Saturday, February 6, 2010

Another Sad Loss in the Hockey Community

[LATE edit] THANKS to Kat for posting details in the comments that give us a little glimpse into what Brendan meant to the Miami University hockey team (I felt that it was a wonderful tribute and deserved to be included in the post):
Brenden was a very beloved member of the Miami University Hockey Team. He was a student manager and so loved that when the school cut the funding for his position the Blue Line Club (which is a hockey supporting group of adults and of which my dad is a Board member) took it upon themselves to create funds to keep him with the team. He was truly fantastic at what he did. All of Miami is feeling this loss right now, the Miami Hockey family especially. We are all praying and sending as much love as we can.
The Toronto Maple Leafs released a statement last night regarding Brendan Burke, son of Leafs GM Brian Burke.
“On behalf of the entire Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment family, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Brian Burke,” the statement said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Burke family during this extremely difficult time.”
Brenden was involved in a car accident earlier in the day and passed away from injuries sustained from that accident. It was only a few months earlier in November 2009 that he had publically announced his sexuality in order to take on homophobia in the world of hockey (his hope was to have a career in hockey after college).

The passenger in Brenden's car, Mark Reedy, also died.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Burke family at this difficult time.

7 comments:

Maureen said...

this absolutely breaks my heart. My thoughts and prayers go out to their whole family.

Zombie Kat said...

Brenden was a very beloved member of the Miami University Hockey Team. He was a student manager and so loved that when the school cut the funding for his position the Blue Line Club (which is a hockey supporting group of adults and of which my dad is a Board member) took it upon themselves to create funds to keep him with the team. He was truly fantastic at what he did. All of Miami is feeling this loss right now, the Miami Hockey family especially. We are all praying and sending as much love as we can.

PK_37 said...

I'll keep the entire Burke family in my prayers.

I hope we could all keep his cause alive, to rid sports of homophobic words.

I believe they're going to honour him at the Leaf game today.

Ashlen said...

Burke is my lastname!
What a tragic loss. & A cute kid.
I'll keep them in my prayers <3

Val said...

This post made me so very sad for the Burke family, and thanks Kat for making clear how important he was to the Miami University hockey community.

My thoughts and prayers are with his family!

Jane said...

So awful that such an amazing guy would be lost so young... thanks for the info on him, Kat. Anyone who works publicly to break down prejudices in sports is a hero in my book.
I hope all of his friends and family find peace soon.
<3

WranglerMan said...

As the other posters wrote, Brendan worked to break down barriers in the sports world. My prayers are with the Burke family. May he rest in peace.