[Dion]

Burke opens up on reasons for trade...

“I don’t like the way we’ve been pushed around,” the team’s acting general manager said Monday night after a weekend which saw his team shut out 2-0 at home by both the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks. “I don’t think that’s any secret.

“And having one guy that’ll answer the bell? That’s not enough in our league.”

“I’ve liked him since he played college hockey ... I liked him in the American League,” said Burke, who added Westgarth will report to the Flames immediately and he expects he’ll be in uniform Tuesday against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers.

“What he brings is what we desperately need: Size and toughness.”

“After Grats got tossed out of the game, we don’t have a whole lot of size and toughness left,” Burke said. “That’s not the impetus for the deal, we’ve been working on the deal for a while. But, to me, it’s time for this team to get bigger, and I think this will help our smaller players. Everybody, including our defence corps. We’ve got some smaller defencemen.

“It takes a lot of heat off the defence, and the forwards sure take less of a pounding this way. I think fear and toughness are both contagious.”

“His preparation, attention to detail, and an obvious intellect and leadership skills were screaming at me ... this is a veteran guy with leadership skills,” Burke said.

When asked if this was the start of deals to come, Burke said: “We’re open for business.”

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/...233/story.html