Burns Prepared For "Weird" Return To San Jose

RALEIGH, NC. -Brent Burns has played in 620 road games thus far in his now 20-season NHL career.
He's anticipating that his first as a member of the Carolina Hurricanes may be the strangest yet.

"It's going to be weird. You try not to think about it too much," the six-time All-Star remarked in the days leading up to his return to San Jose and the SAP Center. "It's going to be really nice to get back there, but it'll definitely be much harder than a normal game."
Burns, 37,
waived his three-team no-trade list to come to Carolina in July
, joining the reigning Metropolitan Division champions in a deal that included
Lane Pederson in exchange for Steven Lorentz, Eetu Makiniemi and a conditional third round pick
.
Now, his first contest away from Raleigh with the Canes will come back in his old stomping grounds.
"For me San Jose's been such a special place for a long time. I really grew as a player so much there, I learned so much from a lot of guys," Burns said during his introductory press conference. "[San Jose] was amazing to us as a family and it's just such a special place that it's never easy to leave."
The ever popular bearded blueliner had spent 11 seasons in Silicon Valley, rising to his star status and earning his reputation as one of the premier players in the game. He finished as a Norris Trophy finalist three times, winning it in 2016-17, and twice had the most points at the position, league-wide.
Alongside Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture, the quartet defined an entire decade of Sharks hockey.
But in the same breath Burns talked about how much the Bay Area city meant to him, he continued to say, "For me, I'm coming to a time when having the chance to win it all is really all that matters right now."

Still in search of his first Stanley Cup, Burns and San Jose knocked on the door of winning it all in 2016, but eventually fell to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a six-game series. The Penguins lifted the Stanley Cup in the Sharks' building that night and that, along with many other better memories will come to the forefront of Burns' mind.
"It is a weird feeling. You get traded, you move on, you get to your new team, you know the guys in the room. Everything changes," Captain Jordan Staal supplemented of Burns' return to San Jose. "Then all of a sudden it's flipped back. You're at your old arena and all of those memories come flooding back. The good, the bad, the ugly. Everything you know hits you."
Staal,
having been moved from Pittsburgh to Carolina in 2012
, was candid in sharing that it may be a challenging night for Burns, but was also quick to point out that his new teammates are eager to rally around him for Carolina's lone visit of the campaign.
"A big chunk of his life was there and I'm sure it's going to be hard. It'll be hard for him to keep his emotions in check, but I'm excited for him. I'm excited to play for him."
"It's still weird going back to Minnesota," Burns reflected again, ackowledging that he somewhat knows what to expect, having been
traded from the Wild to the Sharks in 2011
. "I've played there a bunch of times and it's still weird."
Burns' first game in St. Paul as a member of the Canes won't come until November 19, and he'll cross that bridge when he gets to it.
As for the here and now, Carolina will begin a five-game stretch away from PNC Arena Friday night at SAP Center with a 10:30 EST puck drop.
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