I buy the story. Burke isn't getting any younger and I think he still has the yearning and fire to be the guy who is front and center in building a team. Burke has accomplished enough that in a few years he can name a successor and step back into more of the type of Presidential role he is in now. Slightly off topic, I wonder if Ottawa will have a job for Burke with Murray's health in decline.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheDebaser
If he wanted to GM a team so badly that he's willing to ditch Calgary at the first opportunity, why didn't he just make himself the full-time GM when he had the chance?
I don't buy this story.
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This was well discussed. Burke himself admitted that he wanted to be the GM and it took some convincing for him to accept the role Edwards and King wanted him to be in in the first place. In other words, Burke wanted to be GM, the Flames convinced him to come to Calgary to be the President and hire a GM. Burke accepted the assignment and therefore he had to hire a GM because he wasn't hired to be the GM (Burke said as much). Sure it is possible that Burke simply needed to think things through and realized that it is becoming the new norm in the NHL where you have a President of hockey operations who is not the GM who is involved in decisions affecting the on ice product.