Welcome to another day of your Florida Panthers All-Time Countdown. For a detailed explanation, click here.
Yesterday, we closed out our three-a-day section of the countdown with winger Ville Peltonen (207 games, 34 goals, 54 assists), defenseman Geoff Smith (137 games, six goals, 19 assists), and defenseman Steve Montador (196 games, 10 goals, 28 assists. Today, we’ll check in with an Ontarian goaltender and a Czech right winger.
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60. Sean Burke
Burke, a 6’4″ goaltender from Windsor, Ontario, was with the OHL’s Toronto Marlboros when the New Jersey Devils selected him in the second round of the 1985 NHL Entry Draft with the 24th overall pick. In two seasons with the Marlboros, he posted a 41-48-6 record.
After leaving the OHL, Burke joined the Canadian National Team for an extended tour, posting a 46-22-4 record over the next two seasons of international play. He made his NHL debut near the end of the 1987-88 season with New Jersey, going 10-1-0, .883, 3.05. He then posted a 9-8 postseason record, leading the NHL with 458 saves.
Burke would remain a Devil for three more seasons, bringing his career totals to 62-66-23, ranking fourth on the Devils’ all-time list with 162 goaltender appearances. He managed four shutouts, an .876 save percentage, and a 3.65 goals against average.
Burke took the 1991-92 season off to return to the National Team, posting a 23-8-4 record. Prior to the 1992-93 season, the Devils traded him along with Eric Weinrich to the Hartford Whalers for Bobby Holik and a second round draft pick (Jay Pandolfo). Burke was the Whaler’s number one goaltender for the franchise’s last five seasons in Hartford and part of their first season as the Carolina Hurricanes. He ranks fourth all-time on Carolina’s win list with a 107-131-29 career record, posting a .903 save percentage and a 3.09 GAA. He was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on January 3, 1998 with Geoff Sanderson and Enrico Ciccone for Kirk McLean and Martin Gelinas.
Burke went 2-9-4, .876, 3.51 with Vancouver to in two months before the Canucks traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers (7-3-0, .913, 2.56) for Garth Snow just prior to the 1997-98 trade deadline. After the season, he signed on as a free agent to backstop the Panthers. He earned a 1-0 shutout victory over the New York Islanders on January 16, stopping 27 shots. On February 18, he shut out the St. Louis Blues on 27 shots, matching up against Jamie McClennan, who shut out the Panthers on 21 shots in a scoreless tie. On March 13, he notched his third shutout of the season, another 1-0 decision as the Cats shut down the Tampa Bay Lightning on 24 shots. Overall, Burke posted a 21-24-14 record with a .907 save percentage and a 2.66 GAA.
Burke posted a 2-5-0 record for Florida to start out the 1999-00 season, allowing 18 goals on 208 shots for a respectable .913 save percentage and a 2.58 GAA. Florida traded him to the Phoenix Coyotes with a fifth round pick (Nate Kiser) for Mikhail Shtalenkov and a fourth round pick (Chris Eade) on November 18.
Burke finished out the season with Phoenix, and played with them for the next three and a half seasons, totalling a 97-78-29 record and ranking fourth on the franchise all-time wins list. He notched 15 shutouts, a .919 save percentage and a 2.39 GAA. Later, he stopped in Philadelphia for a second tour with the Flyers (6-5-2, .910, 2.55), the Tampa Bay Lightning (14-10-4, .895, 2.80), and the Los Angeles Kings (6-10-5, .901, 3.11). He now works for the Coyotes as the Assistant to the General Manager and as Phoenix’s’ goaltending coach.
All-Time Statline: Two seasons, 66 games, 23-29-14, 1,832 shots faced, 1,663 saves made, 169 goals allowed, three shutouts, .908 save percentage, 2.65 GAA, 7.7 APS.
59. Juraj Kolnik
Kolnik is a 5’10” right winger from Nitra, Slovakia. He was skating with the QMJHL Rimouski Oceanic when the New York Islanders picked him in the fourth round of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft with the 101st overall pick. In two junior seasons he put up 95 goals and 95 assists in 109 games.
2000-01 would see Kolnik split his season between the AHL Lowell Lock Monsters (25 games, two goals, six assists), the AHL Springfield Falcons (29 games, 15 goals, 20 assists), and the Islanders (29 games, four goals, three assists). In 2001-02, he spent most of the season with the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers (67 games, 18 goals, 30 assists), making a brief NHL appearance with the Isles (seven games, two goals). New York traded him to the Panthers with a ninth round pick (Carter Lee) for Sven Butenschon just before the start of the 2002-03 season.
Kolnik began the 2002-03 season with the AHL San Antonio Rampage (65 games, 25 goals, 15 assists), averaging 10:33 per game in a 10 game stop in Florida in December. He went scoreless while taking 14 shots on goal and collecting an assist in his first NHL game, a 2-2 tie with the Toronto Maple Leafs on December 18. He finished the season with a plus-1 rating.
2003-04 would see Kolnik start the season in the AHL with the Rampage (15 games, two goals, 14 assists). He joined the Panthers in November for the rest of the season, eventually appearing in 53 NHL games with the club. He ranked third on the team with 14 goals on 100 shots, also making 11 assists, a minus-7 rating and 14 PIM. He had six multi-point games, including two goals and an assist in a 4-0 win over the Leafs on February 25.
Kolnik spent the 2004-05 campaign in the AHL while the NHL endured a season long lockout. He played 74 games with he Rampage, scoring 13 goals with 16 assists. NHL would resume play in 2005-06, and Kolnik opened the season with the Panthers. In 77 games he averaged 14:19 TOI, scoring a team sixth best 15 goals on 145 shots with 20 assists, a plus-1 rating, and a career high 40 penalty minutes. He made four assists in an 8-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on February 28. On April 9, he scored twice with an assist in a 6-3 win over Tampa Bay. He totally owned the Lightning through the season, collecting four goals and seven assists in eight contests.
In 2006-07, Kolnik played in 64 games for the Cats, averaging 12:05 TOI. He scored 11 goals on 113 shots, made 15 assists, a plus-2 rating, and 18 penalty minutes. He made three assists in a 7-2 win over the Boston Bruins on February 24.
Starting in 2007-08, Kolnik played three seasons with the HC Geneve-Servette of the Swiss League (145 games, 72 goals, 112 assists), later playing with the KHL Moscow Dynamo (eight games, one goal, four assists) in 2010-11, and part of last season with Zurich in the Swiss League (six games, two assists).
All-Time Statline: Four seasons, 204 games, 40 goals, 46 assists, 86 points, minus-3 rating, 72 PIM, 7.7 APS.
That’s all for today. Tune in tonight as we go live for the first time with Litter Box Chats, hosted by our very own Ryan Meier with help from Donny and Alex at 9PM, and be sure to check in tomorrow as we take a look at number 58, an offensive defenseman from Minsk, and number 57, an original Panther center from Alberta.