Brian Burke on fan 960 this morning..

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by united

That's scary talent evaluation...Backlund has been an excellent two-way centre since the moment he stepped into the Flames lineup full-time, before Burke even arrived. Thankfully Burke didn't jettison Backlund back then, or during the gross misuse of Backlund during Hartley's coaching tenure. It's no surprise Backlund has excelled under proper usage.

Was he?
Frankly he had some problems, probably the most notable being
- Injuries
- Lack of consistency
- Pretty underwhelming offensive stats

Given that I don't think you can say he was an excellent two way centre.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by united

That's scary talent evaluation...Backlund has been an excellent two-way centre since the moment he stepped into the Flames lineup full-time, before Burke even arrived. Thankfully Burke didn't jettison Backlund back then, or during the gross misuse of Backlund during Hartley's coaching tenure. It's no surprise Backlund has excelled under proper usage.

I think if that is your belief you aren't giving the player enough credit for turning his career around to be a mainstay of the organization.

Backlund being a 20 goal defensive stalwart is due to his own hardwork and will to succeed, not because he's being utilized any better or worse.

The guy is working his bag off out there.

[Travis Munroe]

Originally Posted by united

That's scary talent evaluation...Backlund has been an excellent two-way centre since the moment he stepped into the Flames lineup full-time, before Burke even arrived. Thankfully Burke didn't jettison Backlund back then, or during the gross misuse of Backlund during Hartley's coaching tenure. It's no surprise Backlund has excelled under proper usage.

Hindsight it always 20 20

I wonder how often we will read "should have traded backlund when he was hot" over the next couple of years if/when he cools off.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

For all the crap Burke takes from some, he's pretty straight forward, honest and not afraid to admit when he makes mistakes.

I think people worry about how brash he can be and if it rubs the players the wrong way, but my experience with people is that they very much appreciate candid honesty. I'm sure Backlund had heard that before, and really appreciates the truth, and hearing about how he's made his management team change their minds on him and his value to the organization.

This is it. Good for Burke to say it. Anyone who has ever criticized Backlund here in the past is now called "Backlund hater" as in triumphant "What do you say now Backlund haters?!". He did play below expectations for a long time. It's good to hear the same assessment from the top. Looks like it didn't stop Backlund from getting into the groove.

[Johnny Makarov]

Originally Posted by Roof-Daddy

Then went on to use Stralman as an example of a player he traded to soon and should have had more patience with.

Sutter traded him too soon also! Same with Lydman.

[MrMastodonFarm]

Originally Posted by CaptainYooh

This is it. Good for Burke to say it. Anyone who has ever criticized Backlund here in the past is now called "Backlund hater" as in triumphant "What do you say now Backlund haters?!". He did play below expectations for a long time. It's good to hear the same assessment from the top. Looks like it didn't stop Backlund from getting into the groove.

At best that's overly simplistic and at worse flat out not true.

[killer_carlson]

Originally Posted by united

That's scary talent evaluation...Backlund has been an excellent two-way centre since the moment he stepped into the Flames lineup full-time, before Burke even arrived. Thankfully Burke didn't jettison Backlund back then, or during the gross misuse of Backlund during Hartley's coaching tenure. It's no surprise Backlund has excelled under proper usage.

That is simply not true.

[TheScorpion]

Where ru Where ru Chris O'Sullivan?

[GreenLantern]

What a great interview, thanks for posting.

[DoubleF]

Didn't he also use some metaphor about falling into a man hole or something?

Something about getting out rung by rung.

[Ashasx]

Backlund was getting healthy scratched by Hartley early on during the 14/15 season despite having extremely strong underlying numbers even then.

[Benched]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Didn't he also use some metaphor about falling into a man hole or something?

Something about getting out rung by rung.

Something like that. I also remember:

It's hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, when the exits in Spain


(or something to that effect)

[Sylvanfan]

Wasn't there something out there recently which talked about how Backlund was pretty discouraged in his early days about the way things were going for him. He was pretty much ready to come home, but his Dad would settle him down and tell him to listen to his coaches, and stick with it? Eventually he did, and it started to work out.

Early on he did show flashes, but he seemed to have awful injury luck, and the consistency took awhile to develop. He is a guy who back in 2012, very much could have been a Curtis Lazar type had the Flames not been patient. It does seem like if he can stay healthy for most of the season that he can get on a roll and play really well.

Glad the Flames stuck with him and that there was no expansion draft in 2012.

[rohara66]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

on the suggestion Treliving might make short term moves without a contract: You don't know Brad Treliving if you think he would ever think like that. He bleeds Calgary Flames and will do what is best for the team. With the managment structure in place, someone couldn't do a short term move anyway, there is a process to approve transactions that make it impossible
Treliving is a professional, we have disccused it, it isn't a big deal to him
It isn't a pressing issue around here

Thought this comment about the 'structure' was a little bit odd. Burke almost stopped himself as he was saying it. Implies that Burke (or others) have trade veto power potentially? Maybe not a bad thing.

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by united

That's scary talent evaluation...Backlund has been an excellent two-way centre since the moment he stepped into the Flames lineup full-time, before Burke even arrived. Thankfully Burke didn't jettison Backlund back then, or during the gross misuse of Backlund during Hartley's coaching tenure. It's no surprise Backlund has excelled under proper usage.

Incorrect, he was decent and developing at best before Burke arrived (that is not to suggest Burke had anything to do with him developing into more).

[Cleveland Steam Whistle]

Originally Posted by rohara66

Thought this comment about the 'structure' was a little bit odd. Burke almost stopped himself as he was saying it. Implies that Burke (or others) have trade veto power potentially? Maybe not a bad thing.

Of course they do? Honestly, he's Treliving's boss, how many peoples bosses have the ability to veto something their employees might do? Doesn't mean Tree has to run everything by him, or that Tree even chooses to tell him everything, but I doubt something as big as even a minor trade doesn't get pushed up to Burke as an FYI before the trigger gets pulled. Expecting otherwise would be crazy.

Good example of that was the Stone commentary. Clearly that wasn't a Burke deal or player, but Burke didn't veto Tree making a move for a player he wasn't sold on because Tree was. Doesn't mean he might not veto something else though.

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Wasn't there something out there recently which talked about how Backlund was pretty discouraged in his early days about the way things were going for him. He was pretty much ready to come home, but his Dad would settle him down and tell him to listen to his coaches, and stick with it? Eventually he did, and it started to work out.

Backlund's Journey

The usually affable Jim Playfair in full vent mode is a man to be afforded a wide berth (for verification, see YouTube video of his double-stick-break, gasket-blowing tirade of March 27, 2010).

"He was this close to my face,'' Mikael Backlund is recalling, holding the palm of one hand up to touch the tip of his nose. "And he was yelling at me. I mean, yelling at me.

"I don't know how long it lasted. Felt like 10 or 15 minutes.

"'Spoiled! Never make it to the NHL!' All that. He really ripped into me.

...

Acclimatization to the demands of the pro game often take time. Which brings us full circle to the infamous weigh-in/call-in/dressing-down of memory.

"I do remember it,'' says Playfair, now associate coach of the Arizona Coyotes. "I remember how much it bothered me because I liked Backs so much.

"He'd put so much dedication into the summer time. He wouldn't drink. He came over here to Canada to train. He was dedicated, did everything he could to be an NHL player.

"Then when he reaches the American League, you've got to play him, and it almost seemed like: 'I've come this far. It's probably good enough.'

"Well … no.

"Probably is never good enough.

"He wanted to play in the NHL as much as anyone I've ever coached in the American Hockey League. But I was seeing that his winter dedication wasn't equivalent to his summer dedication.

"I felt I had to shake him up.

"My message, what I wanted to make him aware of, was: those summers don't matter if this is how you're going to ruin your winters."

"When I got back to the hotel, I just wanted to cry,'' admits Backlund. "But I had roommates, so it was tough. You never cry in front of roommates, right? Unwritten rule.

"At that moment, I felt like: 'I'm outta here.' That was as close as I came to leaving.

"But my family, the people I always turn to when I need help or encouragement, just told me: You're not coming home.

"I just had to get better."

Jan Backlund, Mikael's dad, remembers that fish-or-cut-bait moment well.

"I told him,'' says Jan, "to stay, practice harder and show them how good you are."

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by rohara66

Thought this comment about the 'structure' was a little bit odd. Burke almost stopped himself as he was saying it. Implies that Burke (or others) have trade veto power potentially? Maybe not a bad thing.

He may have veto power (why wouldn't he?), but they also have multiple people in the management team. Conroy, Gelinas and Maloney would all be part of that - maybe others.

The days of a lone GM sitting in his office, doing deals by himself are long gone.

[Johnny Rotten]

When I hear or read people saying they want to get rid of Bennett, Backlund immediately comes to my mind. Patience.

[CliffFletcher]

For the record, Burke said when he arrived he thought Backlund was "expandable." And it was Backlund's newfound consistency that changed his mind.