[united]

Some other points from last night, some already mentioned. All my interpretations and paraphrasing.

King
- Ken King started the entire thing by repeating the elderly Filipino lady in hospice story again. So odd that he keeps bringing it up.
- The City was reviewing the Stampede ground plans last night and the Flames hoped the hear the outcome either after the season ticket holder presentation or this morning.
- The Stampede proposal will not include a football stadium - McMahon would need to be repaired on its own.
- Some more of the usual CalgaryNext and arena propaganda
- Easy for the mayor to drop one-liners about the need for public benefit when the Flames have a 20- to 30-page document outlining all the public benefit. Believes people are smarter than listening to small sound bites and headlines.
- Raised ticket prices to "keep up". With what? Flames have a budget of $100-million CAD but players are paid in USD.
- According to the Flames, they rank sixth in ticket prices among Canadian teams. Also, the Flames could have higher ticket prices as, according to their own analysis, they are losing $10- to $15-million per year to the secondary market. Chalked it up to generous owners.
- Ticket prices will probably increase in the new arena, but not to the extent the Oilers raised theirs.
- Flames ranked 16th in revenue, meaning they will get a small cheque from the league.
- A fan brought up that Forbes disagrees, and Ken King ripped into Forbes saying they never contact the Flames and have no idea how the business works. Fan asked why the Flames don't release their financials, then, and King did not answer.

Treliving
- Treliving was asked about Backlund and said he was probably the best choice for team MVP last season. But, better than that, is what a great person Backlund is. His charity work is well known, but Treliving told a story about how the players get provided meals after each game. Well, one game Treliving stayed late and dropped into the dressing room and saw Backlund packing all the leftovers and unused food into takeout boxes and joked that they weren't paying him enough for him to feed himself at home. Turns out Backlund does this after each home game and makes a stop at the Drop-in Centre on his way home to drop off the unused food. What a terrific person Backlund is.
- Asked whether the priority was a #4 defenceman or a first-line RW: Of those, the #4 defenceman would take priority, but #1 priority is a starting goaltender. Mentioned that Gaudreau and Monahan have had terrific success as youngsters with a rotating cast of RWers so why spend big money there. Mentioned Ferland as someone who he thought meshed well with them.
- Doesn't think the Flames make the playoffs without Michael Stone. Joked that in contract negotiations, Stone/agent have brought up the 10-game winning streak that happened as soon as the Flames acquired him. Obviously a joke but read into "contract negotiations" if you will.
- The Flames will protect 7-3-1 and the slots on defence are obvious. Hard to make a move, particularly for a defender, because of the effects on the protection slots.
- Once the protection lists are released, Treliving will be all over Vegas on inquiring about trades where Vegas would draft a player from another team then flip them. Imagines every GM will be burning through batteries during that time.
- Mentioned the conference call where the League urged GMs, in particular Vegas, not to leak things prior to the awards show. If Vegas complies, the Flames will find out who they lose the same time the fans do.
- Lazar oozes character and leadership; can play all three forward positions in any role. Sees him as a utility player for 10+ seasons with the Flames. As mentioned many times, Lazar will be better than the player they picked in the second round.
- Tough start was, in hindsight, hard to avoid given: Gaudreau missing camp, Monahan and Backlund recovering from injuries, and a complete 180 in systems play. Took longer than they expected for the players to become fluid in the new tactics, but it wasn't due to a lack of buy-in. Impressed everyone, including Gulutzan, stuck with things despite all the "bullets" being shot their way at the start.
- Always looking to get bigger but it can't come at the expense of skill. When you're playing against McDavid or Crosby, size doesn't mean anything if you can't defend to begin with. Mentioned Brouwer as someone with size who can play as an example. (Really, Brad?!)
- The Flames young centres have gone through significant growing pains, specifically with face-offs, but that's because the Flames haven't sheltered them. When you're 19 or 20 and facing Thornton, Getzlaf, and Kopitar in the span of a week, you're going to get beat up, which they did. Part of the learning process and they will be better long-term as a result.
- If he had to handicap it, the Flames will pick at 16.
- No superstars in the draft, but the draft has been beat-down so much it's now under-rated. Still solid players to be had who will become all-stars - just a matter of identifying them.
- Flames plan on drafting a goalie in the second or third round every second draft. This year they would have if they hadn't acquired Lazar/Stone, so next year they definitely will.
- Stockton was the second youngest team in the AHL and they intend to keep it a young team. Some AHL teams try to win, while the Flames' intention is to develop. Would rather a 20-year-old lose a key faceoff and get scored on than a 28-year-old journeyman win the draw and clear the puck. The youngster will learn and get better as a result. The Heat may struggle against the older teams as a result, but that's fine because they only want players on the Heat who they think could play for the Flames one day.


Burke
- Apologized for and regretted his comments from last week, but maintains his opinion of the man he was talking to. Thinks the whole thing was a setup. Shouldn't have lost his cool but he did and can't take it back.