Brian Burke Thinks People Still Use Payphones to Communicate

If there is one element this intriguing NHL season has been lacking so far, it's a Brian Burke hot take.

After Flames general manager Brad Treliving came out Wednesday to publicly deny rumours that the team was shopping defenceman Dougie Hamilton, Burke, Calgary's president of hockey operations, called in to TSN 1050 radio to set the record straight and voice his displeasure with "leaked" trade information coming from management of other NHL teams.

The former Maple Leafs president and GM is all too familiar with the intense spotlight and media scrutiny prevalent in one of hockey's hottest markets, especially when rumours start to swirl.

"It's very frustrating when you have to deal with leaks. And as soon as one of the teams that are in the mix in the 'leaks' is the Toronto Maple Leafs, now it's an army of leakers, an army of people who have no god-damned idea what they're talking about, who will happily go and say 'The Toronto Maple Leafs are doing this and they're in on that,'" Burke said Wednesday.

Though Burke has a clear and obvious disdain for the media, especially in Toronto, his old foe wasn't the primary source of his most recent meltdown. Burke feels that the leaks (specifically surrounding Hamilton) are coming not from industry reporters and insiders but directly from other teams' management involved in the trade discussions.

"This is one where we think we can trace the leak. We got a call, our GM Brad Treliving got a call from a team who shall remain nameless—at least for now, if this goes on much further I'm probably not going to remain nameless—and said, 'Would you move Dougie Hamilton?' And Tree (Treliving) said no. We expended a tremendous amount of assets to get this player. We're really happy with him. He's a quality guy, he's 6'5", weighs 237 pounds, he's a right shot, he skates like a dear. He's a good hockey player. Yeah, let's move him! Let's get rid of him, it's not hard to get guys like that.

"We told this team—and by the way, the offer they made was insulting—we told them no we're not moving him and next time you have an idea that stupid, just save the quarter, don't go to the payphone. That team started telling teams, 'Yeah, we made an offer on Hamilton.' Now it's a rumour, it's got legs. Someone's like, 'Wow, they must be moving him,'" Burke finished.

He won't make public exactly which team he is talking about in this case (although using your imagination may narrow it down) but it's clear he is not at all happy with the loose lips of one or more of his colleagues around the NHL.

Though the focus of his outburst was not directed at the media, there was no way anyone was getting off that easy. After the interview, which was more of a monologue than anything, host Mike Roe said, "Well with getting you on the record hopefully that pours some cold water on it and you don't have to deal with it (anymore)."

Burke, in vintage form, replied, "No, hey, that's never stopped your group (TSN), trust me."

The former Vancouver Canucks and Maple Leafs executive is known for his calculated, well-planned and perfectly timed outbursts as much as he's known for anything he's ever accomplished in the boardroom.

He's blasted fellow GMs like Kevin Lowe on their etiquette and business tactics, ripped reporters for calling his goaltender's mother for injury information, and brought terms like "18-wheeler falling off a cliff" and "truculence" and "pugnacity" to describe toughness, to hockey's mainstream vocabulary.

If there's one thing Burke is, it's a good quote.

Burke once again has his verbal fists in the air. Hopefully, for everybody's sake, it doesn't change anytime soon. Judging by his track record—it won't.