Burke interviewed in Toronto Star

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by nik-

Shots Fired!

Not Burke's intended message, but definitely an ironic coincidence that Hartley and Gio have been much better than Carlyle and Phaneuf. Lot of leadership in the Flames locker room.

[FlamesAddiction]

This was linked in the original Star article:

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey...n_twitter.html

Wow, that is disgusting. Sorry if there was already a separate discussion, but that is brutal.

I hope we never see that happen to a Flames player.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Iginla was not the hardest working player on the team, both sides of the puck. Not by a long shot.

Giordano is.

That makes all the difference in the world to a team's culture.

First off I don't think Burke meant anything.

However, we were talking about Iggy at the game on Friday. How much watching the team this year is so different than years past, and why Iggy gone is probably a big part.

I won't slight Iggy for being a bad captain, it is just not in his DNA. The guy can lead in so many other areas, but in the area of personnel it is just not there. I think he is just too much of a "I will take care of mine, you take care of yours" type guy. A guy who had a hard time standing up and saying no. I can respect that, it is what it is.

I won't speculate on what played out here in the final years, but with Iggy gone (and looking great in Boston), I think it worked out best all round. He doesn't have to lead, just show up and take care of himself and lead that way. He can leave the HR stuff to guys that may score less, but can do that better.

Win Win for everyone. I do miss Iggy the player, but it just was better for everyone that Gio took over and Iggy gets a legit shot at winning.

[Jacks]

Burke is bullish on the future in Calgary, and heaps praise on former Calgary GM Jay Feaster for moving some of the ugly contracts and giving the club new flexibility moving forward, particularly on the salary cap front.

Not to mention that he drafted or acquired a bunch of the young players who are coming up now. Good to see Feaster get a little credit for the good things he did.

Edit: After reading some of the vicious comments in that article I deleted the part about him needing a haircut, gonna change my avatar too.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Am I the only one who took it as a compliment towards Giordano?

You guys with your agendas in every thread are ####ing weird.

[ramizle]

I think that was a shot against Alberta's ex-premier Redford

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Am I the only one who took it as a compliment towards Giordano?

You guys with your agendas in every thread are ####ing weird.

No doubt. I read this last night and only saw this thread now. Never even thought of it that way. Why would Burke mean to compare this to Iginla, when he wasn't with the team when Iginla was? He would have no idea what Iggy was like as a captain...

[btimbit]

Sure hope we beat the Leaves tomorrow. That'd be fantastic, especially after reading the comments in that article about how Burke ruined the Leafs and is now doing it to the Flames too.

[Erick Estrada]

Life as Flames President and acting GM is probably as good as can bee considering where the team is in the standings. You have a fan base that has accepted a rebuild, good fan turnout, solid hard working team that has overachieved. There really aren't a lot of negatives right now. Things change year to year but as long as the team continues to be competitive and fans feel the drafting and player development is offering long term promise Calgary will be a great place for a GM to come and work.

[Poe969]

To add to that, the Flames are always compared to the oilers and that just makes them look even better!

[Buff]

Originally Posted by strombad

Crazy thought: What if Burke just meant what he said, and there were no hidden meanings or ulterior motives?

Originally Posted by MrMastodonFarm

Am I the only one who took it as a compliment towards Giordano?

You guys with your agendas in every thread are ####ing weird.

Clearly Burke is taking a shot at Phil Russel.

[handgroen]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

This was linked in the original Star article:

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey...n_twitter.html

Wow, that is disgusting. Sorry if there was already a separate discussion, but that is brutal.

I hope we never see that happen to a Flames player.

yeah but #goaliewifeproblems is a bit of a joke from her in response.

I guess i just see it as going both ways, the game does not involve #goaliewifeproblems and so she should not be contacted regarding the leafs play, and should also not comment on the leafs play.

[Vinny01]

I am surprised none if the Burke haters have jumped on him for saying the good play is not a blip and tried to correlate that into him rushing the rebuild

[TSXCman]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

was this a thinly veiled dig at Phaneuf? I'd like to think it was

I don't think he could really make a dig at Phaneuf's leadership, it was his decision (Burke).

Making Dion the captain seemed like a way to justify bringing in a huge contract and spotlight. Not lettered because of leadership ability.

Sort of like Luongo being a captain, was just done to kiss a## so he didn't jump ship on the end of that contract. Not really for leadership.

My opinion of course.

[IamNotKenKing]

Originally Posted by strombad

Crazy thought: What if Burke just meant what he said, and there were no hidden meanings or ulterior motives?

That's unpossible!

[Coach]

Originally Posted by TSXCman

I don't think he could really make a dig at Phaneuf's leadership, it was his decision (Burke).

Making Dion the captain seemed like a way to justify bringing in a huge contract and spotlight. Not lettered because of leadership ability.

Sort of like Luongo being a captain, was just done to kiss a## so he didn't jump ship on the end of that contract. Not really for leadership.

My opinion of course.

I thought about that the other night too, but then thinking about the Toronto roster, who would be better? Lupul? Van Reimsdyk? Kessel (larf)?

Not a lot of known leadership on that squad.

[Calgary4LIfe]

One thing that sort of fits the motif of this thread with regards to culture and leadership, is a couple of things that I quite enjoyed hearing from Feaster.

Everyone is very familiar with Feaster's post-deadline presser saying that the marching orders from above was 'to make the playoffs' - which most understood within the context of the interview to be 'no excuses as to why this team shouldn't play hard each and every game'. He then had to go on TV and clarify those comments. It was a shot at changing the culture.

Another thing that I think many missed as it is never brought up much, is the whole 'face of the franchise' thing. Baertschi came out and stated that he wants to be the next face of the franchise. Good on the kid for having the moxie to say that. However, I like what Feaster stated (and paraphrasing): "We don't want a face of the franchise in Calgary. We need the 23 roster players to work hard and be successful as a group."

I have never been 'pro-Feaster', and I think he has made many mistakes and has many warts. I also question if he will ever find employment again as an NHL GM. However, some of his opinions and thoughts (like those two I just mentioned) were (imo) bang-on! He either saw for himself what the 'disease' was, or talked to enough people who pointed it out for him - but he was incredibly insightful on those remarks.

I also don't think that Iginla deserves to be smeared as being the 'poison' this team was on. I think he was one of the NHL's best leaders for a very long period of time. This team was improperly coached over the years, and had too much turnover. At some point, they lost their identity. The team became apathetic and looked too often towards its' leader, and I think it was unfair to heap the blame towards Iginla in any way. It was a situation that was spiraling downwards from many different factors, and I question if there was any single leader in all of hockey that you could replace Iginla with and have a different outcome. Sure, a Crosby in his prime might have pushed a bit more success in Calgary, but little else would have changed I would think.

[VladtheImpaler]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Life as Flames President and acting GM is probably as good as can bee considering where the team is in the standings. You have a fan base that has accepted a rebuild, good fan turnout, solid hard working team that has overachieved. There really aren't a lot of negatives right now. Things change year to year but as long as the team continues to be competitive and fans feel the drafting and player development is offering long term promise Calgary will be a great place for a GM to come and work.

Burke has praised Hartley, but I am curious what happens when/if Bylsma and/or Trotz are canned this off-season...

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by VladtheImpaler

Burke has praised Hartley, but I am curious what happens when/if Bylsma and/or Trotz are canned this off-season...

I don't think Bylsma gets canned.

If there's anything to the theory that Bylsma might be part of the recruiting process for Kesler, they're probably not likely to can him.

Ultimately I think Crosby has the major hand in who the coach is anyway. If he likes Bylsma, he'll stay.

[PIMking]

I like Brian Burke