I believe I read most of this thread, but haven't seen any posts talking about the 'Don Cherry Incident'.
He tried to get Don Cherry fired because Cherry criticized the Leafs. I am no Don Cherry supporter - Cherry makes great points at times, and just completely idiotic ones as well - but that was a very classless move by Burke to try and get him fired, and in my mind, speaks to Burke's character fairly well. Some people might disagree, but I just found that to be just a horrible way to conduct himself.
What I have really thought was going well for the Flames was the 'braintrust' committee. Sure, many here don't feel Feaster has much scouting ability, or much of a hockey mind, but he has Weisbrod (a real hockey guy - laughable comment above about him being a 'sports guy' but not a 'hockey guy'!) Goulet, Conroy, and other pro scouts. He has Button and a bunch of amateur scouts. They seem to have great dialogue and Feaster defers to them.
Burke has a bit of a reputation without a doubt. Will he be open to listening to what others have to say, or will his 'rough around the edges' mannerisms end up creating a bit of an unwillingness for some guys to 'fight for their guy' when the need arises? For instance, Harrisson was drafted because one of the scouts would not give up and kept fighting for him, and Todd Button relented and gave him the 5th to pick his guy (though I am sure a lot of it had to do with the trust Button had in said scout).
My biggest worry is that Burke will come in like a bull in a china shop and force his own logic and wants onto this team. His experience and hockey knowledge are a definite asset to the organization, and I actually agree with him in that he prefers teams that are big and tough too. His lack of patience is worrying me.
I was one of the few posters voting nay in this poll because of those reasons. There are definite tangible assets that Burke brings Calgary. However, there are also very real negatives as well. I would have loved Poile here. I would have been open-minded with Shanahan to see what he could do. Burke makes me apprehensive. I wonder who was #4 on that list.
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