Brent Burns

Playing career

Burns was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the first round, 20th overall, of the 2003 NHL entry draft. He played minor hockey for the Barrie Icemen and Ajax Knights of the Ontario Minor Hockey Association, then spent two years with the North York Canadiens in the Metropolitan Toronto Hockey League alongside fellow NHL draftees Anthony Stewart and Geoff Platt. In the Ontario Hockey League, he played as a right winger for the Brampton Battalion during the 2002–03 season, leading the team in playoff scoring with five goals and six assists in 11 games and finishing as runner-up for the league's Most Improved Player award.

Upon turning professional with the Wild in 2003, head coach Jacques Lemaire converted Burns to defence. He made his NHL debut on October 8, 2003, against the Chicago Blackhawks and scored his first NHL goal in his third game, against the Sharks, playing 36 games that season. During the 2004–05 NHL lockout, he played in the American Hockey League with the Houston Aeros, then earned a regular roster spot for the 2005–06 season, recording 16 points in 72 games.

In 2006–07, he posted 25 points and became a key contributor, scoring back-to-back overtime winners in March and fighting twice in the 2007 Stanley Cup playoffs. On October 25, 2007, he signed a four-year contract extension with the Wild and scored a career-high 15 goals and 43 points that season. The following season, he was shifted between forward and defence with mild success before a concussion, misdiagnosed as sinusitis for six weeks by Wild staff according to his agent, caused him to miss the final 19 games; he later had shoulder surgery and finished with 27 points.

International play

Burns was named the best defenceman at the 2008 World Championship, where Canada earned a silver medal as host. At the 2010 World Championship, he led all Canadian defencemen in ice time at 18:29 minutes per game as Canada finished seventh. He attended Canada's summer camp for the 2010 Winter Olympics but did not make the final roster. At the 2015 World Championship, he was again named best defenceman and selected to the all-star team as Canada won the gold medal.

Personal life

Burns married Susan Holder in July 2009; the couple has three children. He spends summers in Barrie, Ontario, and Lake Elmo, Minnesota, and is a noted animal enthusiast. His suburban Saint Paul home, nicknamed "Burns Zoo," houses dogs, cats, and dozens of reptiles, mainly snakes, and was featured on Hockey Night in Canada and After Hours. Starting in 2009, he purchased a suite at the Xcel Energy Center for military members and their families to attend Wild games. He also owns a Texas ranch where he raises exotic animals such as wildebeest and fallow deer; for his 1,000th game, his San Jose Sharks teammates gave him two antelopes. Burns made his acting debut in a two-episode role during season 6 of Vikings, playing an ambitious raider named Skane.