. Burrows said his wife had to inform their three kids when they woke up that morning why their father wasn’t home and what his new job was. Burrows said his family was thrilled, noting his 5-year-old son watches the RDS sports news every morning and knows all the Canadiens players.

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“I was really excited, really thrilled to get a chance to get back in the NHL with my childhood team and to chase that Lord Stanley again,” Burrows said. “Even if it’s as a coach, for me it would be a dream come true. I’m really excited about this challenge. It’s going to take time, but at the same time, it’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season and see how our team plays. The best thing for me, our guys care so much and they want to do well and we have a good group of guys. So I’m excited about that.”

The Canadiens players have talked about the excitement and energy Burrows has brought to the team. He has also helped improve the power play, which is 5-for-11 in the first six games since Burrows took charge of it, with the Canadiens posting a 2-1-3 record with their new coaches.

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Burrows started his NHL career as a fourth-line agitator “doing whatever it took to stay in the league.” He eventually moved up to a checking role on the third line and ended up playing on the Canucks’ top line with twins Henrik and Daniel Sedin. In 2019, Burrows was inducted into the Canucks’ Ring of Honour.

Burrows answered questions for more than 45 minutes Tuesday in English and French and was very comfortable and confident. He said he’s just going to be himself in his new role with the Canadiens. You could see and hear why he has been able to bring some energy to the team.

“Now that I’m here I won’t start changing the way I am,” he said. “I’m going to be myself. That’s what brought me here, that’s what gave me the career I had, so why change now?”

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Burrows describes himself as a “hockey nerd” who eats hockey and watches games every night.

When asked if he wonders what he might have done if he didn’t make it in the NHL, Burrows said: “I think the biggest thing would probably have been a phys-ed teacher. That’s probably what I would have liked to do. Because I’m a big sports fan. I watch every sport that’s out there I know about. I like to watch and I like to study how guys prepare. So I would say phys-ed teacher would have probably been my call of duty.”

Now, the NHL has come calling again. Another great day for Burrows.

scowan@postmedia.com

twitter.com/StuCowan1


  1. Canadiens Notebook: Alex Burrows getting results with Habs’ power play


  2. Cowan: Canadiens’ Joel Edmundson leading the NHL in plus/minus

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Canada’s Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Routliffe pick up second win at WTA Finals

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.

The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.

The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.

Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.

Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.

The final is scheduled for Saturday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.

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Allen nets shutout as Devils burn Oilers 3-0

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EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.

Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.

The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.

Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.

TAKEAWAYS

Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.

Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.

KEY MOMENT

New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.

KEY RETURN?

Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.

OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN

The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.

The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.

UP NEXT

Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.

Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

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Mahomes throws 3 TD passes, unbeaten Chiefs beat Buccaneers 30-24 in OT

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.

DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.

Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.

Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.

Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.

It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.

The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.

Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.

Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.

The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”

Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.

The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.

Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.

UP NEXT

Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Chiefs: Host the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

AP NFL:

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