Life After The Game: Shawn Burr Former NHL’Er, Now Financial Planner

Currently, former NHL member Shawn Burr is a wealth management advisor at Morgan Stanley. Since retiring in 2000, the 16-year-old pro credits his experience as a player representative for 10 years to helping him find his lifelong calling after hockey.

Burr grew up in Sarnia, Ontario. He went on to play for Detroit, Tampa Bay and San Jose and now resides in the Detroit metropolitan area. “I learned a lot by being a player representative,” Burr recalls. “As a Union, we entered into negotiations with the owners with a mutual understanding of the lowest offer we could accept. The owners came back with a much lower offer than that. During the negotiation period, there were 22 more offers!”

“I got into finance for the right reason,” says Burr, who received his financial education at the Center for Financial Planning.

Burr saw the challenges in players managing their own money. “I saw some pretty good players with millions in checking accounts. Then there were the youngsters, who got their first contracts and had friends and family who wanted loans to buy property without putting in any of their own money,” says Burr.

Known to some in the locker room as “Burrsy,” he continues to follow hockey and has season tickets to the Red Wings. He served as President of Red Wings Alumni. Burr was a physical third-line winger and is fond of the playoffs, when hockey returns to its roots as a more physical defensive battle, which he enjoyed.

When asked what was one of the hardest things to do in life after hockey, Burr laughs at the afternoon nap. “Hockey players are creatures of habit. After 16 years, I got used to the afternoon nap.”