God damnit. I was really hoping ownership was finally stepping off and let someone else handle hockey ops. If Shanahan turn this down, it means they're not ready to do that. That's frustrating.
Does anyone really think that King et all will give up their power by hiring Burke?
I would love Burke to be our guy. He's smart and has put together a great team in Toronto after building a great one in Vancouver. But he wants final say on things, something that wont happen here.
If he gets hired I will literally take a dump on my car.
Most of CP has already dumped on your purple mustang.
__________________
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
Shanny is a American citizen now, lives in NY with his 3 children and wife and he is able to do his current NHL gig from NY.
I would imagine he would be looking for something closer to home or maybe has decided the NHL route will lead to bigger things there.
It's possible but if you don't want to move why even take it as far as coming to Calgary to see the operations and talk with officials if you feel it's best for your family to stay? Usually a person has got past the family hurdle when you start seriously considering the job and visiting facilities. I'm not discounting that maybe family played a part but it's likely the fact that he deemed it wasn't the right choice for his first job involved NHL team management. If he really, really wanted the job he would have accepted it. He didn't and we have to accept that and move on.
The Following User Says Thank You to Erick Estrada For This Useful Post:
They are most definitely not a great team yet, and possibly even over-achieved this year. But at least we can tell they are finally improving with a team Burke built. He made a few mistakes getting there, but at least the Leafs finally started to make positive changes with Burke at the helm, something that just only started to happen in Calgary when Iginla was dealt (too late in the game might I add).
However, just look at how Ferguson Jr. left the team for him, and where they are today, and you'll see how much of a difference Burke made. They were in complete turmoil when Burke took over, just like we are today. The only "bad" move Burke made was trading for Kessel, which even then isn't as bad of a move as everyone says.
Even with that considered no one can overlook all the great moves Burke made while in Toronto. He also made a bunch of great moves throughout his career while in Hartford, Vancouver, and Anaheim. All that's missing from his track record is winning a cup with a team he's built on his own.
I know some people don't take to his bombastic nature, but I'll take that over Feaster's strange approach. He would be a drastic improvement over Feaster.
I don't mean to sound like a complete and total ass, but can any one name one significant A+ move Feaster has made during his time in either Calgary or Tampa Bay? I can't think of one, and could probably name ten for Burke over the years.
Oh, don't get me wrong. I don't think too much of Feaster. The only 'plus' in my mind at the moment about Feaster is that he defers to his 'Hockey-Minded Advisors'. Burke would be a definite upgrade over Feaster for sure.
I also fully understand the condition of the Leafs when he took over. They were definitely the laughs in every sense of the word - their NHL team and their prospect base. Burke did start from scratch.
My point is not that Burke was unable to turn that franchise around - he did. Just that they have rebuilt their team, and it looks like a team that is good, but nowhere close to being a contender (or even a future contender) with the pieces they have in place. They didn't draft elite-level talent during the rebuild (other than possibly Kadri, who finally is starting to look like he could be elite-level).
Their prospect base is not looking great. Their young talent on the team is minimal. Kessel will be a UFA after this season (I think). They have only drafted one elite-level talent in Kadri, possibly Rielly (who I think is over-hyped, but I do think he will be good) and not much else. Burke is FANTASTIC at trades, however (aside from the Kessel trade initially - but the others seem golden).
Maybe I am missing something. Aside from him being a huge blowhard in the media, I just don't think he is a guy that you want to bring in at this stage. His Stanley cup he won was because he was a 'finisher', not a builder.
It is funny that I don't like Burke as a GM and/or President. I actually like the model he has - big, tough and aggressive team. I just don't like how aggressive he tries to be in rebuilding, and I think it sets the franchise back somewhat in some ways by not drafting nearly enough talent to set them up for being a contender. I think he did better work in Van to be honest, though he wasn't able to 'finish' that team.
The thing Flames fans have to take away from Shanahan's decision to opt out is what it says about the current structure of the team's management.
I'm a big fan of King as a person. He's a great face for the Flames and he is great at PR. However, the Flames lack a sharp hockey-minded brain in their management. Even when the Flames had Darryl Sutter, the definition of a hockey-minded brain, he had no one to keep him in check. The Flames owners have proven that they are terrible at making decisions. They're great at making high-level business decisions in their respective industries, but they cannot bring the same mindset to this business. They need a Brian Burke "hockey-minded" individual to come in and have a sense of freedom.
People are talking like it was Shanahan or nobody. There were other options, why don't we wait and see what happens before we get all up in arms.
We don't even know the true reason why Shanahan didn't take the job. People are making mountains out of a molehill here. Maybe he was interested in the position and met with King to learn more about it but in the end he couldn't convince his wife and kids that moving west was a good idea. Maybe the floods scared him off. Maybe the Flames weren't giving him enough money. Maybe the NHL didn't want to replace him yet and offered him more money and other incentives to stay in his current capacity. Maybe it doesn't always have to be about ownership and/or King meddling.
What it does mean is that this opportunity was not for Brendan Shanahan.
