[News] Brian Burke joining Calgary Flames as President of Hockey Operations

[VladtheImpaler]

Late to this party - had forgotten the Flames still operate. Never been a fan of Burke, BUT... I think he brings a lot of what this organization needs. Since Darryl's departure (regardless of what one thought of his GM'ing), the Flames have been prison wives both on and off the ice, and have emerged as a front-runner for the worst franchise in the NHL. Burke's abrasiveness, self-promotion and, yes, competence, will certainly improve our image, and his well-known penchant for "truculent" hockey will certainly be reflected on the ice. I welcome the idea that Calgary might once again become a tough place to play. Plus, love him or hate him, Burke is entertaining and will be a welcome distraction once we are eliminated from playoff contention by early December.
As for Feaster, I am sure he will do whatever it takes to hold on to his last job, but I feel no sympathy for him. He slipped the knife into Dudley in TB and Darryl here, so I shall not shed a tear if/when he departs.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by Parallex

If you minded that Ken King meddled (if he did) then you should mind that Brian Burke meddles (if he in fact does so). TBQH I have no issue with the President having the ear of the GM... but I think only so long as it doesn't involve hibitual overruling.

Frankly I think it's silly to want a "hockey guy" (whatever the hell that means) in the first place. If the job is managing what you should want is a "Management Guy". Really being a GM is essentually just managing an asset portfolio so anyone with any aptitude as an investment manager could do the job so long as they had proper evaluation skills.

and what would those proper eval skills be/

[East Coast Flame]

Originally Posted by Clever_Iggy

Any idea who the other NHL team is that operates like this? The Oilers?

The Av's with Sackic and Roy, I believe

[Walter Reed]

Signing another knowledgeable hockey person to the organization, another tool in the toolbox, is a positive for the Flames IMO. Whether Burke can function in this role without being a distraction, time will tell.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

I love the connections that Burke brings to the organization. The guy's been around the block and is going to be an excellent person for the rebuild. I really like this addition.

[flylock shox]

Pretty cerebral team they're assembling with a couple of lawyers, Weisbrod, and a focus on college players and others with high hockey IQ.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by East Coast Flame

The Av's with Sackic and Roy, I believe

Columbus is the other team with John Davidson.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Surprised to see you don't like this move.

Personally, I think Burke uses LOUD NOISES to distract from the general mediocrity of his teams. He's arrogant, self-centred and is really a distraction more than anything else. But hey, if your goal is to keep the focus off the on-ice product, then mission accomplished. It's going to be all about Burke.

His draft history is primarily a case of "it's easy to draft top five", though he had a notable success with Kesler as later first round pick. He can help that, I think, by leaving Weisbrod alone and listening to him.

Originally Posted by Clever_Iggy

I suppose then that any credit given to the success achieved by Nonis (Vancouver) and Nonis (Toronto) is largely on the back of the previous GM's work.

When looking at how often teams Burke was GM of made the playoffs, I included last year's Leafs to his credit. Nonis was virtually irrelevant.

8 playoff appearances in 15 years, fwiw. Past the first round only three times, and two of those were the aforementioned Ducks teams.

[Yeah_Baby]

Originally Posted by flylock shox

Pretty cerebral team they're assembling with a couple of lawyers, Weisbrod, and a focus on college players and others with high hockey IQ.

I can't wait to discuss the existential message of Cloud Atlas with them.

[Hells Bells]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

When looking at how often teams Burke was GM of made the playoffs, I included last year's Leafs to his credit. Nonis was virtually irrelevant.

8 playoff appearances in 15 years, fwiw. Past the first round only three times, and two of those were the aforementioned Ducks teams.

Look at the situations he went into each time.

The best GM's of all time wouldn't do much better than 8/15 with those teams.

It'll likely be 8/18 or 19 before he gets into the playoffs again. It doesn't mean he isn't a great hockey person.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Personally, I think Burke uses LOUD NOISES to distract from the general mediocrity of his teams. He's arrogant, self-centred and is really a distraction more than anything else. But hey, if your goal is to keep the focus off the on-ice product, then mission accomplished. It's going to be all about Burke.

His draft history is primarily a case of "it's easy to draft top five", though he had a notable success with Kesler as later first round pick. He can help that, I think, by leaving Weisbrod alone and listening to him.

To be fair, his work to get the picks to draft the Sisters was pretty impressive. The rest of his drafting (outside of Kesler (1st) and Bieksa (4th)) is pretty unimpressive. Hopefully he can leave the drafting to Weisbrod, et al as they have turned out a few nice drafts in a row.

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

When looking at how often teams Burke was GM of made the playoffs, I included last year's Leafs to his credit. Nonis was virtually irrelevant.

8 playoff appearances in 15 years, fwiw. Past the first round only three times, and two of those were the aforementioned Ducks teams.

Fair enough, but he did lay the ground work for the Canucks to be successful for years and the Leafs were significantly better this year than before he got there. So if it isn't his team that eventually wins (although it was with Anaheim) he does leave them on the right path... he just doesn't have a long shelf life.

I just don't think it's fair to discount the moves he made in Anaheim that got them over the hump by giving credit to his predecessor but not look at his successors' success in Vancouver and Toronto.

[swo2k1]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

8 playoff appearances in 15 years, fwiw. Past the first round only three times, and two of those were the aforementioned Ducks teams.

Burke should get more credit for his work in Anaheim. Sure there was some nice pieces there when he took over but Burke is the guy who brought in Chris Pronger. He also signed Scott Niedermayer and Teemu Selanne.

It's not like he just slid in to the GM role and let it all happen.

[darklord700]

What does a President of Hocky Operation do anyway? Isn't Feaster supposed to perform most of same functions?

[trackercowe]

Originally Posted by Clever_Iggy

To be fair, his work to get the picks to draft the Sisters was pretty impressive. The rest of his drafting (outside of Kesler (1st) and Bieksa (4th)) is pretty unimpressive. Hopefully he can leave the drafting to Weisbrod, et al as they have turned out a few nice drafts in a row.

He also drafted Bobby Ryan, Gardiner, Kadri, Umberger, and a bunch of other solid NHLers. He has a far better drafting record than the Flames since he became a GM in Hartford.

[PIMking]

I'm giddy like a school girl

[Freeway]

Cautiously optimistic.

[Igottago]

My favourite part of what Burke said is having a blueprint, because I don't feel I've ever understood what Feaster's blueprint is. If Burke can define what type of team they are striving to become, and Jay can negotiate some good deals and contracts, it could be a great partnership.

[Clever_Iggy]

Originally Posted by trackercowe

I know. It was more of a rebuttal to his comment that it's easy to draft in the top 5. Getting the picks in the top 5 to get the Sisters was impressive and Kelser/Bieksa were the only notables outside of the 1st round that gets anyone excited.

[bucksmasher]

Originally Posted by Freeway

Cautiously optimistic.

Caustically optimistic

[trackercowe]

^ But he traded up to get Pronger mind you, so in that instance he does deserve credit for making the deal to nab Pronger like he had wanted (same with the Sedin's).

1993-Jun-26 Draft pick rights traded from San Jose Sharks to Hartford Whalers for future considerations, round 1 pick in the 1993 draft (Viktor Kozlov), round 2 pick in the 1993 draft (Vlastimil Kroupa) and round 3 pick in the 1993 draft (Ville Peltonen)