20 Questions with Craig Button

[transplant99]

Athletic sat down with the TSN draft dude.

Here are a couple of them,

12. How close do you think Calgary was to losing its NHL team?

Close. Very close. And they’re not the only one. Edmonton came close. Ottawa came close. Keep this in mind: Nobody in Canada was prepared to buy the Montreal Canadiens in 2001. Nobody. Not an individual or a group. And Gary Bettman, you look at where he went to get his owner — he went to Vail, Colo. We know what Mr. (George) Gillett did for the Montreal Canadiens. Calgary wasn’t the only one that was in peril.

15. Was there a Jarome Iginla trade that …

(Button cuts in) No, I never thought about trading Jarome Iginla. That never crossed my mind. People would phone. I said, “You’re going to have to make me say yes, and you’re going to have to get five or six players deep on your team.”

https://theathletic.com/2538990/2021...jarome-iginla/

[Boreal]

10. You and your father have both identified plenty of young stars: Give me a name you totally missed.

(Button laughs) Just one? The one that I use — and I have to use it — is Marty St. Louis. … In 2004, Marty St. Louis had won the Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay. I was standing in the Bell Centre. I was with Marty, J.S. Giguère, Steve Bégin and Denis Gauthier. We were just talking, and Marty was being very forgiving: “Oh Craig, you didn’t know.” I said to Marty, “I watched you in midget AAA and you dominated. You played Tier II Junior A, you were a great player. I saw you at the University of Vermont, and you were a great player. And then in the American Hockey League, you were phenomenal. If anybody should have known, it should have been me, based on how much I’d watched you play.” He kind of turned to me, he slapped me on the back and he says, “You’re right – you should have known.”

This one was also good. He’s never had a GM job again in large part because he bought out a Future Hall of Famer (St. Louis) and traded a future Conn Smythe Trophy winner for a 2nd round pick.

That’s legendarily terrible asset management.

[the_only_turek_fan]

The Derek Morris deal for Drury and Yelle was a huge win for us.

Can’t just look at the bad deals.

He also brought in Conroy, Ference, McAmmond, and Turek.

[GioforPM]

I always liked Turek but the fans at the time saw him differently for the most part. Pretty much booed out of Calgary.

McCammond - well, I guess you also have to look at how Button traded him away, then got him back, but wasn’t allowed to use him that season. It was a Feaster/ROR type screwup by failing to understand the CBA.

[Bingo]

Plus he was a good man.

I had some dressing room / press box access back then (before the family came along) and he was very inviting and fair. I'd get cut off from regular reporters, and he'd step in and say something like "I believe this gentleman was asking a question".

Good guy.

[Tkachukwagon]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1248330275802828802

Sounds like Button isn't familiar with all the top prospects.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Plus he was a good man.

I had some dressing room / press box access back then (before the family came along) and he was very inviting and fair. I'd get cut off from regular reporters, and he'd step in and say something like "I believe this gentleman was asking a question".

Good guy.

I can't speak for other season ticket holders at the time but he responded to a few of my emails critical of some of the moves made by the organization and I always thought that was cool.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Plus he was a good man.

I had some dressing room / press box access back then (before the family came along) and he was very inviting and fair. I'd get cut off from regular reporters, and he'd step in and say something like "I believe this gentleman was asking a question".

Good guy.

Absolutely. Asked him a question via email one time and we ended up having a several reply long conversation about college football. Very good guy.

[Bleeding Red]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I always liked Turek but the fans at the time saw him differently for the most part. Pretty much booed out of Calgary.

IIRC that was because one year he was lights out best in the league from Oct to Dec, then got the big money contract and couldn't stop a beach ball after that.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Bleeding Red

IIRC that was because one year he was lights out best in the league from Oct to Dec, then got the big money contract and couldn't stop a beach ball after that.

This is true. But Turek secured a permanent place in my heart for how he stepped up to keep the Flames's playoff hopes alive in 2004 when Kiprusoff was hurt. He also did a tonne of good things in the community, and he wore Iron Maiden tribute masks. It is impossible to hate that.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

[Sidney Crosby's Hat]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

This is true. But Turek secured a permanent place in my heart for how he stepped up to keep the Flames's playoff hopes alive in 2004 when Kiprusoff was hurt. He also did a tonne of good things in the community, and he wore Iron Maiden tribute masks. It is impossible to hate that.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

He also restructured his contract to help the organization.

[Salt Water Cowboy #10]

Tureks contract was a killer, that’s why he was booed. Signed a massive deal for the time and started sucking after it kicked in. But he restructured it and played better at the end.

[Max Cow Disease]

Originally Posted by Bingo

Plus he was a good man.

I had some dressing room / press box access back then (before the family came along) and he was very inviting and fair. I'd get cut off from regular reporters, and he'd step in and say something like "I believe this gentleman was asking a question".

Good guy.

Agreed. I ended up sitting next to Craig for a couple of hours on a flight once and he seemed more than happy to chat for the entire time. About hockey of course, but he also seemed genuine in his interest when asking questions about me and whatnot as well. Definitely left a positive impression.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Salt Water Cowboy #10

Tureks contract was a killer, that’s why he was booed. Signed a massive deal for the time and started sucking after it kicked in. But he restructured it and played better at the end.

Well, they weren’t forced to do a new deal that early in the season, I don’t blame him a bit for signing it. And he didn’t really suck - the team did and he bore the brunt of the fans’ blame. I remember them booing him after he got scored on. On a two on none.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Sidney Crosby's Hat

He also restructured his contract to help the organization.

Yup, at no benefit to himself that I could see.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

Yup, at no benefit to himself that I could see.

IIRC, didn't the restructuring add an extra year at the end so that the entire value of the contract was worth more? It was kind of hedging his bets that he was going to be out of the league at the end of the original contract, so it would have given him more money in the long run.

But it ended up being a moot point anyway since he left the NHL before the contract was completed anyway.

[Lanny_McDonald]

What I like about Button is he is willing to own his mistakes. He knows he's human and he knows he's going to make a blunder here and there, like we all do. He doesn't claim to be the smartest guy in the room even when he is cast in that role.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

IIRC, didn't the restructuring add an extra year at the end so that the entire value of the contract was worth more? It was kind of hedging his bets that he was going to be out of the league at the end of the original contract, so it would have given him more money in the long run.

But it ended up being a moot point anyway since he left the NHL before the contract was completed anyway.

I was counting the fact he retired and just gave up the dough, which I had never seen before.

Mind you, Calgary probably could have used him instead of the Mclennan/Sauve/Boucher show.