Byfuglien fits what USA's Burke believes next Olympic team needs
As an NHL general manager, Brian Burke has earned a reputation for building teams that are big, tough and skilled.
Burke's Anaheim Ducks won a Stanley Cup in 2007 while also leading the league in fighting majors.
Burke's vision for the U.S. Olympic team he is managing is right in line with what he believes - surround your top two lines of skill guys with players willing to do what he calls the "grunt" work.
"When you go to a symphony orchestra, the first violinist is elegant and there's a spotlight on her in the front row," Burke said Wednesday in the final day of USA Hockey's Olympic orientation camp in Woodridge. "And then there's a guy like me, in the back row blowing on a tuba, and they don't start the show until we both sit down.
"We're going to have some size and some specialty players on the third line. We're looking for hard-nosed players, too. In a tournament like this with the high-end players on some of the teams we're going to play, you need some big bodies to grind people down."
Enter Dystin Byfuglien, the 6-foot-3, 247-pound Blackhawks winger who might not be such an long shot to make the club, especially one run by Burke.
"He's a guy that could definitely help a team like this out, especially when you look at other teams like Canada and Russia with big strong guys," Hawks teammate Patrick Kane said. "Buff definitely proved himself in playoffs last year that he can be a disturbance and do special things out there. Hopefully he gets off to a good start this season. It would be great if he could make the team."
Byfuglien knows the camp in Woodridge won't decide the team picked for Vancouver next February. It's how Byfuglien plays from October through December with the Hawks that will show if he has the goods to make the 23-man American roster.
"It was nice hearing good things coming in, but I'm here to have fun and learn and if things don't work out, they don't work out," Byfuglien said. "I have to stay focused."
Byfuglien looks to be trim and in good shape, which he credits to the Olympic camp invitation.
"It really gave me a mind change how to approach things and how to take care of myself on and off the ice," Byfuglien said.
It would appear Byfuglien is competing with grinders such as David Backes, Dustin Brown, Ryan Kesler, Jamie Langenbrunner and T.J. Oshie for third-line and fourth-line roster spots.
Something Byfuglien has in his favor the others don't, in addition to his hulking size, is his versatility. Burke said he would like to keep eight defenseman and Byfuglien is a former defenseman turned forward.
"Byfuglien, if he's a guy who makes the team, he can drop back and play defense," Burke said. "So maybe a rover-type player like that might have value, we'll see."