How long will Brian Burke's tenure with the Calgary Flames be?

[FAN]

Maybe this can be made into a poll, but how long do you think Brian Burke's tenure with the Calgary Flames will be? Less than five years? 5-10 years? 10+ years?

I think the biggest question is what does Burke want to do? Burke himself has given conflicting impressions since being fired by the Leafs. Burke will be 59 and given that there are GMs who work past the age of 70, Burke easily has another 10 years in his hockey executive career where he can be actively involved with an NHL club.

When the Leafs fired Burke, Burke himself said that if he could, he would be back in the GM's chair as soon as tomorrow. It's been reported that Burke wanted to be a GM, but King convinced Burke to try this new management structure. King pretty much said that there's essentially no set term and that Burke can do this job for 10 years or more. This suggests that Burke has immense job security and also a way out if he wants to leave the Flames. Burke spoke about how this job allows a man his age to do less of the grunt work and still be involved. With Feaster, Burke made clear that Feaster will be guided by him. When he was looking for a GM, Burke spoke about how he help a rookie GM avoid mistakes. With the hiring of Treliving, there was less of the guidance talk and more about Treliving having full autonomy. After praising Troy Ward's work, Ward was let go, presumably because Treliving wanted a change which threw a wrench into the idea that Burke would be the one making the decisions. I think it was Doug McLean who said that he's been hearing different things about Burke's involvement with the team.

So what do you guys think? Is Burke happy to be in an advisory role that is more handsoff than on? Is Burke going to exert his influence on Treliving and really make this a two-headed management team? Or is Burke going to jump at another GM opportunity when the right situation arises? Somehow, I think the fire still burns inside of Burke, and I think he will be back in a GM's before his career is done. I think he will stick around here for another few years until the club is back in contention and he feels his job is done.

[Buff]

He was sold on the concept of his position. He made management changes that he felt were necessary and the new management team is now in place. This is essentially his first year in the position that he was sold upon. He'll be here at least five years, likely longer if Treliving can continue to improve the team.

[Point Blank]

I think Burke will have at least 5 years with us since this is a rebuild and so the Flame's point total per year isn't the primary indicator of a GM's performance.

It's still too early to predict how long his tenure will be. The management's performance in the next 1-3 years may be evaluated based on trades and signings, and in around the 4-5 year mark is when we start to see the results of Treliving's drafting ability and we should be expecting results in the form of more points and being higher up in the standings. After that everyone should have a more accurate evaluation and which direction we should head in terms of the management team- strengths, weaknesses etc. And because we are in a rebuild I'd say Burke will have at least 5 years with us.

For example Feaster's GM tenure was only about 2 years. From this relatively short tenure standpoint most of us would probably say he could do better based on the returns for Iggy, Regehr, and Bouw. He also avoided a few embarrassing gaffs such as the ROR offer sheet (though debatable) and the B. Richards signing (though at the time I thought it was a great move). But for his drafting I would still say we cannot evaluate with much accuracy until at least 2 years from now. A lot of us are excited about the likes of Gaudreau, Baertschi, Monahan, Poirier, Klimchuk, Granlund, etc. while things look good for most of them so far it's still too early to tell whether or not they will succeed.

Based on initial observations alone, I like the management team; it's a good mix of experienced and young individuals. And I think Burke is happy with his position and wants to stay here.

[The Swedish Flame]

A long time.

Source: See signature.

[Samuelsson]

Probably a while - but I'm not his biggest fan. A lot of uncertainties though; firstly, how does this management structure work? Is Burke the dictator and everyone reports to him?

But hey, as long as he doesn't start trading off skilled players in return for 'big, truculent' wingers, then I'm fine.

[FlameZilla]

If the rebuild doesn't work he'll get frustrated & start running his trap non-stop. I think in that scenario he'll be fired within 5 years. In any other scenario I think he'll be here 10 years.

I like Burke. He's opinionated & he's a blow-hard, but he's also savvy & has been through it all. I'd rather have him (with his years of NHL experience) in our organisation than working for a rival team.

I'm hoping he and Treliving can build something similar to his Anaheim team, rather than his clusterfata of a Toronto franchise.

[bubbsy]

probably retires after their second Stanley Cup

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by FlameZilla

If the rebuild doesn't work he'll get frustrated & start running his trap non-stop. I think in that scenario he'll be fired within 5 years. In any other scenario I think he'll be here 10 years.

I like Burke. He's opinionated & he's a blow-hard, but he's also savvy & has been through it all. I'd rather have him (with his years of NHL experience) in our organisation than working for a rival team.

I'm hoping he and Treliving can build something similar to his Anaheim team, rather than his clusterfata of a Toronto franchise.

I say at minimum 8 years, unless he resigns. The president gets a certain level of autonomy, although with Pres of Hockey Ops being a relatively new position in the game it's hard to say what the lifespan is.

But I generally think of it like this.

During a rebuild coaches lifespan is 2-3 years and a GM usually gets 2 coaches before they become the problem. So since Pres of Hockey Ops is above that, I would think he gets 2 GMs during his tenure.

[Hot_Flatus]

A lot longer then Jay Feaster's.

[Vinny01]

He said he wants this to be his last job in hockey. I think he is here 10 years

[H2SO4(aq)]

bout 3.50

[Roof-Daddy]

No idea, but.....

1. Hopefully he's here until he retires.
2. Hopefully Treliving is still here after Burke retires.
3. Hopefully in about 5 years or so, people are knocking down the Flames door trying to hire Pascall and Conroy.

[Northendzone]

358,000 parsecs

[#-3]

I think one of the reasons for these President of Hockey Ops jobs is to add long term stability to the organizational directions.

I think without success you see most coaches averaging ~2.5 years.

Most GMs get to make two coaching hires, and last ~5 years.
He rides the coach he inherited for 1 year.
Brings in the guy he wanted for 3 years.
Makes a coaching change in a last ditch effort to keep his job. 1 year

I think most of these Presidents will get to Hire 2 GMs and last ~ 7 - 9 years.
Pretty much the same cycle.
Burke Had Feaster for 1 year.
Treliving will be here for ~5 years barring any major success.
Unless the new GM has instant success Burkes days will be numbered, anywhere from 1 -3 years we haven't really seen this one play out yet.

[OzSome]

It'll all depend on his performance. Like one poster says this is his first full season. If GM Brad Treliving becomes a dud and the Flames don't improve in at least a couple seasons then he might be gone after that. I'll say minimum 2-3 years and I don't have any maximum amount of years.

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Samuelsson

But hey, as long as he doesn't start trading off skilled players in return for 'big, truculent' wingers, then I'm fine.

I can see why you're concerned about that, since he traded the Sedin sisters, Bobby Ryan and Phil Kessel for "big, truculent wingers".

[FlamesAddiction]

I didn't realize that Burke was only 58. I thought he was already close to 65.

He'll probably be around for quite a few more years. I hope his tenure is long.

[Parallex]

Personally I don't think it ought to last any longer then Trelivings tenure but the nature of the beast says that it will. We're basically looking at 5 years minimum.

I think everyone is aware that we're going to be bad this upcoming year, hopefully take a baby step forward the year after, then a bigger step the year thereafter, and then hopefully be back in the picture for a playoff spot the year after that. That's four years... if the Flames are still languishing in the basement after four years someone's going to be held to account... Burke will blame Treliving and dump him and probably follow him a year later barring a miracle turnaround.

That's the minimum. The more likely answer is 10 years... any number of thing could lead to a changing of the guard after 10. The Flames being on the verge of another rebuild and Burke not wanting to go through the process again and retiring, wanting to retain front office talent and moving Burke to a consulting role to accomadate promotions, team failing and wanting fresh blood at the top. etc. etc.

[Samuelsson]

Originally Posted by codynw

I can see why you're concerned about that, since he traded the Sedin sisters, Bobby Ryan and Phil Kessel for "big, truculent wingers".

Originally Posted by Samuelsson

Probably a while - but I'm not his biggest fan. A lot of uncertainties though; firstly, how does this management structure work? Is Burke the dictator and everyone reports to him?

But hey, as long as he doesn't start trading off skilled players in return for 'big, truculent' wingers, because he's done that time and time again in the past, then I'm fine.

There, yours makes sense now.

[Fire]

He will be here at least 7 years. Hopefully 10+ years because that would mean the rebuild was a great success.