I needed to get this off my chest - Brian Burke has been announced as President of Hockey Operations for the Calgary Flames. I am ecstatic! But before I start:
I am not a Flames fan.
I was not a Leafs fan (although I like to call myself a Leafs sympathizer - really those guys deserve some sympathy).
I am a big Brian Burke Fan.
Brian Burke is one of the most entertaining personalities in the NHL. I was disappointed when he was given a job in scouting with the Anaheim Ducks, and have been waiting anxiously for him to get a job with more visibility. And this is it. The Calgary Flames are introducing a new model of management where a President of Hockey Ops oversees the General Manager. Roughly translated, this means Jay Feaster has dodged a bullet.
Let's be frank, Flames fans: Feaster is a lawyer trying to run a hockey team. He has had some success - let us not forget the Tampa Bay Lightning's unexpected Stanley Cup win (Marty Gelinas hasn't). But we should not pretend that he has a long and storied hockey background. He could probably use a hand from a true hockey man like Burke. Why the Flames chose not to simply fire Feaster based on his abysmal record with the Flames and replace him with Burke is a good question with a straightforward answer. Obviously, it looks like Feaster has just been handed a lateral demotion.Think about Greg Sherman in Colorado, squeezed between Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy - do you think that guy is allowed to make decisions any more? Yet I suspect that Feaster will get to keep playing along in Calgary, one rung above an assistant GM, but needing Brian Burke's blessing on any major moves.
This has to be good for the Flames. Because if anything can mess up a hockey team, it's interference from ownership - and everybody knows that this has been a problem in Calgary. I'm sure they're well-meaning, but subtle messages from ownership to management (when management is not strong enough to object) can derail the operation. If ownership like certain players, don't you suspect they will ask management to treat them favorably? Of course you do.
Enter Brian Burke. Someone who sets his own rules. Someone who tells it like it is. Someone who puts the needs of the organization above the wants of an individual. No owner will speak directly with Jay Feaster, but will instead go to Burke, who has no problem responding with, "That's not how you run a hockey team".
Brian Burke has his peculiarities. He imposes rules on his management organization that don't exist for the rest of the league: he refused to trade at Christmas; he refuses to use offer sheets; when they were legal, he refused to offer longer than 5 year contracts. But he more than makes up for these odd opinions by simply running his teams The Right Way (TM). Burke may not need to actually make all the hockey personnel decisions directly, he may simply need an option to veto in order to influence the course.
Detractors may point at the 4 seasons in Toronto without playoffs, but everyone who has watched the progress of that hockey club knows that the work Burke was doing was good, if not swift. (I weep to think of the damage that Dave Nonis has done in only one season, but that is for another time.) Calgary is in a similar situation to the Leafs the Burke salvaged, except the veterans and big contracts have already been pretty well purged. The team is ready to be built, and there needs to be a strong leader to steer the future direction. Brian Burke may be the best hope they have. And I will love watching every loose-tie, irreverent, grumpy press conference.
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