3 years in.....rank Brian Burke's tenure with the Flames

[saillias]

-Re-signed Matt Stajan, bad.
-ruined Baertschis life with hurtful comments, mean and bad.
-forced Feaster to trade for Colbort and Smid, sad!
-forced Treliving to pick up Bollig and Engelland and still wants them to play more, bad
-hair & tie
-thinks analytics are a lamp post. Analytics cannot be a lamp post because they are a concept and not a physical objecy

[trumpethead]

There are 2 very good reasons to like Brian Burke.

1. He insists that his players connect and engage in the community they play in. He expects that his team should be an example of good corporate citizenship and community involvement. I have heard Brian say many times that charity work/community service is an expectation that he has of everybody in the organization - from rookies to veterans - he wants players of the highest character (and our Captain embodies that).
2. He hates the Oilers. I have personally heard Burkie refer to them as the "a##holes to the north" a few times.

[undercoverbrother]

Is Burke also involved/overseeing the other teams in the "Flames Family"?

Heat, Inferno, & Hitmen?

[edn88]

A (will be A+ when we win the cup)

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Is Burke also involved/overseeing the other teams in the "Flames Family"?

Heat, Inferno, & Hitmen?

Burke is involved with all things Flames, so that includes the Heat. Though I doubt he has much day-to-day involvement. Burke is President of Hockey Operations for the Flames, not the Hitmen which is a different entity. The Heat fall under the Flames umbrella of operations.

The Calgary Flames own the Hitmen, Roughnecks and Stampeders and Ken King has a variety of titles with all three. He isn't involved with the Inferno however as the Flames have a partnership with them, not owners.

[dustygoon]

I liked how he handled feaster. Did a "report" which was fair. Probably called other gm's (Freddy modin trade was enough of an indicator that deals weren't his forte).

[MarkGio]

I don't like Burke.

1) Didn't trade Cammy
2) Signed Stajan
3) Makes rash comments to the media
4) I could only assume he played a role in Kanzig and Smith picks
5) Could only assume he played a role in Engelland and Bollig contracts

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

I don't like Burke.

1) Didn't trade Cammy
2) Signed Stajan
3) Makes rash comments to the media
4) I could only assume he played a role in Kanzig and Smith picks
5) Could only assume he played a role in Engelland and Bollig contracts

4 and 5 aren't fair to hold against Burke, that's just your bias. For all we know BT was the one who wanted them the most.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

4 and 5 aren't fair to hold against Burke, that's just your bias. For all we know BT was the one who wanted them the most.

Point three is rubbish too.

[saillias]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

I don't like Burke.



1) Didn't trade Cammy

2) Signed Stajan

3) Makes rash comments to the media

4) I could only assume he played a role in Kanzig and Smith picks

5) Could only assume he played a role in Engelland and Bollig contracts

I did it better.

[FakenHaken]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

I don't like Burke.

1) Didn't trade Cammy
2) Signed Stajan
3) Makes rash comments to the media
4) I could only assume he played a role in Kanzig and Smith picks
5) Could only assume he played a role in Engelland and Bollig contracts

Ok I get that you don't like Burke. His blusterous remarks can grind on you especially over the years he's been in the league.

However, if you are going attach blame to 4 and 5 why not also give him credit for the Russell trade and Hamilton trade as a direct result of point 1. By setting up go forward that we were not going to just give away Cammy like we were apt to do as a franchise in the past he gave bullets to Treliving to negotiate great trades in the future by getting these 2nd rounders for Hudler, Russel, and Glencross. Yes Treliving got the trades done, but not without the groundwork first being laid.

Burke isn't my cup of tea either, but I do admit he seems at every opportunity to credit his employee Treliving openly to whomever will listen. Also, its not often that Treliving has made many bad deals as a rookie GM. That is a rare in a competitive league where other GM's aren't likely to do you any favors. I'd have to think that both Burke and Maloney had a hand in this through mentoring and delegating the authority to Treliving to do as well as he has. In a nutshell I think we sometimes cheer Treliving for being some sort of wizard and then blame Burke for any decision we think Treliving didn't do as well on. Seems disingenuous to me.

[Bingo]

I loved Burke in Toronto, his feud with Lowe made me a fan for life. Love that he can't stand the guy.

Coming to Calgary in that role made sense and he's done a good job of it. I didn't see a long Feaster future when he got here, and that turned out to be true.

Where he's really impressed me is his ability to let Treliving do his job without stealing the desk or the mic on a daily basis. If you look at Treliving's tenure in Calgary there seems to be a line about 9 months in where you no longer see Burke's puppet strings and since that moment I think the Calgary GM has gone way up the NHL depth charts.

So I guess I'm saying I'm glad he's not making all the decisions, but impacting those decisions through a second set of eyes, contacts and most importantly ... some serious "mojo" back into the Flames brand.

[trublmaker]

Originally Posted by Iggy City

Hasn't signed Gaudreau yet.

F.

That's brads job

[getbak]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

3) Makes rash comments to the media

You may not like what he says, or how he chooses to say it, but his comments to the media are anything but rash.

[Vinny01]

The Cammy trade is something I respect him for and am glad the Flames didn't cave. After years of getting destroyed in trades the Flames turned the page and declared "not anymore". Feaster completely botched the Iginla (not entirely his fault), Regehr, and especially the Bouwmeester trades. The Bouw trade was so so awful. Trading a 6'4 Dman with a year and a half left on his contract in a thin market for a protected 1st round pick and 2 garbage prospects was unacceptable. Bouw was also having a bit of a renaissance season under Hartley.

When it came to Cammy we saw the market drop significantly on draft day. Kesler held up a lot of the negotiations and players like Gaborik, and Vanek went for 2nd rounders plus low end prospects. Burke admitted that they lowered the price on Cammy but we're not about to give him away for a 4-5th round pick. Somehow dumping Berra on the Avs for a 2nd made up for the Cammy no trade IMO. Lastly I truly believe the Flames hoped to sign Cammy to an extension for 3 years but we're not going to give him the 5 years he wanted and got from the Devils.

Seeing how the Flames have been on the winning end of trades since that deadline (most notably Hamilton, Glencross, Hudler, Russell) perhaps Burke's tactics worked? That is speculation but so is much of the points made by those that dislike Burke in the thread.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

I don't like Burke...

I don't like Burke either. I think he is bombastic and arrogant, and his public persona grates on me. Having said that, I also think that he is doing a fantastic job in his role.

[Lanny_McDonald]

I think Burke's an #######. I think he enjoys being an #######. I'm happy he's our #######.

[bob-loblaw]

Originally Posted by MarkGio

I don't like Burke.

3) Makes rash comments to the media

I don't remember him talking about his rash.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by bob-loblaw

I don't remember him talking about his rash.

That's why he doesn't tie his tie. It makes him itchy.

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by trumpethead

There is 1 very good reasons to like Brian Burke.

2. He hates the Oilers. I have personally heard Burkie refer to them as the "a##holes to the north" a few times.

Best reason ever. Sutter is also one who really did not like the Oilers. When I worked at airport security he would come through and we would spend 5 minutes making jokes about how bad they were.