BCExpat wrote:I'm willing to see what he can do for the next three seasons or so. The Flames are going to suck at least that long no matter who the GM and President are. I'd be happy if they are bottom feeders and amass some high draft picks. Who knows, maybe in that time, I'll be calling for Burke's head, like I did with Sutter.

What has continually blown my mind about the Flames is the absolute blind homerism that surrounds the team and so many fans.
After winning the cup ins 88 the exited the playoffs in the first round 6 of the next 7 years. That other year they missed altogether. They then missed the playoffs completely for 7 straight seasons.
During that time they didn't even benefit from any kind of real drafting success.
Enter Kiprusoff and Dutter. A miracle trip to the Finals in 2004, that was VERY reminiscent of Anaheim's run on the back of Giguere, and suddenly the Flames are the post lockout hockey world's heavy favorites.
They didn't add much in the way of marquis talent either.
They had a good regular season, won the NW, and then got bounced in 7 by the Ducks in the first round.
For some reason they were still considered a contender for a few more seasons despite 3 more quarter final exits.
They were never able to attract a legitimate top centre for Iginla to play with.
They never addressed the lack of future talent in the system.
They missed the playoffs for another 4 seasons, but thought they were still contenders every September, and tried to be players on deadline day.....but nobody else thought they were worth selling to, and they were too shortsighted to see the writing on the wall and move their two best assets.
This is an organization that has only gone beyond the first round once in 24 years. In 12 of those years they missed the playoffs entirely.
Burke is a good fit here.
BB turned Vancouver around after Iron Mike "I'll show you new systems with a bigger offensive zone" Keenan trashed the team. He made bold moves to acquire some pieces that are still carrying the team.
BB went to Anaheim, traded for Pronger, signed Niedermayer, dealt Fedorov for Beauchimin, brought in Carlyle, and a few other moves. Cup win.
In Toronto the jury is out for another season. But regardless, my point is that The guy isn't afraid to pull the trigger on a deal, and that is what has been Calgarys Achilles heel for years. Burke may over value some guys, but he will make moves. If the team blows, he doesn't turn a blind eye, he will shake things up. His shelf life is short though because he becomes too loyal to the players he trades for and signs and doesn't like to admit he was wrong about a player. Calgary will benefit from this hiring so long as they don't think he's a long term solution.