Burke on Leafs' slide, GM search, Cammalleri and more
/Calgary Flames president of hockey operations Brian Burke was interview by Sportsnet's Christine Simpson in the first intermission of Tuesday night's Flames-Leafs tilt.
On if he had any regrets on the infamous "18-wheeler going right off a cliff" quote: "No. It's what was happening. I think our fans knew it. I think for a general manager sometimes you've got to acknowledge when things are going south. I don't regret that quote at all."
On the Leafs current struggles and if he feels for what they're going through: "Yes, I do. It's hard. I think in any Canadian city you get more credit than you deserve when you win and more blame when you lose. It always ends up on the shoulders of one or two players.
"I think Dion Phaneuf is having a remarkable year. Two weeks ago this team was looking at home ice. And now all of the sudden the sky is falling and what do you do. That's how it is in Toronto. It's like that in all the Canadian cities, but it's magnified here."
After a follow-up question about the Leafs' collapses in recent years, Burke suggests it's time to talk about his team. Ask Dave Nonis about the Leafs.
On the GM search and waiting for more candidates at the end of the season: "Exactly. The candidates fall into a number of categories. I think some teams are going to give us permission to speak them as soon as the regular season ends if they miss the playoffs. Other teams will give permission once their teams are eliminated from the playoffs. There are other teams with people we want to speak to that we're not going to get permission until after the draft.
"So we're going to get the right guy. If that means we wait until July we wait until July."
On Cammalleri: "We've had real good discussions with Cammy. We've made him an offer that we think is fair. He thinks he can do better on July 1st and we'll have to see how it plays out.
"He's been really good with us. He's not just played well for us, he's been a good leader, he's a disciple. You know, our team works very hard. Our practices are hard. Our video sessions are long. Are weight room sessions are long and he's been a disciple. He's been a joy."
On the Flames' season so far: "Well, I think there's two seasons. You've got to look at the second half of the season vs. the first. The first we really struggled. The last two months, we've been out-working our opponent almost every night. We've been sticking to the game plan and we've had some success.
"I read somewhere that we're the highest scoring team since the Olympic break. Our kids are coming. The coach has done a remarkable job. I'm really proud of the group and it's a really good group to work with. We need to upgrade the personnel as we move forward. We need to get bigger for one thing."