from Eva Ferguson of the Calgary Sun,

In what has been the bluntest talk yet about the future of the Calgary Flames, president of operations Brian Burke said the much-loved NHL team will leave the city if they don't get the new arena they've been seeking.

"We're not going to make the threat to leave. We'll just leave," Burke told a business luncheon at the Canadian Club of Calgary Wednesday.

"We still have a building that was built in 1983, the oldest in the league by more than 10 years.

"They figured it out in Edmonton. Where they know that a new building can rejuvenate the downtown. But I guess we're just smarter than that here."

Burke's speech aimed to focus on the financial challenges that Canadian NHL teams face, from a low Canadian dollar to more public support for new builds in the U.S.

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