[Erick Estrada]

I'm torn with ownership. On one hand I am grateful that they kept the team in Calgary over the lean years and that they spend to the salary cap rather than pinch pennies like Winnipeg and Ottawa. On the other hand there's ample evidence to support that they are in fact heavily involved with hockey operations which is a nice way of saying meddling and that's just bad. I imagine their pitch to any GM prospect in their hiring process is; "we will provide you with all the resources you require and spend to the salary cap ceiling but we do expect to see results". It very well could be that any candidate accepting the job of running the Flames has to accept that if they don't get results in a few years that they are at risk of termination.

As a long time Raiders fan I know very well how things can be with an overly involved owner and while things aren't that bad in Calgary it's something that only changed when Al passed and his son took over. When Mark Davis took over the Raiders he was asked if he would be as hands on as his father and he said; "I'm smart enough to know what I don't know" and he hired a competent football man to run his team and finally the team is back in the playoff picture after 14 years. That simply doesn't happen if the owner was meddling. I don't doubt that Murray Edwards is a brilliant business mind but I would hope that he realizes that he didn't make his fortune running a hockey team and that the successful organizations are those that trust in the people they hire to make the right decisions.