Season Kick-off pressers Sept 30. Burke @ 11:45 AM. Feaster @ 1 PM

[stemit14]

Burke said on day 1 after he was hired that he wasn't going to be in the spotlight... That he was going to be behind the scenes and not doing press conferences like this one. Didn't see any other presidents of other teams doing press conferences. He should just say "I'm not going to comment on any of our players assessment right now... I'll leave that to the General Manager."

I think Burke has a great hockey mind but I hate the way he hurts his teams when he gets in front of a camera. The stuff he said about baertschi only puts more pressure on a kid who is already feeling too much pressure as is. Plus, if I was Johnny gaudreau and I watched that comment about university hockey... I might think free agency sounds pretty good.

Before you say that I'm being too soft on the rookies... Let me be clear: I'm fine with the organization telling baertschi or any other player that he had a mediocre training camp and they want him to work on his game in all 3 zones... That's fine. I just don't like Burke using the media to put pressure on him. It only hurts the players relationship with the management and the fans.

[BigFlameDog]

Originally Posted by SHOGUN

Calling out players to the public is so unprofessional. If you want to honest to a player, tell them behind closed doors or set up a meeting to talk about certain player issues.

Usually the public dressing down comes after all the behind closed doors stuff has been tried....course these are rookie hockey people so they probabaly just blindsided him.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by BigFlameDog

Usually the public dressing down comes after all the behind closed doors stuff has been tried....course these are rookie hockey people so they probabaly just blindsided him.

Are you suggesting they had the talk and Baertschi didn't listen? There are other possibilities...

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

It was once again a quote that got a lot of play in the papers and TV. He's the biggest prospect and he knew it would cause a stir. There's far, far more history of Burke doing that than there is of Baertschi not listening (this would be the first time). He does have a long history of such quotes. They're unnecessary, self serving, unprofessional, but worse, potentially damaging to our best prospect.

Is this not just a function of who Burke is and how the media perceive/portray him? If Feaster had said exactly the same thing would we be seeing the same type of coverage? I don't think so.

Burke's got a gruff demeanor and a straight forward speaking style. Pretty much everything he says sounds harsh. So say this is self-serving to me is way off-base. I just don't see how saying these things can benefit Burke personally at all, other than to have his best prospect potentially get the message. Everything else is just media overblowing what Burke does once again.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Are you suggesting they had the talk and Baertschi didn't listen? There are other possibilities...

You just argued with me that there weren't people suggesting they didn't talk with Sven beforehand and now you are doing just that yourself.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by MattyC

Is this not just a function of who Burke is and how the media perceive/portray him? If Feaster had said exactly the same thing would we be seeing the same type of coverage? I don't think so.

Burke's got a gruff demeanor and a straight forward speaking style. Pretty much everything he says sounds harsh. So say this is self-serving to me is way off-base. I just don't see how saying these things can benefit Burke personally at all, other than to have his best prospect potentially get the message. Everything else is just media overblowing what Burke does once again.

I guess the difference is you feel Burke has gotten an unfair reputation from the media and I strongly disagree. His actions suggest there's a fair bit of truth to me

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

Hockey fans are too often guilty for being nostalgic. The game is faster; the players are bigger, stronger, and universally better conditioned; the goalies are better in every aspect; and the coaches are collectively far more creative and adaptable than at any other time in NHL history. This pining for the "high-flying eighties" is nonsense.

Problem is, as the players got bigger and faster, the rinks stayed the same size. So there's no time on the ice for plays to develop. And yes, I do miss end-to-end action with frequent two-one-ones and three-on-twos. They were entertaining to watch. And yes, I do miss when goalies relied on agility and a quick glove hand, rather than filling the net.

Nobody doubts the players today are better. The question is whether bigger, faster, better-coached players make for more entertaining hockey. Nobody doubts the top-ranked men's tennis players are better than the top-ranked women's players. But a lot of people find women's tennis more entertaining (and not just because of the skirts). Less power can mean more opportunity for rallies to develop, rather than degenerating to a game about returning serves.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

I guess the difference is you feel Burke has gotten an unfair reputation from the media and I strongly disagree. His actions suggest there's a fair bit of truth to me

Whether its fair or not I can't really say. I don't know Brian personally (although I am very close to someone who does and they have great things to say about him), but I can say the only reputation I care about is his reputation for building hockey teams, which looks pretty good so far.

[Stay Golden]

At least Burke didn't give the sugar coated lip service that KKing would have delivered. I respected his honesty about players and the rebuild.
KKing's act had become nauseating JMO.

[Johnny Rotten]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

I guess the difference is you feel Burke has gotten an unfair reputation from the media and I strongly disagree. His actions suggest there's a fair bit of truth to me

Not disagreeing, but Burke was asked a question, and he answered it... strongly I agree. But, he didn't offer up an opinion of Sven of his own volition. I've heard far worse criticism of players before.

[Street Pharmacist]

Tact may be less entertaining, but is far more professional, no?

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Tact may be less entertaining, but is far more professional, no?

You can bet your bottom dollar the Flames management have attempted the tactful route with young Mr. Baertschi. I have a very good feeling they review performance with each player after their camps and the players know what the expectations of the team are. Baertschi has probably been through at least three of these this year and any comments made in the media were nothing he has not heard in private discussions with coaches and management.

[Henry Fool]

Everyone should watch Burke's conference. He's very direct and it's not all negative either. In fact I can't recall a member of Flames management giving a better one in recent years.

At the same time, we can't deny that he's unusually negative on Bärtschi. "Big holes and a lack of commitment" are very strong words. Unusually strong.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by New Era

You can bet your bottom dollar the Flames management have attempted the tactful route with young Mr. Baertschi. I have a very good feeling they review performance with each player after their camps and the players know what the expectations of the team are. Baertschi has probably been through at least three of these this year and any comments made in the media were nothing he has not heard in private discussions with coaches and management.

Just because they said it in private means that it should be aired publicly?

[Lanny_McDonald]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Just because they said it in private means that it should be aired publicly?

Yes, it should. If the Flames brass feel they may need to send Mr. Baertschi to the minors it is best to set the stage for the demotion so the fans don't go all apoplectic when the news hits the wire. This communication is not really for the player but for the fans of the team, letting them know that a certain player is on notice and remediation steps are likely. The Flames saying this publicly basically says Baertschi is on his way to Abbottsford and giving an obvious reason. When Baertschi comes out and floats in the defensive and neutral zones in the first two games, he'll be sent packing and the fans will get it. They have set an expectation and a specific that fans can observe, so there should not be a knee jerk reaction when the demotion happens.

[Husky]

I think is bush league that Burke can comment on a prospect when Burke has been with the Flames how long and basically seen Baerschi how long?

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Husky

I think is bush league that Burke can comment on a prospect when Burke has been with the Flames how long and basically seen Baerschi how long?

It's because he hasn't been around that long that he is better suited to comment. We all love Sven. The organization loves Sven. It takes an outside perspective sometimes to just say it like it is. There's 25 games worth of NHL tape to view on Sven. You don't need to live in the organization to form an evaluation.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Husky

I think is bush league that Burke can comment on a prospect when Burke has been with the Flames how long and basically seen Baerschi how long?

it's not like he called a press conference to slam Sven Baertschi. He was called to do a press conference and someone asked him a question which he answered honestly. If people don't think his opinion matters due to his limited time then don't ask.

[Vinny01]

Originally Posted by Henry Fool

Everyone should watch Burke's conference. He's very direct and it's not all negative either. In fact I can't recall a member of Flames management giving a better one in recent years.

At the same time, we can't deny that he's unusually negative on Bärtschi. "Big holes and a lack of commitment" are very strong words. Unusually strong.

Hearing the comments from Sven hinting he didn't think he belonged at the prospect camp (even commenting on the hockey almost being below his ability as to why he kind of struggled) I think Sven needs to regroup a little bit. He has put huge pressure on himself and stated last year his goal is to be the face of the franchise. He is focusing far too much on trying to score and when it does not go in his frustration shows with his lack of effort defensively. This is a kid who has put far too much pressure on himself after he, the management, and the fans have blown their expectations out of wack. Burke gave Sven the tough love speech and Hartley will have to give him the nurturing speech but with the same message

[Lanny_McDonald]

There's just under 324 minutes worth of NHL tape to view on Sven. That's not even 6 episodes of Breaking Bad!