The Brian Burke press conference was talked and over-talked to death, especially given the fact that he looked so damn disheveled, but the Toronto Sun's Steve Simmons believes that Burke's messages were delivered with cold and calculated precision:

Burke is nothing if not prepared. He often works out his press conferences lines prior to having his press conferences. He writes down catch-phrases and memorizes them. Like an actor, he chooses his motivation, sets the mood and then determines what look he will display to the public he so often owns.

The look at the firing of GM Jay Feaster and assistant GM John Weisbrod in Calgary was that of a man who had rolled up his sleeves, a touch wild-eyed, having slept little and who hadn’t bothered to groom his lengthy mop. It was all part of a way of demonstrating how much he had put in to the decision to take over the Flames in earnest.

Some of the words in Calgary were familiar: Belligerent, truculent, impatience. Burke loves to talk about his teams, how he wants them to play, what his vision contains.

The challenge now, as it was in Toronto, is hiring the right people and executing his plan. He won his one Stanley Cup with Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer on defence first, not as much because of the physical manner in which the Anaheim Ducks played. He will be forced to go forward without two generational defencemen. As he found in Toronto, it makes winning and building all the more daunting.

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