Career
Rourke was selected in the 6th round of the 1998 National Hockey League Entry Draft, 154th overall, by the Toronto Maple Leafs, after a successful junior career with the Kitchener Rangers as an offensive defenceman. After three seasons in the Maple Leafs organization, exclusively with the Saint John"s Maple Leafs of the AHL, Rourke was dealt to the Carolina Hurricanes for Harold Druken. Rourke appeared in 25 games for the Hurricanes, and spent most of two seasons with their AHL affiliate, the Lowell Lock Monsters.
After signing a free agent contract with the New York Islanders, Rourke again split time between the National Hockey League and AHL, appearing in 17 games with New York and spending the majority of his time with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
Rourke was subsequently dealt to the Edmonton Oilers, and assigned to the Springfield Falcons after failing to make the team in training camp. On November 8, 2007, Rourke was called up in place of Bryan Young, who was assigned to Springfield.
On May 27, 2008, Rourke signed with the European Research Council Ingolstadt of the German League, he played with EHC Black Wings Linz, Austria last season and signed than on 4 July 2009 a contract with Krefeld Pinguine.