Brian Burke guest speaker at Sports Law Society (UofC)

[Philly06Cup]

Some other things that still puzzle me from his talk:

Re: the Kessel trade, Sedin trade, eg, Burke mentioned he doesn't care what he's giving away, as long as he really likes the return. Huuuh? For any trade, I'd want my GM to consider the value of both what he is giving as well as receiving.

He mentioned he's in the 'entertainment' business, and wants a team that doesn't trap and trades chances. I'm a bit skeptical about this. It's advantageous now since we need to put butts in seats, but eventually, we're gonna want a team is a contender. At that point, we should ice a 4th line that can play more than 5 minutes a game, and at least consider trapping.

[CaptainYooh]

Originally Posted by Five-hole

...
In retrospect I'm a bit alarmed (about my own defenses) by how quickly he charmed the crowd and how quickly he won me over with personality. ...

I had this same feeling when I heard Burke speak at another venue two months ago (I wrote about it earlier). Yet, very quickly into his speech, a few totally contradicting (and even bizarre) remarks made me realize that he is a man of an impulse much more than reason. So, when he talks about being a businessman, first, I don't believe him. Burke, without a doubt, is a very passionate guy about hockey and about doing his job right. But as much as he talks about wanting people to tell him things straight out without sugar-coating them, he is a dictator that often acts abruptly and on a whim. I would guess that people working for him are afraid to tell him things straight out that are not in line with what he's saying and either simply go along or quit.

[dustygoon]

Originally Posted by Dagger

Whilst I have denounced much of Burke's methods in evaluating a player specifically in disregarding newer metrics, if he is reading as many thesis' every year I appreciate that he's at least not being a neanderthal.

Do you always talk like this? The guy is not a Neanderthal.

[CaramonLS]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

IIRC Feaster said he was aware of it, but didn't feel like he needed to ask. If so, the question isn't his competantcy, its not doing his due dillgence. So I don't think there's a problem with the in-house legal team.

In fairness, that is probably what I would say too if I got caught with my pants down. Not sure if we can take exactly what he says at face value.