Burke jettisons O’Brien, calls Breen
Acting GM hopes to trade away defenceman
Over the weekend, Brian Burke was busy making roster moves.
The Calgary Flames general manager put defenceman Shane O’Brien on waivers and, after the 24-hour window closed, he was sent to the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League. And, coming the other way, packing his bags on Sunday afternoon and arriving from the Lower Mainland was Chris Breen.
“We need to see what (Breen) can do,” Burke said. “Not that the organization had let him down somehow. But through injuries and other factors, we don’t know what he can do. (That was) the plan, even before Christmas time ... that’s really all there is to it.”
Burke, who was in Toronto over the weekend, had watched the Flames fall behind 4-2 at one point during the Eric Nystrom show against the Nashville Predators and eventually come back to win 5-4 in a shootout.
The acting general manager was being diplomatic on Sunday but it’s easy to read between the lines on his thoughts of the veteran blueliner.
O’Brien, a 10-year professional, finished Friday’s 5-4 shootout win a minus-three in 5:37 of ice time paired with Dennis Wideman. His stall was empty and cleared out Saturday morning.
The 30-year-old who has played with the Anaheim Ducks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks, Predators and Colorado Avalanche, had been part of former general manager Jay Feaster’s deal that sent defenceman Cory Sarich and forward Alex Tanguay to Colorado along with winger David Jones. O’Brien had played 45 games with the Flames, recorded three assists and was a minus-eight with 58 penalty minutes.
He currently has another season left on his $2-million contract — which will be Burke’s first order of business when he returns to Calgary on Monday.
“Shane cleared (Sunday) and we thought someone might grab him because he’s a good player,” Burke said. “Obviously the extra year of his contract is the killer, so now we’ll see if we can structure a trade (in the new CBA you can retain salary deals) and we’ll see if there’s a team that would take him if we aren’t part of the obligations ... that will be the first order of the day — to see if we can structure a deal for him.
“We can always call him back. He’s not being exiled. But we’re looking to upgrade at any position in terms of skill or size. So, am I satisfied with this group? I’m satisfied with their effort.” On that topic, Burke expanded. “There are two important building blocks that Bob (Hartley) has put into place here,” Burke said. “We work hard. And that’s not just the games people see. There’s a lifestyle he’s implemented here. Practices are longer and harder than they are in most places. Weight room stuff, there’s a lot of that here and some teams don’t do as much. The video sessions, there’s a lot of teaching going on. So, he’s got buy-in from the players. We work hard and we have buy-in. Those are two critical steps if we’re going to get better.
“You have no chance of getting better if your team doesn’t work harder than its opponent and it doesn’t stick to the game plan. Bob’s got both of those things in here.”
Breen expected to get physical
From the six-foot-seven, 224-pound Breen, Burke has clear expectations.
“Good first-pass, good decisions when you have time and space,” Burke said. “And then, be physical. It’s that simple from him. Then, we’ll see. We’re always looking to add, upgrade our skill and size at any position.
“So, we’ll be seeing if we can upgrade our blueline or our forward group.”
The 24-year-old has played five games with the Flames this season and spent some time sidelined with an abdominal wall strain injury. With Abbotsford, he’s played 20 games and recorded three assists along with 11 penalty minutes and is a plus-4.
Notables missing
from practice
The Flames enjoyed a day off Sunday and hit the ice again Monday to prepare for Tuesday’s visitors — the Chicago Blackhawks.
But there were some developments worth noting from Saturday’s practice.
First of all, there was no Ladislav Smid. He didn’t skate Thursday, Friday or Saturday. He also sat out Friday’s game against Nashville.
“Maintenance,” was Hartley’s explanation.
Michael Cammalleri, still dealing with a concussion, also missed Saturday’s practice (personal reasons) along with LW Jiri Hudler.