The San Jose Sharks made only a few small alterations to their lineup after last spring’s historic playoff collapse, but the biggest change may have been moving Brent Burns back from forward to defense.
It’s hard to miss Burns when you walk into the San Jose locker room. The bearded Ajax, Ontario, native stands 6’5” and sports a full beard and numerous tattoos on his body. He’s enthusiastic and loves joking around with his teammates.
Burns has been moved back and forth between forward and defense throughout his hockey career. He played mostly right wing in juniors before being converted to defense by Minnesota Wild coach Jacques Lemaire during the 2003-04 season.
He was moved back to forward by the Sharks late in the 2012-13 season and played well there until the team made the decision to move him back to defense this past summer.
“It was a necessity with Dan Boyle and Brad Stuart leaving our organization,” Sharks head coach Todd McLellan said. “We needed to find some defensemen to fill those holes. He has the ability and the skill set to play back there and is pr ...
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Article written by Brad Kurtzberg
Brent Burns’ Switch to Defense Makes San Jose Sharks a Deeper Club in 2014-15
October 16th, 2014 by Brad Kurtzberg Leave a reply »
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