More Ammo For You Burke Haters

[Eddie_Shack]

I know it's become cliche to hate on this fat headed blowhard, but I did a double take when I read this.

“When you work for the league, you get in front of all 30 owners, you get in front of all the GMs, and Bettman is a smart … He’s not smart. Bettman’s brilliant. Bettman’s a brilliant guy. You work for him and you sit in front of that room, and people say, ‘Hey, this guy must be smart, too.’ You work for a league, it gives you an aura of expertise. It gives you credibility.”



Brilliant, eh? Might want to get some lotion for those stretch marks around your mouth.


Updated at 6:12 PM: Shanahan summit recieves a chilling endorsement | MLive.com

 

[puckhead]

I wonder what Burke wants from the league?

maybe protection regarding any hamilton talks again.
its something. Burke is always planning something.

 

[Automattic]

Western Conf. - Hated him

Eastern Conf. - Me and popcorn gif guy just enjoy the show

 

[dash]

I wonder what Burke wants from the league?

maybe protection regarding any hamilton talks again.
its something. Burke is always planning something.

I think Burkie is already putting little things in Gary's ear regarding eating salary when making trades as part of the next CBA. To be honest, I wouldn't mind this being adopted (within reason, mind you). There would still have to be some sort of cap or limit to prevent the richer teams from abusing this little nugget.

 

[Destroydacre]

Western Conf. - Hated him

Eastern Conf. - Me and popcorn gif guy just enjoy the show

 

[puckhead]

I think Burkie is already putting little things in Gary's ear regarding eating salary when making trades as part of the next CBA. To be honest, I wouldn't mind this being adopted (within reason, mind you). There would still have to be some sort of cap or limit to prevent the richer teams from abusing this little nugget.

yes, that's been a pet project of BB's for some time too.
I'm mixed on it... part of me says GM's should not be let out of bad decisions that easily, but the other part realizes that it would probably open up more trades, and that's always fun.

 

[dash]

yes, that's been a pet project of BB's for some time too.
I'm mixed on it... part of me says GM's should not be let out of bad decisions that easily, but the other part realizes that it would probably open up more trades, and that's always fun.

Maybe something along the following lines could work:

1. Allowed to do this only one time per season
2. The amount of salary the team eats cuts into next year salary's cap by 50% of that value. Say you want to make a trade and are willing to eat $4 million in salary, then you lose $2 million for the next year's salary cap.

 

[mattola]

Bettman is going to need a successor sooner or later...

 

[filosofy29]

Bettman is going to need a successor sooner or later...

I wonder how quick the Instigator Rule would go the way of the dodo if Burkie were commish?

I don't hate Burke as a GM, he's a blowhard, but he cares about winning (even if it is just to stroke his own ego) and tries his best to make his team better as soon as possible.

I do however hate how much credit he gets for the Ducks Stanley Cup team. I mean, Niedermeyer was handed to him on a silver platter since his brother already played there and the young core was all drafted by Murray. The only great thing he did there was trade for Chris Pronger in my humble opinion.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

We dont see or hear enough of Brian Burke ... I sometimes wish he would write a newspaper column



does he get some sort of stipend to be gary bettmans pr boy

Brian Burke, Postmedia News · Thursday, Aug. 19, 2010

Hockey is special.

In no other sport do the players, the management, the owners and the fans treat The Game with such respect. That's what they call it, too -- The Game. And everyone's actions are still guided by what's good for the game.

For the players, I believe, it is because the game is the hardest sport in the world to play. You need great athletic ability, persistence and tenacity. You need to be fearless to play a full-contact sport at high speed.

You also need ice.

Hockey is not available outside in much of the world. For other sports, every elementary school has outdoor fields and a basketball court. And those sports -- basketball, football, baseball -- are offered in every kid's gym class. Not so with hockey. You have to seek this sport out, you have to chase it.

And once you make that effort and get out there, you find the game is elusive. In most sports, you can quickly attain a level of familiarity and competence that allow you to enjoy the game, at least a little bit. But you can skate 50 times and still be stumbling around, let alone handling a puck. To excel at hockey, you are talking about years of commitment. It takes special young men and women to play the game.

The sacrifices they make turn them into unselfish, dedicated athletes. The sacrifices their families make are without parallel in sports.

We are blessed in our game. While our players are the greatest athletes in the world, they are also the greatest ambassadors in sports. They are gracious, courteous and accommodating with fans and the media, active in their communities and patriotic. They make the game special.


FUTURE OF THE GAME

Our game is only played in a comparatively small area on the planet. We need to grow the world's greatest game, and international hockey competition is a critical component.

The primary senior tournaments involving National Hockey League players and the rest of the elite level players from leagues and schools around the world are the Olympics and the world championship. These tournaments can spread the reach of the game and be of great mutual benefit for all parties, but participation should not continue without a close look at the risks involved.

Tournaments must be staged in a manner that is consistent with the interests of the fans, the players, and the teams they play for. International competition needs to benefit all of the stakeholders.

The current format simply does not meet everyone's needs. The National Hockey League currently sends its players to the Olympics and the world championship, but receives no compensation for doing so.

Each NHL team shuts down its business for close to three weeks while the Olympic Games are played. In return, fans, management and owners are often rewarded with tired or broken players on their return from Olympic competition.

Assured only that the game must be growing as a result of an Olympic bump in interest, what results instead is the game's most dedicated stakeholders see their own games being diminished.

And it is not fair that the athletes themselves are not compensated for their participation. They run the risk of injury in international tournaments, which can threaten their NHL livelihood.

While some would argue that the chance to represent their country is compensation enough, it is unfair when the International Ice Hockey Federation and the International Olympic Committee receive multiple millions of dollars from these tournaments.

Some countries and national governing bodies do provide small honorariums and podium money to their Olympians, but these are relatively small amounts.

Even the healthy player is impacted negatively in years requiring overseas travel where distance and time changes compound fatigue in an already gruelling schedule.

The post-Olympic slump that often impacts player performance can result in lost bonus opportunities and further lost endorsement revenue owing to missing the playoffs or Stanley Cup final.

Basically, athletes and leagues are not paid or protected for their participation in either tournament while the tournaments themselves make millions. With that money going to the IOC and the IIHF alone, it jeopardizes future NHL player participation.

I feel very comfortable with a confident prediction that this will change.


A SOLUTION

I submit that the best time to stage international competitions is in the off-season in a best-on-best format, not achievable in the current format. This would require resurrecting the World Cup.

Staging a late-summer World Cup gives the best opportunity to grow the game in the 24/7, 365-day era of competing entertainment options. Fresh, local hockey news will come to fans with a patriotic flavour right when football and soccer seasons are just gearing up. NHL owners will not shut down their businesses mid-season; teams, fans and players do not have to shoulder in-season injury risks and post-tournament slumps; and players can earn some additional income and use the tournament to prepare for the upcoming season.

Indeed, alternating a World Cup with the world championship (held in the late spring of each non-Olympic year) allows fans, teams and players to embrace a new, thoroughly homegrown tradition.

As a kickoff to NHL and European league schedules, a World Cup allows a host of good results -- all of which allow for growth beyond the current schedule and fan base.

Teams condition, train and practise in home nations, giving them the chance to showcase local talent that may play in a distant NHL city. Players avoid extra travel and are highlighted in their home nations, offering them new chances to capitalize on local commercial opportunities, particularly important for those where language may inhibit endorsement opportunities in their own NHL cities.

Most importantly, fans get extra exposure to the game and their national team.

I am not proposing that our best vehicle for growing our game is through the World Cup, not the Olympics. In a perfect world, I believe NHL players need to be present at the Olympics.

Ideally, the Games would shift to the Summer Games. I realize this is simply not going to happen. But I am troubled by people in the hockey community who simply presume that the NHL should, and will, continue to send its players to the Olympics.

If the Olympics are to continue as a means of growing our game, then we need to make the tournament work for all the parties. The NHL and its players need to be compensated.


CHALLENGES

This game needs ice surfaces. In many areas, new arenas have not been built for many years, and the older arenas need to be maintained. We need to make the game available. We need to keep ice time affordable. And we need to utilize more cost-effective alternatives, primarily in-line hockey and floor hockey.


CONCLUSION

While people focus on the small numbers of people who play and watch the game, we have witnessed explosive growth in the numbers of elite athletes who are taking up the game in non-traditional hockey markets.

As I have already said, the game is special precisely because of these remarkable people who choose to become hockey players. Let's make sure we support them.

By making the barriers to entry low, by bringing the competition home to them, we, in turn, stand to attract even more of the equally special people who choose to become fans of the game.

-Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke will be a panellist at a World Hockey Summit session next Wednesday on long-term global events
.

Read more: Brian Burke: The world awaits

 

[Eddie_Shack]

I really don't mind a lot of Burke's ideas. He's a forward thinking guy, and even if I don't agree with his hockey related opinions all the time I can see he's put a lot of thought and care into them.

But I do love making fun of that windbag.