Quote:
Originally Posted by Flashpoint
He was tired of the commute, and felt he was redundant under Tre. Can't say it's a surprise. Article in Athletic (paywall) by Eric Duhatschek.
Eric D. talks Brian B. |
I certainty believe that the commute has something to do with it, that is a very taxing schedule. Burke has been flying to Toronto during his time as Flames POHO and also during his time as GM in Anaheim, it was one of the reasons why he stepped down DURING a season and than took the GM role in Toronto. That doesn't happen very often in the NHL.
I do think that when the Flames did their end of year analysis they figured that a bunch of the mistakes that have happened on the hockey side the last few years, perhaps shouldn't of happened.
I don't think Burke was FIRED in a traditional sense but in all the interviews I have ever seen Burke give, especially when hes on national media in Toronto, he's always raved about his Calgary job. He would go into detail that this was his last job in hockey, Alberta is great, I want to be there 10 more years etc. Here is a TSN video clip from September about wanting to stay 10 years etc. Starts at the 7:55 mark
https://www.tsn.ca/jay-and-dan/video...-burke~1208189
I do think the quote in the Eric D piece at the end where he said they approached him about making a change and he agreed, is accurate. He said something similar in a Sportsnet Q&A the other day and the other media reported something similar in other publications.
https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/...v-analyst-gig/
SN: What’s the reaction been like the past few days? The news of you leaving the Flames kind of came out of nowhere for a lot of people.
Burke: The reaction’s been good. When I started talking to these guys about doing this, it was in conjunction with the team and [the Flames] wanted to make a change and as I told them, I’m about ready to make a change too if that’s what you want to do. So, it worked out fine and Sportsnet had asked for permission to use me in the second and third round, so it’s worked out perfectly.
I do think that it was a mutual decision to go their own ways but I also think the Flames approached the subject first. There has been some performance based issues with the hockey club and this is a cap team and the owners are going to want answers for things like
Extending Bob Hartley, firing him and staff with term, hiring Gully and staff, firing staff with term, Troy Brouwer contract, Bouma contract and buyout, missed playoff in '14,16,18, swept in 17 and giving away picks and other items for players that haven't shown value.
Collectively a body of work is developed and costs are calculated and there may be $50 million in Canadian dollars in costs and expenses the owners felt wasn't warranted. The top hockey guy might need to answer for a few of them cause in his meetings with ownership, I doubt the weather is being brought up.
I liked Burke and he did some good things here, lots within the community and he is a bright hockey mind. I also do think some of his status as a hockey executive has been overly exaggerated in a lot of ways based on bravado in the media.
Sorry about the long post!!