[News] Brian Burke stepping back from Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by RM14

I give Hufnagel 100% of credit for that. None to KK whatsoever.

Well of course. But King is the one that hired Hufnagel IIRC, and that is why the Stamps were brought up.

[RM14]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Well of course. But King is the one that hired Hufnagel IIRC, and that is why the Stamps were brought up.

Nah, King inherited Huff. I don't think Hufnagel would listen to King anyways.

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I've always like Burkie

during the hockey lockout, when he was on the panel with Strachan and called him a union stooge and threatened to punch his lights out.

After the Ducks eliminated the Flames he wrote a letter to the Calgary Sun praising the Flames fanbase.

His handling of his son's death and continuing his legacy.

The fact that the guy never tied his tie and looked like a mob enforcer half the time

Then snark man, the snark.

You forgot to add wanting to fight Kevin Lowe in a barn, including this beauty quote

"If I had run my team into the sewer like that (the Oilers), I wouldn’t have thrown a grenade at the other 29 teams — and my own indirectly.”

[Hangman]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Well of course. But King is the one that hired Hufnagel IIRC, and that is why the Stamps were brought up.

Hufnagel has been around a lot longer than CSEC has had any major interest in the Stampeders.

[FlamesFanTrev]

Francis on fan 960 stumbled and said that Burke was let go. Kerr asked him directly to clarify that. There was a lot of dead air afterwards while Francis tried to extract his foot from his mouth. Mildly interesting.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by RM14

Nah, King inherited Huff. I don't think Hufnagel would listen to King anyways.

Originally Posted by Hangman

Hufnagel has been around a lot longer than CSEC has had any major interest in the Stampeders.

Yeap, my mistake.

Minority stake in 2005
Controlling interest in 2012

Huff brought in in 2008

King has since promoted Hufnagel to President and obviously left him to his own devices as far as running the football team go.

That's a plus in my books.

[Corral]

Originally Posted by RM14

Nah, King inherited Huff. I don't think Hufnagel would listen to King anyways.

Hufnagel answers to none of the clowns at CSEC. That is for sure. When it comes to the Stampeders, he is in full control.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by FlamesFanTrev

Francis on fan 960 stumbled and said that Burke was let go. Kerr asked him directly to clarify that. There was a lot of dead air afterwards while Francis tried to extract his foot from his mouth. Mildly interesting.

He'd better have a good source, Burke has been known to take people to task for things like that.

[FlamesFanTrev]

Originally Posted by Locke

He'd better have a good source, Burke has been known to take people to task for things like that.

The whole interview was based on the premise that he talked to Burke today.He tried to recover by saying that KK asked him if it was time, and BB agreed. Francis said "your splitting hairs here, it was mutal"

[browna]

The Flames side of the organization is far better off thanks to Burke.

The complete ineptitude of the previous GM who hoodwinked the owners,themselves upset with the control Sutter had, set this organization back years and peeled off a lot of the goodwill the team had through the Sutter years as being honest, straight shooters when it came to players, agents and GMs.

King and Edwards soon realized what they actually had with said previous GM. He “valued input” from those guys (which those guys liked initially) not due to wanting to include them in the process, rather because he truly needed help. A whole lot of bluster and saying what people wanted to hear, not a lot of substance, and that luster was quickly gone.

To his credit, and because he heard pretty quick in the league circles he cared about, how the team’s reputation was sinking like a stone, Edwards reached out to Shanahan to come in above that GM. Shananhan declined for family reasons, so they went after Burke. Hard. He didn’t want to come here but they got him, while Burke dictated his terms of employment.

But, what Burke did, even just by presence as soon as simply getting hired, was bring back the stability and reputation behind the scenes amongst those in the league, (owners,GMs,agents, players) of the franchise. His main operational goal was to hire a proper GM and get the culture back within the on ice players and staff. He did that on both counts.

He was there also to fight for the Flames in league matters, which he also did. Having that strong personality and reputation further built up the reputation of the team. Sounds trivial and behind the scenes, but it’s important to have agents and fellow GMs on your side, and not approached like an encyclopedia salesman, as the previous regime did.

I’m somewhat surprised he lasted this long. He really had to be convinced to take the job, and his plan was always to be the guy to just grt things back on track in the area of the GM and the club reputation, and he did that.

Again, the Flames as an organization, thanks to Burke and now Treliving, are much better off then they were before Burke arrived, I don’t think people realize who clueless and lost the franchise was after letting the last GM drive it into the ground.

Best of luck to BB.

[Aarongavey]

Well Brian Burke, I will always remember the hiring of Treliving and the ensuing tire fire that has taken place. For that reason and the continued mediocrity of the Calgary Flames, I say #alwaysaflame.

Good luck in retirement or whatever your next endeavor may be.

[Enoch Root]

I think Burke brought stability and respect to the management group at a time when it was lacking. And IMO, it is beyond debate that the management team now is substantially better and stronger than it was before he came on board. Respect for that.

At the same time, after 5 years, I am totally fine with his tenure coming to an end, and I think it is probably a good thing for the Flames (as long as, like Bingo mentioned, it doesn't mean that King is regaining some say in hockey ops).

It's time for a bit of a change and a new person.

I doubt either side is interested, but I would love to see Conroy as POHO.

[FlamesFanTrev]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

.I doubt either side is interested, but I would love to see Conroy as POHO.

I don't know if you promote Treliving's assistant to be Treliving's boss. I could see in a couple years Treliving moving on up and Cony becomming GM. Assuming of course Treliving makes it that long.

In the interm, Maloney seems like the natural transitionary POHO.

[Locke]

We have become the Phoenix Coyotes.

This is bad.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by FlamesFanTrev

I don't know if you promote Treliving's assistant to be Treliving's boss. I could see in a couple years Treliving moving on up and Cony becomming GM. Assuming of course Treliving makes it that long.

In the interm, Maloney seems like the natural transitionary POHO.

I see the POHO as someone who manages the management team, works with the media, and is the face of the franchise for the community. All of this is more about sheltering the GM so they can do their job, than it is about being their boss.

[Aarongavey]

Originally Posted by Locke

We have become the Phoenix Coyotes.

This is bad.

That is not exactly fair, we have a bit of Carolina Hurricanes as well. We are a mix of Coyotes and Hurricanes. With the draft picks of a team that thought it was a legitimate Stanley Cup contender this year. The Flames have a bit of everything.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Originally Posted by Locke

We have become the Phoenix Coyotes.

This is bad.

The coyotes had good people hamstrung by situations beyond their control. Saying anything related to them Is by default bad is overly simplistic

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by Locke

We have become the Phoenix Coyotes.

This is bad.

Yes, but we're coming from being the Flames. So lateral move at worst?

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Locke

We have become the Phoenix Coyotes.

This is bad.

So, the team is broke and bleeding money, has no fans, and plays in a half-empty arena? Good to know. I had thought otherwise.

[monkeyman]

While there maybe things in the background that I don't see, from my perspective, Burke has done nothing to improve this team. We're older, slower, less exciting to watch, and have less cap room than before he started. I'm happy to see him go. I just hope this isn't a signal KK is going to be taking a more active role in hockey ops. That guy has 16 years of mediocrity under his belt, and saying the results have been mediocre is being kind.
This team really needs a management overhaul.