BURKE FOCUSED ON FUTURE IN BROADCASTING

Brian Burke is out shopping.
Not for a slightly-loosened tie or a power suit or - not anymore, never again, is the vow - a winger that might inject a little offensive punch on the right side.
"Actually I'm at Staples,'' he reports, long-distance from the Big Smoke. "I'm buying a shredder for my home office. In case you send me a resume.
"I'm just trying to get rid of a lot of stuff. Bills, that kind of thing. So I'm getting the shredder, a copier, a printer.
"And then I'm heading in to the studio."
Burke is a shade over two weeks into his new gig as in-studio TV analyst after stepping back from his role as President of Hockey Operations for the Flames.

"I intend to make this my next career,'' says Burke of his move to the lights-camera-action set. "I'm not going back on the team side. So it's all good.
"I've had enough of the commute. I don't know if fans in Calgary realize but the whole five years with the Flames I was flying back to Toronto for 10 days a month to be with my daughters.
"I do miss the guys. Already. I do miss sitting in Tre's office with Brad Pascall and Craig Conroy, calculating trades, saying 'I wonder if we can throw this at the Islanders?' or 'What about the Bruins?'
"But I don't miss the commute.
"The day before yesterday I went to my daughter's softball game. It was great."
The shift from team backroom to people's front rooms has gone relatively smoothly.
"I'm enjoying it. I was pretty rusty when I first went on the air but I think - I hope - I'm getting the hang of it again.
"I last did regular TV work in '04-05, remember. That's awhile. But I'm feeling more and more comfortable.
"Originally I wasn't going to work on the first weekend but they said: 'Why don't you come down right away?' So I flew Friday night and worked Saturday.
"But the other guys on the panel and Ron MacLean have been great."
With the playoffs condensed now to the conference finals, things from a hockey perspective are really starting to get interesting.
"As a GM or a President of Hockey Operations you're watching games very differently. Instead of watching a guy you've heard might be available, say, you're trying to narrate the game or explain plays. A very different focus.
"It took me a few games to get my head back into the studio instead of pretending I'm looking for acquisitions."
The announcement of Burke's decision caught many on the outside by surprise.

"Why now? Well, for starters, I think Tre's a much more experienced, mature manager than when he arrived. Second, Don Maloney's presence. Don Maloney's a sharp guy. He wasn't there when Tre arrived, so he brings all the necessary grey hair and experience to it. And I think a young GM needs that.
"I think there's a lot of BS in our business. So when I hear about my leaving: 'They said mutual consent but really there's something deep and dark inside about it', well, there's not. The truth is very different. It was just time. Simple as that.
"Time for me to spend less time on an airplane.
"Time for this GM (Treliving) to walk alone.
"But I will tell you one thing: I absolutely treasured the time I spent in Calgary. What a gift to get five years there."
Burke is, naturally, going to sell his local digs but plans on keeping the property he had built north of the city, up near Olds.
"So I'm not saying goodbye to Alberta anytime soon," he says.
When the brief Brian Burke era began here, early in September of 2013 as support for then-GM Jay Feaster, the newly-installed managerial aide-de-camp sat at the front the Ed Whalen media lounge and insisted he'd be operating behind the curtain, away from a spotlight that seemed to follow him wherever he went.
Nobody believed that.
Just as many won't believe now that he really, truly, has stepped away from the inner-sanctum, high-stakes, decision-making side of the game.
But for those who doubt, well, behind the curtain is where he did stay for those five years here, as promised.
"Look, I love the game,'' says Burke, his Staples shredder transaction complete. "I loved playing the game. I think it's a dream career - being paid to watch hockey games.
"Amazing, when you sit down and actually think about it.
"I told my son that just the other day - he works for the league. I said: 'You know, this is a pretty good gig we've got going.'
"Know what I did last night? I drove to Hamilton. Wasn't working, I just went because it's a third-round playoff game in the CHL. Just to watch. Saw a great game, too.
"Wonderful.
"So move totally away from the game? I don't think so. I love it too much.
"I'm just moving in a different direction. That's all.
"Different job title but still around, still in the building. Still where I want to be. We still have the greatest sport played by the greatest athletes.
"That'll never change."