Burke Not Thrilled with Baertschi

[CaptainYooh]

I don't think we'd hear these things if Sven was great only in the offensive zone. The message was that he shows up sporadically and that is not acceptable.

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by $ven27

I understand that thanks, I fail to see where the inclusion of the Kessel trade is relevant to anything, leave the petty comments for HF.

Burke obviously valued Kessel very highly, considering what he traded for him.

I'm done. Sorry if you can't understand that.

[BurningSteel]

I wish this story would just go away. Feels like forshadowing for something dark, maybe were trading Sven to TO for their water boy and net string?

[DazzlinDino]

Originally Posted by strombad

I've made it pretty clear that I think a lot of what hinders Baertschi is his confidence, but I also have no problem with tough love. What drives me crazy is what Feaster was doing, singing high praises like he's the next saviour and then demoting him and saying "oh well it's just not quite there".

Burke is good for tough love, and these comments were not only good for Baertschi, but good for the fans. It gives everyone a very clear picture as to what Baertschi needs to do to put it all together, and it lets the fans know that if he's sent down, THIS is why.
Overall, really like the comments. Honest and potent, which is something this whole franchise misses more than often.

While I totally agree with your take on Burke's position on Sven I do like that Feaster plays buffer so that Sven doesn't become completely discouraged. Really like how the organization is working towards "honest" accountability. How many times in the past did we have vets and middling s taking nights/weeks off.

[flamesfever]

I think is sends a message, not only to Sven, but to the whole team. I think it's a matter of getting used to Burke's style with the press. Frankly, I don't have any problem with it.

[Pontine]

I don't see a problem with it. If this doesn't motivate Sven to improve his game, then maybe we have bigger issues.

[Flash Walken]

The most successful players are those with the humility and insight to understand that there are minds superior to theirs, and that to pursue success in a team environment requires full participation and exertion with little input in direction.

It is difficult to give yourself fully to a cause you may not understand or agree with,but there is tremendous power in being resolute in your sacrifice for the team goal.

It's a quality usually associated with veterans and with good reason, they have come to learn the effectiveness of a 'head down' work ethic, either through the repeated folly of not engaging fully, or--most prevalent among the upper echelon athletes across sport--have learned or adopted that mindset through competitive drive. An extreme need to be the 'best' is the desired mindset for a coach to harness the potential of a player or student. For some egos, you can manipulate that by criticizing aspects of their skillset, Phil Jackson with Michael Jordan and his defense, al arbour with potvin, Darryl sutter with iginla.

Gotta echo the sentiments of clifffletcher, Burke didn't accidentally say these things.

They are challenging baertschi to be better. Whether he rises to the challenge will determine whether he's an nhl'er or not.

Nothing like having a top prospect centre in the organization to either develop alongside, or be pushed aside by.

[edslunch]

I'm very curious to see where he starts the next game. 4th line or pressbox would be piling on. Message has been sent, now give him a decent chance to respond.

[Goodlad]

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

The most successful players are those with the humility and insight to understand that there are minds superior to theirs, and that to pursue success in a team environment requires full participation and exertion with little input in direction.

It is difficult to give yourself fully to a cause you may not understand or agree with,but there is tremendous power in being resolute in your sacrifice for the team goal.

It's a quality usually associated with veterans and with good reason, they have come to learn the effectiveness of a 'head down' work ethic, either through the repeated folly of not engaging fully, or--most prevalent among the upper echelon athletes across sport--have learned or adopted that mindset through competitive drive. An extreme need to be the 'best' is the desired mindset for a coach to harness the potential of a player or student. For some egos, you can manipulate that by criticizing aspects of their skillset, Phil Jackson with Michael Jordan and his defense, al arbour with potvin, Darryl sutter with iginla.

Gotta echo the sentiments of clifffletcher, Burke didn't accidentally say these things.

They are challenging baertschi to be better. Whether he rises to the challenge will determine whether he's an nhl'er or not.

Nothing like having a top prospect centre in the organization to either develop alongside, or be pushed aside by.

The bolded is an interesting point in itself. Baertschi's fitness results obviously show that he took his off-season training seriously, but perhaps not to the degree that Monahan has. For a player who really only had a marginal chance of making the team to spend time during the summer studying NHL'ers face-off preferences shows a different level of commitment. Monahan also seems to be infinitely coachable judging by the comments from mgmt/Hartley.

In the end it's up to Baertschi to respond to these comments. Like I said before I'm glad to see he'll get the opportunity to do that with the big club. Hopefully it's not from the 4th line, but we'll find out on Thursday

[Dienasty]

Originally Posted by $ven27

And they won that trade, what's your point?

No they didn't I would take Seguin, Hamilton and knight over kessel. Seguin hasn't played his natural position yet and got 3-5minutes less a games then kessel did. Not to mention hamilton played in the NHL as a 19 year old d man.

[edn88]

I don't have a problem with Burke pointing out the truth... from all accounts Baertchi has some work to do... and if he is going to be a pro he will deal with it and prove that he is an NHLer

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Some people seem to think Burke just brought this up himself. He was asked specifically about Baertschi and he gave his honest assessment. Many posters on here are making much more of the comments than they really deserve. Lots of us noticed Baertschi wasn't consistently amazing in camp and so did Burke. Expecting players to compete in all 3 zones is a perfectly reasonable expectation. The hand wringing and dramatics in response to Burke's comments are pretty over the top. Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill.

[H2SO4(aq)]

Detroit challenged Yzerman to be responsible in all three zones, turned out just fine. Why the hell should Sven have to compete in all three. kid needs to grow up a little.

cant wait for thursday so hopefully we can put this thread on the backburner.

[FAN]

Originally Posted by stemit14

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.

I think it's also a situation where you take the good with the bad. Burke has found someone to bully or put down in almost every one of his NHL stops yet he has the reputation of being fiercely loyal to his players. He will use the media to send a message to a certain player while at the same time use the media to defend and deflect criticism from his players. Regardless, it's a stretch to say that he hurts his team when he gets in front of the camera. If anything, Burke frequently does a good job of deflecting criticism away from his team onto him. I feel that he has already taken pressure off Feaster.

Ya Burke has said that he doesn't intend to speak about the team as much as he did in the past, but like Burke said, he didn't ask to be interviewed. So while many of us here don't want Burke to make the team so much about him, at the same time, we want to get his insights and we dig that he frequently is forthcoming in sharing his insights.

As for Burke potentially hurting a player's relationship with the team or hurting Sven specifically, well again you take the good with the bad. The same abrasiveness also helps Burke convince his players that Burke will go to bat for them.

As for Sven. There are different ways to motivate a player. Some players need a fire lit up their asses. Some players need to be coddled and encouraged. I suppose that either way none of this needs to get to the media's ears, but it is what it is. Quite frankly, if commitment is an issue, Sven deserves to be called out and he needs to get his act together. In terms of pressure, I don't think any of this will add any more pressure to the pressures Sven is feeling now. Sven has always faced pressure and he has dealt with it well. Say Sven did let pressure get to him but guess what? Sven shouldn't feel the pressure to be the savior any longer. He just needs to live up to his potential and that of a first round pick, pressures he successfully dealt with in the past. So no I don't buy into the idea that calling out Sven is somehow a huge mistake. If Sven can't work at improving his game then he will never reach his potential and there's no need to blame anyone else but Sven.

[RichKlit]

I think people need the season to start and i dont mean want it to start i mean NEED it to start. The comments were harmless and honest.

Sven has done nothing since being drafted to support any other argument. Some of his comments to the media have had the "feeling" of being entitled and i guess the shine is off a little bit.

He is not Crosby or Ovechkin he has a lot to learn and a lot to prove, he has earned nothing yet but his draft postion hence the comments.

[nickk382]

Sven is going to murder it on the ice and give Burke the middle finger.

[Poe969]

lol. If Sven does "murder it" this year, it'll probably be because Burke helped him identify the areas of his game he needed to work on. Burke didn't come to the Flames to try and screw over anyone on this roster, he came to help. If/when Sven becomes a better player, I'm sure Burke will have a lot to do with it

[You Need a Thneed]

Interesting Flames stat from last season:

Even Strength Minutes per ES Point (not calculated to exact decimal places) - lower number is better

Bärtschi - 23.4
Stajan - 28
Glencross - 30.3
Stempniak - 30.5
Iginla - 30.7
Hudler - 31.7
Begin - 34.2
Cervenka - 34.5
Tanguay - 35.4
Backlund - 35.6
Cammaleri - 37.6

and so on.

Also, Bärtschi was one of three regular Flames (Stajan, Stempniak) to be even +/- or higher.

[CSharp]

Burke is just telling it like it is - Baertschi is a small skilled player drafted in the first round and needs to prove that he belongs in this league. The team got rid of Iggy because everyone says he's too frickin old to play in Calgary. So, now Sven is two years older and wants to crack this new lineup that he's been given a chance. Everyone, before this season thinks that he is a replacement for guys like Iggy (FFS!!!). Hey, this ain't no frickin minor league where you can just waltz in with a bit of skill. It's either you prove it or GTFO. IMHO, Baertschi can end up like another Fata or Domichelli in this league. If Sven was 6'5", this thread won't even exist!

[Zevo]

Originally Posted by CSharp

Burke is just telling it like it is - Baertschi is a small skilled player drafted in the first round and needs to prove that he belongs in this league. The team got rid of Iggy because everyone says he's too frickin old to play in Calgary. So, now Sven is two years older and wants to crack this new lineup that he's been given a chance. Everyone, before this season thinks that he is a replacement for guys like Iggy (FFS!!!). Hey, this ain't no frickin minor league where you can just waltz in with a bit of skill. It's either you prove it or GTFO. IMHO, Baertschi can end up like another Fata or Domichelli in this league. If Sven was 6'5", this thread won't even exist!

Congratulations! There is more hyperbole in this post than what the few overly optimistic posters you call 'everyone' have written about Baertschi. I think most people have acknowledged his talent but also realize, and have stated, he still needs to work on aspects of his game, including getting stronger.