Video: Draft / Season Recap - Burke & Treliving

[AC]

http://video.flames.nhl.com/videocen...30246&catid=11

On Gaudreau: "We put him in a car seat on the bus. That's how small he is, I mean he can't go on the big kid rides at Disneyland."

[dammage79]

They never really dove into the draft other than Burke dropping his patented cliches of Big and Truculent. Other than that, good interview I thought.

[AC]

Originally Posted by dammage79

They never really dove into the draft other than Burke dropping his patented cliches of Big and Truculent. Other than that, good interview I thought.

Yeah, strange. Maybe there's more coming.

Here are Conroy's interview about the draft specifically posted over the last 2 days:

[btimbit]

Is Craig Conroy the happiest exec in the league?

[dammage79]

Originally Posted by btimbit

Is Craig Conroy the happiest exec in the league?

I think he is the happiest guy ever.

[GranteedEV]

Every time I hear Burke talk about getting bigger, I just cringe and imagine all the Byrons being swapped with Bolligs and the Hudlers being swapped with Joel Wards.

So glad Treliving's our GM and not Burke.

[chubeyr1]

McDavid versus Bennett listening to Conroy! Love it!

I honestly see this as an amazing matchup. Be warned though that Ehlers kid in Winnipeg is a threat too. Gonna be a great season! I am calling it now, Bennett is rookie of the year. Jets fans are pissed cause Ehlers matched the point totals of Bennett. MxDavid is a few points away too but a minus 27.

[polak]

God I really dislike Brian Burke and his obsession with size. Every time he talks about Gaudreau, it sounds like it kills him that one of our stars is a small player.

[Tyler]

Not really a huge fan of him mocking Johnny's height and joking about arguably our best player not being able to get on the kiddie rides at Disneyland.

Do that behind closed doors, not on your corporate media channel..

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Tyler

Not really a huge fan of him mocking Johnny's height and joking about arguably our best player not being able to get on the kiddie rides at Disneyland.

Do that behind closed doors, not on your corporate media channel..

It's all fun for Johnny, he's heard it all his life.

No sense in tippy-toeing.

[FBI]

That Burke stuff used to really piss me off too but now there's pretty much no denying johnnys awesomeness. So it's not like Burke is going to trade him or leave him in the minors now.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by GranteedEV

Every time I hear Burke talk about getting bigger, I just cringe and imagine all the Byrons being swapped with Bolligs and the Hudlers being swapped with Joel Wards.

So glad Treliving's our GM and not Burke.

This fear is so rediculous, never once does he say he'd like us to be less skilled, slower and stupid. People on this site need to stop equating small with skill and big with goon. They are different things.

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

This fear is so rediculous, never once does he say he'd like us to be less skilled, slower and stupid. People on this site need to stop equating small with skill and big with goon. They are different things.

?

Byron is not "skilled", he's an energy bottom 6er.
Ward is not a goon, he's a top line power forward.

The problem is that Burke keys in on problems that are minor at worst and turns away from the self-inflicted problems like Engelland, Bollig, Colborne, and Smid (all post-Burke acquisitions) being unable to possess the puck. Which, last I checked, hurt our team a lot more last year than Byron or Backlund not being 6'2"

[btimbit]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

This fear is so rediculous, never once does he say he'd like us to be less skilled, slower and stupid. People on this site need to stop equating small with skill and big with goon. They are different things.

Yeah I've lost count of how many times management has said the need is players that ar skilled AND big. But people around here seem to forget that and expect a McGrattan extension and promotion to 1st line duties or something.

Originally Posted by polak

God I really dislike Brian Burke and his obsession with size. Every time he talks about Gaudreau, it sounds like it kills him that one of our stars is a small player.

Originally Posted by Tyler

Not really a huge fan of him mocking Johnny's height and joking about arguably our best player not being able to get on the kiddie rides at Disneyland.

Do that behind closed doors, not on your corporate media channel..

I saw it as him trying to be funny. How dare a hockey exec show personality, do that behind closed doors! We want the same dry nonsense in an interview!

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Byron is barely a regular NHL player because he's small and not skilled. I know many on CP have Byron crushes, but he was not missed in the playoffs and is easily replaceble, and should be replaced by a bigger energy player of the Flames are to improve.

As for all the other guys you mentioned, save Smid because he was injured, having a tough time understanding what problems you see with those guys. Colborne and Bollig were both fantastic in the playoffs in their role, and Engelland ability to step up to a top 4 role was huge. What about those guys do think Burke is overlooking as far as weaknesses go?

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

Byron is barely a regular NHL player because he's small and not skilled. I know many on CP have Byron crushes, but he was not missed in the playoffs and is easily replaceble, and should be replaced by a bigger energy player of the Flames are to improve.

This team's measurably (and observably) best possession winger is "easily replacable" by a bigger player who does everything just as well. That's the problem with this emphasis on size. It makes people like Burke, and apparently yourself, oblivious to a player's actual on-ice contribution.

having a tough time understanding what problems you see with those guys. Colborne and Bollig were both fantastic in the playoffs in their role,

Bollig hit some big shots in the playoffs. Credit to him for that, though more of that credit goes to the skilled guys setting him up. But every other shift he was a liability or generally useless while taking a spot away from younger players like Shore, Granlund, and Jooris. Part of the blame goes to Hartley though, because scratching Jooris for games 4 and 5 may well have cost the team the series. It becomes a problem when a guy playing 10+ minutes is scratched in favor of a less skilled, worse possession guy playing under 7 minutes, all for some artificial emphasis on size.

Colborne, he had some good stretches (Game 1 vs Vancouver, Game 3 vs Anaheim) and yet he remains consistently one of the worst possession forwards on the entire team, a player unable to build chemistry with anyone. Why do you think we hit an 8 game losing streak just as he returned to the lineup, or why the 2nd unit power play had two entire goals this whole season?

People love to ignore his constant turnovers, his inability to win board battles despite being huge, and his general inability to cycle the puck efficiently. He can be invisible for two straight months, then have one pretty assist on the rush and it's back to "Joe Colborne is 6'5 and has the midas touch". When he was on Monahan's line, Monahan's scoring dried up. When he was on Gaudreau's line, Gaudreau got thrown in the pressbox. When he was on Backlund's line, Backlund had his worst stretch of the season. When he was on Jooris/Raymond's line, the team's depth scoring was non-existant. The one constant was that Colborne's line couldn't really get anything going, until the playoffs when Backlund and Bennett's overwhelming greatness carried him. I get that Colborne has upside and might just figure it out. But the elephant in the room is that he's still one of the worst possession players on the entire team.

and Engelland ability to step up to a top 4 role was huge.

Right. Because he totally wasn't an anchor on TJ Brodie and gave up a regular scoring-chance-fest all playoffs every time he was on the ice.

What about those guys do think Burke is overlooking as far as weaknesses go?

Their inability to play hockey very well. If they were 6'0 tall they'd each be AHL long shots. There's a reason the Hawks didn't need guys like that in the Cup final, even in their bottom pairing or their bottom 6. That were perfectly happy with guys like Kruger, Shaw, Teravainen, Timonen instead.

Look, I'm actually someone who wants the Flames to get bigger - specifically on the middle defense pairing - but unlike Burke I'm not oblivious to players' shortcomings if they're 6'2 or taller.

[Hanna Sniper]

I hope Burke says we need to get bigger in every interview

[MrMastodonFarm]

Burke can come off a bit grating, I wouldn't take it too seriously, he's obviously a Johnny fan. Everytime he makes a crack about his size it's used to say how good he is despite it.

Some of you are just using it to fuel your endless worry.

[sureLoss]

part 2 is up... with more draft talk.



Most of it he has said before, the most interesting part is that he claims that Treliving has talked to all teams ahead of the Flames in terms of moving up and only 1 had expressed interest depending on who is available at that pick.

[Vulcan]

Speaking about Brad, "If he gets a chance to skin someone, he will."