[GDT] Brian Burke Press Conference

[trackercowe]

Even if the Kessel deal was a poor move, the Flames alone have made about 5 worse deals since then, so it just needs to be put into perspective in a way.

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by Hockeyguy15

It seems like some posters missed the fact that Feaster is still the GM, not Burke.

hockey moves made by the GM will go thru Burke.

Calgary Flames ‏@NHLFlames 1h "If Jay has something he wants to do, we will talk about it and try to reach a consensus about it," says Brian Burke about player decisions.

So it is very clear that Burke has a high level of input on roster decisions.

[Wolfman]

I like this move. Burke will be someone to hold Feaster accountable. Yes, Burke has to report King but Feaster has a hockey mind to bounce ideas off of. Burke knows the players in the league and this will be a good thing for the team going forward.

[trackercowe]

Did they give any insight as to when they first interviewed Burke? Were there any conversations the first time he was in Calgary like some had rumored to begin with?

[The Fonz]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

This is like de ja vu argument for how much of a genius Feaster is for offer sheeting ROR. (the whole waiver thing aside)

No...it's not. Their age and the fact they were offer sheeted is the only thing in common.

Kessel was a 40 goal scorer, and former 5th overall pick at the time.
O'Reilly was an 18 goal scorer, getting big minutes on the worst team in the league.

[moon]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Seguin consistently scores 70 points?

Pro-rated to 82 games...

10/11 - 24 pts
11/12 - 68 pts
12/13 - 55 pts


Kessel pro-rated over 82 games...

08/09 - 42 goals
09/10 - 35 goals
10/11 - 32 goals
11/12 - 37 goals
12/13 - 34 goals

I think he is talking about Eriksson.

I think the Kessel trade looks bad with 50/50 hindsight but at the time if the deal it looked like the Leafs pick would be closer to 10th than 2nd and that makes a big difference. The Leafs weren't clearly a bottom feeder team like Calgary is now when the deal was made.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

No...it's not. Their age and the fact they were offer sheeted is the only thing in common.

Kessel was a 40 goal scorer, and former 5th overall pick at the time.
O'Reilly was an 18 goal scorer, getting big minutes on the worst team in the league.

I meant the critisism about being a bottom tier team, and offer sheeting a RFA and giving up your 1st round pick (early pick) for a young player (No 1 C!!!) who can play on your team now and also part of the future plan. That argument.... funny though that some who fought in the trenches for why Feaster is a genius for OSing, is now upset for hiring Burke because of his history like Kessel.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Ruttiger

Young 40 goal scorer? Not yet.

Future leader? Not sure the term "leader" has ever been uttered in the same sentence with Phil Kessel.

Maybe not quite, but dang close. Not to mention the last full season he was a point per game player. Seems like he's doing pretty well for Toronto.

[Wolfman]

When Burke did his panel interview on Sportsnet, it sounded like they might be working on roster moves. There are a few veterans left on the UFA list. Some interesting names left are Boyes, Brunner, Mueller, Raymond. Now don't get me wrong these names aren't spectacular but I'm just giving the list.

It could even be a trade or nothing at all, who knows?

[davidbjordan]

how do we not make a waiver move on joe colbourne now with burke in the office? (if he doesn't make the toronto roster out of camp)

[UKflames]

Originally Posted by foshizzle11

I am worried the rebuild is over now that Burke is around. Seems he tries to make things happen to quickly. I guess we will wait and see. I hope we stay the course and keep moving pieces out to get younger and better prospects through drafting.

No Kessel like trades please!

This +1

[t0rrent98]

Reimer for Ramo.. get er' done Burkie.. . What I won't do to see April Reimer here in Calgary....

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by The Fonz

Way off.

Kessel was a 21 year old coming off of a season where he was 8th in the league in goals/game.

When does it not make sense for a rebuilding team to acquire that player?

If he were 30 years old... you have a point. But he wasn't. He was 21, had only played 3 years in the NHL, and was already a top 10 goal scorer.

The thing is, that he is going to be a UFA at the end of this season already and there is no guarantee that he wishes to remain a leaf beyond this year. If he leaves, then the Leafs will have to tread water for a bit and possibly need to re-rebuild depending on how things go.

You need all the pieces to come together at the right time in order to be a cup team. Usually you need to have a group of good young players to come up together and find success in order to keep them long term and be successful. Assuming Kadri isn't a one year wonder, it would have been better for the leafs to have Knight, Hamilton and Seguin to surround him (all in that same age bracket) so that way you could keep those guys together like Kane Toews Seabrook and Keith with Chicago.

In a rebuild, a future contending team needs about 15-20 prospects that are in the Baertschi, Jankowski, Monahan level of talent. Some bust outright, others can be traded for other needs, or you can have great depth. The problem is that if you only have 5 or so (which the leafs did at the time of the trade) is that it removes the possibility to get enough quality in your system to turn that into actual results (Your team will be improved at the NHL level reducing the talent of the players available when you pick etc.)

[calgARI]

This is a great day.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by bubbsy

hockey moves made by the GM will go thru Burke.


So it is very clear that Burke has a high level of input on roster decisions.

Good. Maybe Burke will toughen up this bunch of 80lb weaklings Feaster has assembled in the past 2 years.

Hit someone damn it!!

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Looking at the quotes from Green Lantern in this thread, I am encouraged greatly by this press conference. Now I know he's just talking right now, but I think we can trust that Burke is the epitome of "intellectual honesty", so I will take him at face value.

-Feaster is the GM.
-Burke will avoid media interaction.
-Feaster will run the day to day.
-Burke will give input on the direction of the club.
-Burke is in love with the ownership group.
-Burke thought the Flames had the best draft of any team.
-Burke likes the moves Feaster has made to begin the rebuild.
-Burke will do his best to be a teammate rather than a dictator.
-Burke will not spend the cap room unwisely.
-Burke will not give a timeline as it only buys time for the management group.
-Burke's main goal is to win.
-Burke will not make any rash decisions until he knows the team and the franchise better.
-Burke likes the current scouting and will only make a change if it seems like it needs to be done.
-Burke has a great deal of respect for Feaster.
-Burke was unsure about the position until researching it more, but loves the idea now.
-Burke loves the city of Calgary and the hockey market there.

All this tells me this is a very happy man excited about the current situation. Add to that his track record and this is the best news for this franchise in a long time. (since, say, drafting Sean Monahan )

[cDnStealth]

How many more people do they need managing this thing?

[Ashasx]

It seemed to me like Burke was quite clear in his interview with Sportsnet that he wasn't going to rush the rebuild. He said that the team, however, needs a clear and understandable blueprint for the fans to comprehend.

When moon is happy, I don't know how you guys could be anything but.

[Erick Estrada]

I was in meetings this morning. What's King's new role exactly?

[bubbsy]

Originally Posted by Bertuzzied

Good. Maybe Burke will toughen up this bunch of 80lb weaklings Feaster has assembled in the past 2 years.

Hit someone damn it!!

agreed.

I guess my opinion on the move is as follows:

Pros:
- Burke seems like a pretty smart hockey guy
- Burke likes his teams big and strong and tough to play against, which is something a lot of flames fans like in their team also
- if feaster is going up to the president to get validation on decisions, i prefer burke than king, simply because burke is a true hockey guy

Cons:
- Burke has shown impatience at times in the way he builds his teams, which doesn't seem to fall into the mold of what the rebuilding flames were headed.

at this point, i think the pros outweigh the cons, but we'll only be able to grade this decision 3-5 years from now i suppose (unless they hit some early home runs, or early bombs).