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scouting<br />
Tim Burke<br />
Director of Scouting<br />
FRONT OFFICE<br />
Director of Scouting Tim Burke enters his 13th season as the head of the <strong>Sharks</strong><br />
scouting department.<br />
Burke, 54, coordinates and oversees the <strong>Sharks</strong> efforts in the National Hockey<br />
League’s annual Entry Draft while working closely with Executive Vice President<br />
and General Manager Doug Wilson and his staff. In addition to being the principal<br />
decision-maker at the draft table, Burke is also responsible for evaluating amateur<br />
talent at every level in all North American and European leagues and supervises all<br />
aspects of the club’s amateur scouting efforts.<br />
Burke’s hard work and keen decision making, coupled with the talents of his <strong>com</strong>petent staff at evaluating<br />
players, has produced admired results. Burke’s selection process has helped the <strong>Sharks</strong> create a solid foundation<br />
of talented players from which to build the franchise around — including Evgeni Nabokov (1994), Patrick Marleau<br />
(1997), Douglas Murray (1999), Ryane Clowe (2001), Joe Pavelski (2003), Torrey Mitchell (2004) Devin Setoguchi<br />
(2005) and Marc-Edouard Vlasic (2005), all of whom played prominent roles in the <strong>Sharks</strong> recent seasons.<br />
Since the 2003-04 season, the <strong>Sharks</strong> rank second in regular season points (535, 240-115-55 record),<br />
second in wins among all <strong>NHL</strong> teams and has nearly posted five consecutive 100-point seasons (2003-04<br />
— 104; 2005-06 — 99; 2006-07 — 107; 2007-08 — 108, 2008-09 — 117), an average of 107 points per<br />
season.<br />
In 2008-09, the team captured the Presidents’ Trophy and set new franchise marks for wins (53), points and<br />
home wins (32). They were the only <strong>NHL</strong> team to be ranked among the League’s top-five in power play, penalty<br />
kill, shots-for, shots-against and faceoff wins.<br />
A member of the <strong>Sharks</strong> scouting department since the 1992-93 campaign, Burke was promoted to his<br />
current position on June 4, 1996. Before his promotion, Burke served as director of professional scouting from<br />
1992-96 and evaluated talent throughout all North American professional leagues and assisted with amateur<br />
scouting.<br />
From 1987-92, he spent five seasons in the New Jersey Devils organization, serving in several capacities,<br />
including as a Devils assistant coach, head coach for the American Hockey League’s Utica Devils and as a pro<br />
scout. Burke was also an assistant coach at Princeton University from 1984-86.<br />
A former defenseman, Burke was selected by the Montreal Canadiens in the seventh round (124th overall)<br />
of the 1975 <strong>NHL</strong> Entry Draft and by the Chicago Cougars of the in the second round (25th overall) in the 1974<br />
World Hockey Association Entry Draft. He was a four-year letterman in both hockey and baseball at the University<br />
of New Hampshire, where he was named to the NCAA’s All-America hockey team after his senior campaign.<br />
He played seven years of professional hockey following his outstanding collegiate career, including three<br />
seasons (1977-80) with the Nova Scotia Voyageurs, the Canadiens AHL affiliate, and one season with Jokerit<br />
Helsinki in the Finnish Elite League.<br />
John Ferguson<br />
Director of Pro Scouting<br />
Entering his second season as the <strong>Sharks</strong> director of pro scouting is National<br />
Hockey League front office veteran John Ferguson. He joined Executive Vice President<br />
and General Manager Doug Wilson’s staff in September 2008.<br />
Ferguson works closely with Wilson and Director of Scouting Tim Burke analyzing<br />
and evaluating professional hockey players at the <strong>NHL</strong> and American Hockey League<br />
level.<br />
Before joining the <strong>Sharks</strong>, Ferguson, 41, spent four-plus seasons as vice<br />
president and general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. During his tenure, the<br />
Maple Leafs set single-season franchise records for most points (103, 2003-04), wins (45-tied, 2003-04),<br />
home wins (26, 2005-06) and most road wins (23, 2003-04). He <strong>com</strong>piled an overall record of 145-110-10-30,<br />
including three 40-plus win and 90-plus point seasons. His .559 winning percentage is the second-highest<br />
among all general managers in Maple Leafs history.<br />
Ferguson also served on the management team of Team Canada, working alongside Steve Yzerman, for their<br />
undefeated, gold-medal winning campaign at the 2007 IIHF World Championships, the youngest-ever squad to<br />
win a World Championship.<br />
Before working in Toronto, Ferguson spent seven seasons (1997-03) with the St. Louis Blues organization,<br />
including five as assistant general manager before being promoted to vice president and director of hockey<br />
operations in February 2001. There, he worked closely with Senior Vice President and General Manager Larry<br />
Pleau in managing all facets of the Blues hockey operations department, including analyzing and negotiating<br />
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