Calgary Flames name Brad Treliving as GM
Posted Apr 28, 2014 12:23 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
From the desert to the Saddledome, the Calgary Flames have their new general manager.
Sportsnet confirms Phoenix Coyotes Assistant GM Brad Treliving will take over for President of Hockey Operations Brian Burke, who had been in the role temporarily after firing Jay Feaster earlier this season.
An official announcement is expected at 3:00 p.m. Monday.
Treliving has been assistant GM with the Phoenix Coyotes since July 2007 and is also assistant GM for Canada at the IIHF World Championship.
The 44-year-old Penticton, B.C. native previously served as president of the Central Hockey League and President and Director of Hockey Operations for the Western Professional Hockey League, which he founded.
Sports journalist and author, Bruce Dowbiggin, said this is a good and timely hire for the team.
“I think it’s important that they get a general manager in because with the draft coming up, you have to start doing the work now, you have to have somebody to coordinate the draft,” Dowbiggin said.
As for what Flames fans should hope for, Dowbiggin said it’s someone who can find talent and manage the payroll.
“He certainly has the promise, there’s a lot of challenges in Calgary obviously, the team isn’t that good yet and it has to get lucky in finding some prospects fast but he certainly has the pedigree,” he said.
That’s a perspective Sarah McLellan, Coyotes beat writer for the Arizona Republic, shares and said it’s a big loss for Phoenix.
“From his days in the CHL to now being in the NHL, I think it’s a great hire for them and it’s kind of a big hole for the Coyotes now to fill moving forward,” she said.
McLellan added although he signed an extension last summer, the idea of him leaving became more of a possibility when vacancies started opening up.
“He was rumoured to be a candidate for the Buffalo job and then obviously the Flames job, so I think the fact that there was just more opportunities opening up, his name just continued to flow into the conversation and rightfully so,” she said.
He is also the son of billionaire businessman and Dragons’ Den cast member, Jim Treliving.
