Brian Burke Admits 'Ugly Hockey' Coming in Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Penguins are under new management and all the recent talk has been on when the team will trade Sidney Crosby and hit the rebuild button. Well before anything crazy like that happens, Penguins President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke wants us all to expect to see some ugly hockey in Pittsburgh.

Some foreshadowing here?

Brian Burke with us: "Pittsburgh's the last team to win with a small, fast team. The last 3 Cup winners have been big, they play long pants hockey, they play ugly hockey. I think we need to look at that & see, have we kept up with the joneses here?"
— The Fan Morning Show (@FanMorningShow) February 12, 2021

Burke's teams in Anaheim, Vancouver, Toronto and Calgary were all built around toughness and there's certainly a need for it in Pittsburgh, however it's going to take a balance for success and some have questioned if Burke sees that fine line.

I love that we watch a free-flow, firewagon offense system rife with elite shooting talent like Kucherov, Stamkos, Point, and these fluid puck-moving defensemen and the takeaway is: "BIG SIZE CHECK BONK ON HEAD" https://t.co/Tv467M4Ual
— Jesse Marshall (@jmarshfof) February 12, 2021

While it's going to be interesting to watch how Burke and Ron Hextall handle their business this season as it doesn't happen very often for a team to get new management in the middle of a winning season.

Trades are coming for the Penguins and it's likely the first one will be a minor tweak to add some toughness. As Burke says, things can't be so pretty in Pittsburgh anymore.

Photo credit: Brace Hemmelgarn/Icon Sportswire