Burke on Tree, from his book:
"...Brad owns a couple of Boston Pizza outlets himself, and he stands to inherit millions and millions of dollars someday. But still, he’s got a tremendous work ethic. When I was an assistant GM, I was known for always being on the road, turning up in one rink after another to scout players. But Brad may have outdone me. You’d see him at a college rink one day, then the next day you’d walk into an AHL rink, and he’d already be there. He worked like a dog. When the league was running the Phoenix Coyotes and Brad was part of the front office, Bill Daly used to rave about him, talking about how much he had his shit together.
"So, Brad was a great hire for us, not just in terms of his hockey IQ, but his values as well. He’s a good family guy. He’s fair with players and employees. He has a really big heart to go with a really big brain. He’s a joy to work with—we still text or talk to each other nearly every other day. We also have a similar vision of what winning hockey looks like. Brad doesn’t like it quite as crude as I like it,
and he thinks the style of game I like is outdated (
)—and to be fair, there’s some truth to that. But he’s a terrific person, and in Calgary we formed a very strong partnership."
