I like Craig Button

[FanIn80]

Just want to say that I've been really impressed with Button and role he's carved out for himself at TSN. I enjoy listening to him and, most importantly, I've come to trust his opinion.

Now I'm not saying he's always right, or that I take what he says as gospel, but I will say that I make a point of reading his lists and I always look forward to hearing his take on prospects.

All-in-all, a far cry from other GMs-turned-analysts.

[Erick Estrada]

I always liked Button as a person. He and I emailed back and forth a few times when he was Flames GM which I thought was really cool.

[dissentowner]

I hate Craig Button. His moves as Flames GM set the franchise back for years.

[neo45]

Nice guy and a decent scout

[Matty81]

I liked him, memory is hazy a bit but I think he traded for Craig Conroy, got Drury for Morris and then swapped Drury for Warrener and Reinprecht, also got Leopold for not much.

Oddly though, he drafted just horribly. The 2001 and 2002 drafts were probably two of the worst in team history. 12 and 11 picks and so much garbage

[JD]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I hate Craig Button. His moves as Flames GM set the franchise back for years.

Haha, the year after he was fired, the Flames were in the Cup Finals! I guess they were on track for a dynasty or something?

Much like Feaster, Button's resume will always have neon lights around a couple of blunders: "bought out Martin St. Louis" and "backed Greg Gilbert instead of Marc Savard and got nothing in the subsequent trade". Unfortunately, his good moves will be rarely remembered.

[aedge]

Didn't he lose us Martin St. Louis and giguere?


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[Lanny_McDonald]

Not a Craig Button fan at all. He's personable enough but I think it is very obvious where he gets much of his scouting information. Every year his list appears to be very similar to that of the Flames, at least based on results. I think his tunnel to information leads directly to Tod.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by aedge

Didn't he lose us Martin St. Louis and giguere?


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And traded away the #1 centre we have never had for a no name prospect. Who knows how much further through multiple years we would have went with Savard feeding Iggy. Yes he would talk to you if you emailed him, I told him I was unhappy with the Stillman/Conroy trade when it happened and his reply to me was that Corey Stillman had never done anything in the playoffs and never will. Didn't that guy win 3 SC? He might have a clue when it comes to prospects but he was a disaster as a GM.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by JD

Haha, the year after he was fired, the Flames were in the Cup Finals! I guess they were on track for a dynasty or something?

You are really going to credit Darryl Sutter's work to Craig Button? Yeah, ok.

[FlamesAddiction]

Nice guy, good scout, honest analyst... lousy manager though. He was a like a deer caught in the headlights.

[djsFlames]

His predictions of this draft were deadly accurate. I think he's an opinion worth trusting.

[freakinsaprikin]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

You are really going to credit Darryl Sutter's work to Craig Button? Yeah, ok.

Yah I think Al Cotes and Darryl Sutter are the ones that can take credit for that. Not sure how much Button contributed.

[JD]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

You are really going to credit Darryl Sutter's work to Craig Button? Yeah, ok.

Yes, I will (with an acknowledgement that there may be an error or two in this list):

Jarome Iginla - Coates
Craig Conroy - Button
Dean McAmmond - Button
Martin Gelinas - Button
Marcus Nilson - Sutter
Ville Nieminen - Sutter
Shean Donovan - Button
Stephane Yelle - Button
Chris Clark - Coates
Chris Simon - Sutter
Chuck Kobasew - Button
Kryzsztof Oliwa - Sutter
Oleg Saprykin - Coates
Steven Reinprecht - Sutter
Jordan Leopold - Button
Robyn Regehr - Coates
Rhett Warrener - Sutter
Denis Gauthier - Coates
Toni Lydman - Button
Andrew Ference - Button
Mike Commodore - Button
Steve Montador - Button

Miikka Kiprusoff - Sutter
Roman Turek - Button

Out of those 24, Button was responsible for bringing in 12. And he could be given credit for keeping the Coates guys around when teams like Buffalo were sniffing around for a Peca/Iginla-like deal. I'm not saying all these guys are equal or that Button was a great GM but you have to at least give him some credit. It's intentional ignorance not to.

And not to mention, Button's best move was likely (and ironically) bringing in Darryl Sutter to coach the team.

[oldschoolcalgary]

he wasn't a very good GM...

if he was, he wouldn't doing color on TSN.

[OzSome]

Craig Button is actually a lot better as a scout than as a GM. He worked for Dallas Stars as a head scout before he moved to Calgary. I believed he was a head scout for Dallas when they drafted Jarome Iginla.

I actually enjoy his Draft ranking every season. I trusted his player's assessments more than Dreger, Kypreos, MacLean and McGuire.Too bad he is terrible as a GM. It doesn't look like he might be a GM somewhere else anytime soon.

[Hanna Sniper]

Originally Posted by JD

Yes, I will (with an acknowledgement that there may be an error or two in this list):

Jarome Iginla - Coates
Craig Conroy - Button
Dean McAmmond - Button
Martin Gelinas - Button
Marcus Nilson - Sutter
Ville Nieminen - Sutter
Shean Donovan - Button
Stephane Yelle - Button
Chris Clark - Coates
Chris Simon - Sutter
Chuck Kobasew - Button
Kryzsztof Oliwa - Sutter
Oleg Saprykin - Coates
Steven Reinprecht - Sutter
Jordan Leopold - Button
Robyn Regehr - Coates
Rhett Warrener - Sutter
Denis Gauthier - Coates
Toni Lydman - Button
Andrew Ference - Button
Mike Commodore - Button
Steve Montador - Button

Miikka Kiprusoff - Sutter
Roman Turek - Button

Out of those 24, Button was responsible for bringing in 12. And he could be given credit for keeping the Coates guys around when teams like Buffalo were sniffing around for a Peca/Iginla-like deal. I'm not saying all these guys are equal or that Button was a great GM but you have to at least give him some credit. It's intentional ignorance not to.

And not to mention, Button's best move was likely (and ironically) bringing in Darryl Sutter to coach the team.

Bolded all the needs to be said.

[Northendzone]

I too enjoy listening to button on both the radio and tv.....it will be interesting to see if he ever gets another shot at an nhl job.....

I know some dump on him for letting shut up. Louis go, but as I recall the flames were faced with a decision to keep fan favourite Freddy Braithwaite or MSL.......besides, I am sure MSL would have demanded a trade from calgary.

[Daradon]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

I too enjoy listening to button on both the radio and tv.....it will be interesting to see if he ever gets another shot at an nhl job.....

I know some dump on him for letting shut up. Louis go, but as I recall the flames were faced with a decision to keep fan favourite Freddy Braithwaite or MSL.......besides, I am sure MSL would have demanded a trade from calgary.

That's not how I remember it, I thought he was just let go because they felt he'd always be a 4th liner.

How would there ever be a decision between a forward and a goalie anyway? I mean I guess if they were both superstars ans there was only so much money, but neither of them had big contracts or big increases coming up (as far as I recall).

Do you have more information on this story?

As for Button, yeah, horrible GM. Decent analyst on TSN though, don`t mind watching him on TV.

[Enoch Root]

#42 Adam Mattson
#43 Jake Virtanen

I now officially love Craig Button!