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BURKE: I HAVE NO INTEREST IN FLAMES’ GM JOB
Brian Burke gives The Calgary Herald an update on his search for a new Flames general manager since firing Jay Feaster. While reiterating he has no interest in the job himself, he perhaps also tips his hand at bringing in a fresh face for the position.
“If anyone thinks I want to be the GM, then I should be in begging for the job,” he said Thursday from his home in Toronto. “I should be in (owner) Murray (Edward)’s office or (president) Ken King’s office, saying ‘I want to be the GM.’ I don’t. I’m conducting the search.
“The thinking is — and this exists in a number of franchises in football, baseball, basketball, and now forward in the NHL — you’ve got someone there to steer the ship and mentor a young GM. First off, you avoid the big mistakes that young GMs typically make. And second, you don’t have to have an organizational shift, a major reorientation every time you bring in a new GM. You have someone steering the ship even if someone else is in command on a day-to-day basis.”
He continued.
“For anyone that’s wondering, I’m not interested in being the general manager of the Calgary Flames,” said Burke. “I wasn’t brought here to be that and I’m happy with the role they’ve given me.”
Burke said there are three to six potential general managers shortlisted, with permission to talk to one person having been granted to this point.
The Herald also has Burke’s thoughts on Feaster’s management of the salary cap, along with Burke’s take on the team’s potential UFAs and RFAs.
SENATORS’ MURRAY HESITANT TO PULL TRADE TRIGGER
The Ottawa Sun notes Senators GM Bryan Murray decided against making a move before Thursday’s midnight roster freeze deadline.
“As I said to the players (Wednesday) night, people talk to me about trades. The thing you have to remember when you talk that way, somebody has to leave,” Murray told the Sun. “Somebody in this room has to leave to acquire another person. That’s a fact of life.
“All of them have either friends or families or kids or homes here. So it’s easy to say, ‘well I’m doing my job and he’s not doing his job and so let’s make a trade’. But it affects other people’s lives.
“I’m not as quick to pull the trigger maybe as I should be sometimes. There is a frustration here where you’d like to rock the boat somehow, and maybe that’s what will happen after the Christmas break. But right now I want to just see the guys step up and try, and play.
“I’m convinced, after watching them play in certain games this year, that we’re a good enough team to be a contending hockey team,” he continued. “Are we the best? I’m not saying that. But we’re certainly a team that should perform better every night.
“I think we’re a contending team for the playoffs. There are a few other teams that say the same thing, and maybe some days I over evaluate. And then I watch them play, and say dammit, we’re a good team. So yeah, I think we’re a playoff team.”
SMYTH SICK OF OILERS’ LOSING WAYS
Biting quotes via The Edmonton Journal before Thursday night’s Oilers game against the Colorado Avalanche from Ryan Smyth, who is frustrated with the way this season has gone.
“There’s winning and then there’s misery. And this is misery,” said Smyth. “Playing good in this league isn’t good enough, anymore. You have to be consistent to get results.”
More Smyth: “The fans don’t deserve this. Same feeling in this locker-room, but we have to be consistently better to get more.”
OVECHKIN SCORING GOALS FROM EVERYWHERE
The Washington Post points out Capitals sniper Alex Ovechkin could pot his 400th career goal Friday night.
The winger has added more and more tricks to his repertoire.
“Now he’s in different positions to score,” forward Brooks Laich said. “I think if you saw a shot tracker of his shots before and his opportunities before, it’d be heavy one-sided and from certain spots, whereas now I think it would be scattered all across the ice: in tight on both sides, out more, both slots, forehand, backhand. He’s now dangerous anywhere on the ice.”
SKINNER IN THE ZONE FOR CANES
The Raleigh News & Observer details how Canes forward Jeff Skinner, who has been sizzling on the first line of late, believes in the theory that hockey players, like other athletes, can go into a “zone” where everything seems to come easily, effortlessly.
“It’s just confidence,” Skinner said. “When you’re confident with the puck, everything seems to slow down and you’re sort of relaxed. You don’t think too much about anything. You feel like every time you get the puck you can do something with it. That’s the closest I can come to describing that kind of ‘zone’ thing.”
QUICK’S REHAB PROGRESSING FOR KINGS
The Los Angeles Times indicates Kings coach Darryl Sutter said this week goaltender Jonathan Quick has “… a long ways to go” in his recovery from a groin strain.
Quick has been working in a controlled setting with goalie coach Bill Ranford, and with goalie development coach Kim Dillabaugh last week.
“He looks fantastic,” Ranford said. “You know, he’s getting stronger every day. We just got to make sure that he’s 100%. It makes no sense for him to come back for one game and miss 10. I think the message down the pipeline is to make sure when he’s ready to go, he’s ready for the long haul.
“He’s professional in his approach. He’s competitive, so it’s tough pulling back on the reins here. We’ve got to make sure we’ve got him for the long haul.”
DEVILS’ SCHNEIDER: NO TIME TO BE SELFISH
The Star-Ledger reminds readers Devils goaltender Cory Schneider will start Friday night, after having watched Martin Brodeur the past few games.
“You want to be at your best when you get a chance. Obviously Coach (DeBoer) has a tough decision to make every night. But if one of us is playing better than the other, he’s not going to hesitate to run with that guy,” Schneider said. “It’s a situation where we’re both capable of playing. I think our goal is to keep on making it tough on him. If one of us doesn’t play well or isn’t up for it, that’s going to make it easy for him. That’s not necessarily what he wants, but if that is the case he’s going to run with it.
“For us it’s just staying focused. I’ve done this before where you have to jump in after a week or 10 days off and play a really good game. We’ve won a couple in a row. We’re right in the mix, so it’s no time to get down or be selfish and think about you. It’s about the team. As long as the team is winning, regardless of who is in net, it’s always a good feeling.”
TAMPA AIRPORT GIVING AWAY LIGHTNING TICKETS
The Tampa Tribune writes that beginning Friday, one Tampa International Airport guest per day will be selected at random at the airport parking toll plaza to receive a two-pack of tickets to an upcoming Tampa Bay Lightning game.
The airport and the Lightning are partners in promoting each other. The team is featured on one of the shuttle cars, and the voice of team captain Marty St. Louis welcomes passengers on the airside shuttles.
GONCHAR ADJUSTS TO WESTERN CONFERENCE
The Dallas Morning News illustrates how 39-year-old Stars rearguard Sergei Gonchar, who has been coming on strong lately, has been getting used to life with a Western Conference team after having spent so many years in the East.
“It’s a lot of adjustments,” Gonchar said of the move West. “Travel, lifestyle, family, it’s just a lot to get used to. Sometimes, these things take time.”
He said he’s had to adjust to the speed of the game and the way defensemen have to cover more ice.
“It’s a different game out here,” he said. “In the East, we played much tighter around the goal, and pushed things outside.
Here, it’s much more speed and playing in open ice. It’s a different game, it really is.”
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