Sport Management<\/a>, I fell in love with it instantly. The courses were interesting and the professors were supportive; and then I realized it was one of the top programs in the country.\u201d<\/p>\nBurd began volunteering with Brock\u2019s men\u2019s hockey team and later with the Niagara Falls Canucks Junior B club. What initially seemed like a resum\u00e9-building opportunity quickly became a career-defining experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest surprise was how much I enjoyed it,\u201d he says. \u201cAt first, it was simply volunteering, but I realized I could see myself doing it long term. It meant missing social events, but I wouldn\u2019t change a thing. Those experiences set me on the path I\u2019m on now.\u201d<\/p>\n
But breaking into the industry was not easy.<\/p>\n
After graduating in 2016, Burd worked contract roles, pushing himself to take on challenges with the support of leaders who helped him grow.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew I wanted to challenge myself,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen the opportunities arose, I was ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
The grind paid off. In 2018, Burd landed a role with the NHL, where he met a fellow Sport Management grad on his first day.<\/p>\n
\u201cBrock is sprinkled everywhere,\u201d he says. \u201cThe program has a huge influence in the sport industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Today, Burd oversees statistics in the public relations department at the league\u2019s Toronto office. His workdays often stretch into the night, supporting executives, broadcasters and media outlets like ESPN and Sportsnet with real-time data and storylines.<\/p>\n
Alongside his team, he audits live games to ensure score accuracy, contributes to the NHL\u2019s Live Updates page and produces the Morning Skate digest of key storylines. He\u2019s often at the forefront of documenting sport history, like last year when Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky\u2019s all-time goals record.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe built momentum around that story using statistics, creating excitement for fans worldwide leading up to that historic day,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
He also covers marquee events such as the NHL Draft, translating numbers into storytelling narratives that help to grow the game.<\/p>\n
Looking back, Burd says even the smallest opportunities, from internships to late-night volunteer shifts, were essential.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though on the surface, some opportunities didn\u2019t immediately look appealing, they turned out to be the most valuable,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause it gave me autonomy and room to experiment. Those lessons have stayed with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burd encourages students to build experience, diversify their skills and take every opportunity to learn.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only thing you can control is what you bring to the table,\u201d he says. \u201cIf you do that, the rest will follow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
During his undergraduate studies, John Burd (SPMA \u201916) didn\u2019t wind down on Friday nights, he headed to the rink.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":108536,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[119,36,7484,3319,4052,1],"tags":[28,2737,4753,4811,1153,7488,5541,2152,3694,57],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108531"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108531"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108577,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108531\/revisions\/108577"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}