Burnett reaches coaching milestone
George Burnett of the Belleville Bulls recorded his 400th career win behind an OHL bench when the Bulls defeated the Oshawa Generals 5-2 on Wednesday.
Burnett becomes just the ninth coach in OHL history to accomplish this feat and just the second to do so while coaching more than three different franchises.
Burnett began his OHL coaching career with the Niagara Falls Thunder partway through the 1989-1990 season. He spent two more seasons with the Thunder winning the Matt Leyden Trophy as the OHL Coach of the Year in both the 1990-1991 and 1991-1992 seasons.
Following the 1991-1992 season, Burnett was named the Head Coach of the AHL’s Cape Breton Oilers. The Oilers went on the win the Calder Cup in Burnett’s first season as coach. Following another season in Cape Breton, Burnett was named the Head Coach of the Edmonton Oilers in 1994. He then returned to the AHL to coach the Binghamton Rangers for two seasons from 1995-1997.
Burnett was back in the OHL for the 1997-1998 season and led the Guelph Storm to an OHL Championship and spot in the Memorial Cup final. He then returned to the NHL, spending two seasons as an Assistant Coach with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
In 2000, Burnett again returned to the OHL to coach the Oshawa Generals where he spent four seasons before joining the Bulls prior to the 2004-2005 season. Burnett also enjoyed international success while with Oshawa, winning a gold medal as Head Coach of Team Canada at the 2001 U18 six nations summer tournament in the Czech Republic.
While in Belleville, Burnett rebuilt a team that finished last overall in the OHL during the 2003-2004 season to a franchise that has won back to back East Division championships and reached the Memorial Cup during the 2007-2008 campaign.
He currently sits second in all-time career victories for the Bulls with 154 following Wednesday’s win.
Photo: Aaron Bell/OHL
