 In the 2001 Nokia Brier Burtnyk skipped his Manitoba team to the final, but bowed out to the Randy Ferbey skipped-Alberta team.In December of that year, he lost to Kevin Martin in the final of the Canadian Olympic Trials, missing his chance to represent Canada at the 2002 Winter Olympics.Burtnyk announced his retirement in 2005 from the game, but returned in 2006 with a new team,
and would shortly after represent Manitoba in the 2008 Tim Hortons Brier but ended up just outside the playoffs with a 6-5 record.