UW Athletic Hall of Fame: Adam Burish
June 03, 2024 | General News, Men's Hockey, Andy Baggot
Consummate leader earned NCAA, Stanley Cup championships
BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
Adam Burish is the only Madison native to have played on an NCAA championship men's hockey team and to have his name etched on the Stanley Cup.
He earned the former in 2006 when the Badgers won their sixth and most recent national title and the latter in 2010 when he skated for the Chicago Blackhawks during their fourth of six runs to an NHL crown.Â
Burish had a curious answer when asked which one was the most special.
"They were two completely different championships – both really special – but for me, winning a national championship at Wisconsin felt much harder and felt way more rewarding to me because of the fact that this was my ultimate goal in sports,'' he said. "Winning a national championship with the Badgers.''
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Burish was a rare two-time C-wearing captain whose 145-game career at UW coincided with the arrival of Mike Eaves as coach at his alma mater. Coincidentally, Eaves also served as two-time captain of the Badgers, played on the NCAA championship-winning outfit in 1977 and was a member of the Calgary Flames in '86 when they fell to the Montreal Canadiens in the seventh game of the NHL finals and just missed out on having his name inscribed on the Stanley Cup.
So, Eaves could relate in a variety of ways.
"That was his team,'' he said of Burish, whose family, father Mark and mother Helen, have since endowed a scholarship to benefit UW student-athletes. "It was really important that he really wanted to win it because of that fact. He grew up wanting to play for the Badgers and wanted to win a national championship.
"He will tell you he wanted to be the captain of that team. It was his team and he took great responsibility in ownership of that fact. That's why I think it meant so much to him.''
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Adam played in 378 games for three NHL clubs despite being chosen in the ninth round, 282nd overall, in the 2002 draft. What he lacked in size, speed and hockey skills, he made up for in guile, toughness and tenacity.
"Adam was not the most talented, not the most physically gifted,'' Eaves said. "His skill was how he maximized those gifts with the heart of a leader. That's what made him so effective.
"His will to win, you need that in the locker room. When things are down and it's hard, Adam's the guy who steps up and says, "We're going to get this effing thing done any way we can.
"If you can find a really talented player that's got the heart of a leader, that's what it's all about. It's about their heart.''
Burish, who attended Madison Edgewood High School and played for the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League, helped the Badgers and Blackhawks find their bearings. Wisconsin was 13-24-3 during his freshman season, but advanced to the NCAA tournament the next three years. Chicago, meanwhile, failed to qualify for the NHL playoffs from 2006 to '08.
Wisconsin wound up as the No. 1 seed in the national tournament in 2006, which enabled it to play two regional games at the Resch Center in Green Bay as well as the Frozen Four at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The Badgers shut out Bemidji State 4-0 and Cornell 1-0 in a searing, triple-overtime drama to advance, then toppled Maine 5-2 and Boston College 2-1 to set off a massive celebration.
Nikki Burish, Adam's only sibling, was a major source of inspiration for him. She not only played youth hockey alongside her brother, she was captain of the first Wisconsin women's team to claim a national title in 2006. Two weeks after the UW women shut out St. Lawrence 1-0 and Minnesota 3-0, the men came through with their performance that made Wisconsin the first – and still only – Division I program to win both crowns at the same time.
Nikki said her brother's "work ethic, his personality, his commitment to everything he does'' makes him an ideal choice to be inducted into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame.
"Obviously his loyalty to UW athletics and the UW hockey program – his unwavering support and commitment – he's just so proud to be a Badger,'' she said.
"She was pushing me and I was pushing her,'' Adam said. "She was better than me some years. She was on my line some years. We practiced on the same team in high school. Every day we played hockey together in the garage.''
When did Adam and Nikki stop competing against one another?
"We haven't yet,'' she said. "I have to get my hockey bag out now so I can earn my spot in the hall of fame. I have to win some medals or something. I have to get back out there.''
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Two: Sharing credit where due —  Adam lauded the numerous coaches in his hockey evolution – Eaves and Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville to name two – but Adam also mentioned Doak Holman.
"To get to a certain level, you have to have a youth coach that moved the needle for you,'' Burish said.
That was Holman, who coached the Southwest Eagles. Burish made sure to invite Holman to his day-long celebration with the Stanley Cup. Burish described Holman's style as "a great positive and demanding way.''
Three: Appreciation for life — Burish, now 41, married to Jackie and the father of two children, Brooks and Blake, still thinks about the events of Oct. 1, 2017 and how fortunate he is.
He was attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on the Las Vegas Strip with friends when a gunman, holed up on the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel, opened fire on the crowd of people below. In all, 61 people were killed and at least 413 were injured by gunfire. The shooter committed suicide, but not before changing the lives for countless people, including Burish.
"I'd like to tell you that I was the bravest person in the world when that happened, but I wasn't,'' he said. "I was scared to death. I thought I was dead.
"That was a wild, wild day.''
Burish said he had text messages written to his parents and sister, but never sent them.
"Just saying, 'I love you,''' he said.
Burish said he helped one wounded victim into a waiting taxi as more than 1,000 rounds were fired at the crowd. It was the deadliest mass shooting by one gunman in American history.
"I was waiting to die,'' he said.
Was there a lesson in all this?
"I like to go 100 mph in whatever I'm doing,'' Burish said. "That just helped me slow down.''Gallery: (5-29-2024) UW Athletic Hall of Fame: Adam Burish
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UWBadgers.com Insider
Adam Burish is the only Madison native to have played on an NCAA championship men's hockey team and to have his name etched on the Stanley Cup.
He earned the former in 2006 when the Badgers won their sixth and most recent national title and the latter in 2010 when he skated for the Chicago Blackhawks during their fourth of six runs to an NHL crown.Â
Burish had a curious answer when asked which one was the most special.
"They were two completely different championships – both really special – but for me, winning a national championship at Wisconsin felt much harder and felt way more rewarding to me because of the fact that this was my ultimate goal in sports,'' he said. "Winning a national championship with the Badgers.''
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 |
| Adam Burish holds the 2006 NCAA Championship Trophy at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee |
Burish was a rare two-time C-wearing captain whose 145-game career at UW coincided with the arrival of Mike Eaves as coach at his alma mater. Coincidentally, Eaves also served as two-time captain of the Badgers, played on the NCAA championship-winning outfit in 1977 and was a member of the Calgary Flames in '86 when they fell to the Montreal Canadiens in the seventh game of the NHL finals and just missed out on having his name inscribed on the Stanley Cup.
So, Eaves could relate in a variety of ways.
"That was his team,'' he said of Burish, whose family, father Mark and mother Helen, have since endowed a scholarship to benefit UW student-athletes. "It was really important that he really wanted to win it because of that fact. He grew up wanting to play for the Badgers and wanted to win a national championship.
"He will tell you he wanted to be the captain of that team. It was his team and he took great responsibility in ownership of that fact. That's why I think it meant so much to him.''
Â
 |
| Adam Burish with the NCAA trophy and Stanley Cup |
"Adam was not the most talented, not the most physically gifted,'' Eaves said. "His skill was how he maximized those gifts with the heart of a leader. That's what made him so effective.
"His will to win, you need that in the locker room. When things are down and it's hard, Adam's the guy who steps up and says, "We're going to get this effing thing done any way we can.
"If you can find a really talented player that's got the heart of a leader, that's what it's all about. It's about their heart.''
Burish, who attended Madison Edgewood High School and played for the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States Hockey League, helped the Badgers and Blackhawks find their bearings. Wisconsin was 13-24-3 during his freshman season, but advanced to the NCAA tournament the next three years. Chicago, meanwhile, failed to qualify for the NHL playoffs from 2006 to '08.
Wisconsin wound up as the No. 1 seed in the national tournament in 2006, which enabled it to play two regional games at the Resch Center in Green Bay as well as the Frozen Four at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The Badgers shut out Bemidji State 4-0 and Cornell 1-0 in a searing, triple-overtime drama to advance, then toppled Maine 5-2 and Boston College 2-1 to set off a massive celebration.
Nikki Burish, Adam's only sibling, was a major source of inspiration for him. She not only played youth hockey alongside her brother, she was captain of the first Wisconsin women's team to claim a national title in 2006. Two weeks after the UW women shut out St. Lawrence 1-0 and Minnesota 3-0, the men came through with their performance that made Wisconsin the first – and still only – Division I program to win both crowns at the same time.
Nikki said her brother's "work ethic, his personality, his commitment to everything he does'' makes him an ideal choice to be inducted into the UW Athletic Hall of Fame.
"Obviously his loyalty to UW athletics and the UW hockey program – his unwavering support and commitment – he's just so proud to be a Badger,'' she said.
BEST OF THREE
One: Sibling Rivalry — Adam and Nikki battled one another as much as they did their Edgewood high school opponents."She was pushing me and I was pushing her,'' Adam said. "She was better than me some years. She was on my line some years. We practiced on the same team in high school. Every day we played hockey together in the garage.''
When did Adam and Nikki stop competing against one another?
"We haven't yet,'' she said. "I have to get my hockey bag out now so I can earn my spot in the hall of fame. I have to win some medals or something. I have to get back out there.''
Â
 |
| 2006 NCAA champions Nikki and Adam Burish at the NCAA Frozen Four in Milwaukee |
Two: Sharing credit where due —  Adam lauded the numerous coaches in his hockey evolution – Eaves and Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville to name two – but Adam also mentioned Doak Holman.
"To get to a certain level, you have to have a youth coach that moved the needle for you,'' Burish said.
That was Holman, who coached the Southwest Eagles. Burish made sure to invite Holman to his day-long celebration with the Stanley Cup. Burish described Holman's style as "a great positive and demanding way.''
Three: Appreciation for life — Burish, now 41, married to Jackie and the father of two children, Brooks and Blake, still thinks about the events of Oct. 1, 2017 and how fortunate he is.
He was attending the Route 91 Harvest Music Festival on the Las Vegas Strip with friends when a gunman, holed up on the 32nd floor of a nearby hotel, opened fire on the crowd of people below. In all, 61 people were killed and at least 413 were injured by gunfire. The shooter committed suicide, but not before changing the lives for countless people, including Burish.
"I'd like to tell you that I was the bravest person in the world when that happened, but I wasn't,'' he said. "I was scared to death. I thought I was dead.
"That was a wild, wild day.''
Burish said he had text messages written to his parents and sister, but never sent them.
"Just saying, 'I love you,''' he said.
Burish said he helped one wounded victim into a waiting taxi as more than 1,000 rounds were fired at the crowd. It was the deadliest mass shooting by one gunman in American history.
"I was waiting to die,'' he said.
Was there a lesson in all this?
"I like to go 100 mph in whatever I'm doing,'' Burish said. "That just helped me slow down.''
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