Saddledome Event Recap - Brian Burke State of the Union

[calgaryblood]

Derek wills is the last guy I'd trust on any subject. He's the biggest homer I've ever heard. Always turns a negative into a positive somehow. In the beginning of the season when we were playing badly and losing badly, he'd somehow find an excuse or say the Flames played well.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by hixxes

Has Wills ever said anything negative about the Flames and the players?

Lol I made my above post before reading this...yeah Wills is a huge homer and never says anything negative.

[GioforPM]

What about Gaudreau? He was saying the same thing.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

What about Gaudreau? He was saying the same thing.

What about Gaudreau? Who was saying what?

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

What about Gaudreau? Who was saying what?

Someone here said Gaudreau was complimenting Wideman's attitude.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

Derek wills is the last guy I'd trust on any subject. He's the biggest homer I've ever heard...

I seriously doubt it.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Someone here said Gaudreau was complimenting Wideman's attitude.

There's a differnce between a teammate and the local PBP radio guy who is known as a homer.

Wideman's attitude may be fine, all I'm saying is I wouldn't take Wills comments as anything but his regular fluff comment. When you're always defending the team even in very bad stretches where they played some real bad hockey it's hard to take him serious even if he is right about Wideman.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I seriously doubt it.

He rivals any Edmonton Oiler guy. I know the cool thing is to make fun of other rivals homers but we have our very own one so at least own it.

[GioforPM]

Off the top of my head, bigger homers: Gene Principe, Hughson, Jack Edwards (Bruins), Esposito, Haynes, Garrett.

I've heard the Pens guys are bad but I don't know.

[GioforPM]

Wills is no doubt a homer. But he tweeted about Wideman out of the blue, not indefence, not in answer to a question, not because it came up in what he was talking about on air. Homer or not, I don't see why he would just up and say it if it wasn't true.

[JerryUnderscore]

I just watched Glen Gulutzan's pre-game presser in Winnipeg (you can watch it here). He was asked about Wideman and had this to say:

Yeah, you know, it's not easy for any of these guys and Wides, we were in a good position prior to the trades that pushed him a little bit deeper into our depth. But, you know, he helped us get there and that was one of the messages we talked about is he certainly was a big part and helped play significant minutes for us for a long time. He had a couple days there that it was tougher for him, but the last couple weeks he's been a great pro, he's worked his tail off in practice. He knows that at some point, you know, you've got 20 games left, there's going to be an injury at some point and you've got to be ready to play. He's done a great job of staying in shape, pushing himself at practice and the gym. We've got a great pro there and now he's going to factor back in.

It sounds like Wideman went through a low point but has since turned his attitude around and worked hard. Good for him.

[Gaudfather]

Originally Posted by JerryUnderscore

I just watched Glen Gulutzan's pre-game presser in Winnipeg (you can watch it here). He was asked about Wideman and had this to say:



It sounds like Wideman went through a low point but has since turned his attitude around and worked hard. Good for him.

Hopefully that means we see the motivated Wideman in Winnipeg tonight.

[Ryan Coke]

Take what anyone says with the appropriate grain of salt. If it is 3rd hand impression of someone from the local media, or the coach. The media guy might be pushing an agenda, or have a more pessimistic view, or may be completely accurate. And the coach may be blasting the guy in his office, and complaining to the GM about him, and then telling the media that he is a great teammate and pro.

It is all useful info, but none of it is proof of anything. So I appreciate the OP's info, and it is totally fair to talk about it. It isn't just a posters wild speculation, it is the opinion of someone close to the team.

The value or belief that anyone puts into it is up to them, but there is no need to say 'stop talking about it'.

[JiriHrdina]

Not only is Derek Wills a homer but I find just in general he has a very odd take on things - I find him to be a very poor judge of most hockey related things.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Not only is Derek Wills a homer but I find just in general he has a very odd take on things - I find him to be a very poor judge of most hockey related things.

Yeah, whenever I happen to catch his segment on the morning show, I find myself wishing they talked about music or chicken wings instead - just a complete zero.

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Not only is Derek Wills a homer but I find just in general he has a very odd take on things - I find him to be a very poor judge of most hockey related things.

Exactly. I listen to the fan 960 every day and the amount of head shaking things he says is unbelievable. I'm not claiming to be an expert on hockey but he does have some very weird takes on hockey related things to the point where I doubt he was even a big hockey fan before getting his job. He seems very uninformed on the topics he talks about.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Not only is Derek Wills a homer but I find just in general he has a very odd take on things - I find him to be a very poor judge of most hockey related things.

I was of that opinion, and he's definitely not as tuned in as his predecessor. But he's gotten a lot better with his insights IMO. Frankly, that quote from GG above is probably the most accurate - I think he's a pretty straight shooter (look at his comments after the Montreal loss). Reading between the lines it seems like Wideman did have a couple bad practices. But then a few good ones.

[JerryUnderscore]

Originally Posted by Ryan Coke

Take what anyone says with the appropriate grain of salt. If it is 3rd hand impression of someone from the local media, or the coach. The media guy might be pushing an agenda, or have a more pessimistic view, or may be completely accurate. And the coach may be blasting the guy in his office, and complaining to the GM about him, and then telling the media that he is a great teammate and pro.

I think Gulutzan's take on this is probably pretty accurate. If he just wanted to blow smoke he could have said, "Yeah, Wides is a competitor and he's excited to get into the lineup."

He didn't need to offer anything in terms of saying that Wideman had a tough few days. That fact that he acknowledged that but then spoke highly of his work ethic both on and off the ice leads me to believe this is the most accurate viewpoint of Wideman's situation.

[CSharp]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

It was unnamed local reporter throwing shade. Not Burke.

Kind of interesting that it's always some unnamed person does the talking and it's like s**t hitting the fan and then it get splattered everywhere. Why not just bring everything out to the table and tell it as it is without hiding any names or facts. Kind of tired of the s**t coming from the guy with the smoking gun. It's a buffet where the idiots love to eat it all up. Putting a few grain of salt on it also makes it tastes better as well.

[heep223]

Wat