The Busy Time Of Year For GMs

from Wayne Scanlan of the Ottawa Citizen, How do workaholic NHL general managers balance the demands of hockey and family life? With all the dexterity of Nik Wallenda walking across Niagara Falls on a cable, that’s how. Especially taxed are the GMs with children from two marriages (Brian Burke of the Toronto Maple Leafs declined an interview request for this story).

They could use a break, but modern hockey, with its extended season and shrinking summer, does not provide one. While players and coaches more or less have free time in the off-season to spend with their loved ones, GMs don’t have that luxury. Before the Stanley Cup playoffs are finished they are already having to sign pending free agents, prepare for the entry draft and then the free-agent period.

“The off-season was a lot more fun as a player, I can tell you that,” says Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman, a superstar forward with the Detroit Red Wings until 2006. “As a player, the season ends, you have your commitment to your workouts, but you’re free to spend time with your family and whatnot.

“June and early July might be the busiest time of the year for the managers.”

With that in mind, we spoke to six general managers - three in the Eastern Conference, three from the West - about their daily struggle to keep the fires burning at home and at the rink

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Source: http://www.kuklaskorner.com/index.php/hockey/comments/the_busy_time_of_year_for_gms/

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