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During a press conference at 12pm ET today, the Calgary Flames have announced that a newly created position of Director of Hockey Operations is being filled by former Toronto Maple Leafs GM Brian Burke.
The rumour broke out late last night as much speculation came about with Burke's presence in Calgary, though many assumed it was nothing more than to see his daughter who lives in the city. Further speculation lead us to believe that Burke would be taking over as CEO of the Flames, replacing Ken King which was also not the case.
As a result of this change in upper management, Flames GM Jay Feaster will be reporting directly to Burke which both say will be a strong cooperative management for the team.
Burke made it clear during the interview that he will not be GM of this team and that he will not be addressing the media anywhere close to previous positions he’s held. Further, he added that he will not be “driving the bus” of the Calgary Flames as he is quite content with the idea of being a team player and providing guidance to Feaster.
Burke added that he will spend the next couple of weeks assessing the entire organization in order to create a blueprint, and one that he is known to pursue; bigger, stronger, physical players playing under a team who is willing to spend their money wisely.
When asked about the similarities between the rebuild that is going on in Calgary as opposed to the one presented to him in Toronto about five year ago, Burke expressed that Feaster has already taken big steps needing to be made in order for a rebuild to be successful – steps which took him longer to accomplish in Toronto. He maintained that he would not be providing any timelines as his intentions are to work closely with Jay and the rest of the management team to maintain a competitive and “entertaining” style of hockey for the season ticket holders and fans alike, and does not want to say it can or cannot be accomplished in a certain amount of time.
As I mentioned yesterday, I was quite pleased to hear that the Flames were pursuing Burke’s services as I was able to witness what he did for Toronto slowly unfold, despite being let go prior to the fruition of his plans. Burke will go right to work for the Flames and is a very strong hockey person. He has a ton of experience in many different levels of hockey and will take this new position very seriously while working at bringing the Flames back to a true contender.
What do you think about the news?
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