Brian Burke Threatens Flames Will Leave Calgary if Team Can't Get New Arena

Someone took the muzzle off Brian Burke again.

The outspoken 61-year-old thrust himself back into the public spotlight on Wednesday when he came out swinging over the Flames' desire for a new arena. Quite simply, Burke says it needs to happen and be backed by public funding, or else.

"We're not going to make the threat to leave. We'll just leave," said the Flames' president of hockey operations, according to the Calgary Herald.

The fireworks ramped up even more when Burke went off on a longtime season-ticket holder who questioned the team's need for public money and implied that the club had no option but to make it work in southern Alberta.

"You don't think we could find a place to go? With a straight face you're saying that. Let's see. Quebec. Oh yeah, they have a brand-new building that meets NHL standards," he said, according to the CBC.

The topic of a new arena is nothing new for the Flames, who play in a rink that was built in the early 1980s, and is the oldest building in the NHL now that the provincial rival Oilers have a new publicly-subsidized rink in their downtown core. City officials said last year that a proposal for a multi-purpose sports venue in Calgary aimed at being the new home of the Flames was not feasible, and could cost more than $1.5 billion with taxpayers potentially on the hook for two thirds of the cost.

The Flames are owned by a group led by Murray Edwards, who was worth an estimated $2.83 billion in 2015, according to Canadian Business' 2015 list of Canada's richest people. Despite this monetary reality, Burke has been lobbying for public taxpayer money to fund the Flames' new arena for a while now, and he continued to plead his case on Wednesday, arguing that the reluctance of cities and governments to spend money on professional sports teams and arenas puts Canadian-based franchises at a significant financial disadvantage compared to its American counterparts.

"In the US, it has long been acceptable to use public money to construct arenas and stadiums. It's long been acceptable to give a pro team a favourable lease based on the benefits pro teams bring to the marketplace," Burke said.

Ken King, president and CEO of the Calgary Sport and Entertainment Corporation, which owns the club, was forced into the role of damage control following Burke's comments, downplaying the remarks as just "strong views" on the subject and ensuring fans that the team isn't going anywhere.

"He is not our spokesperson regarding a new events centre for our city. We remain committed to our dialogue with the city and very optimistic we will get to a positive conclusion. We admire everyone's enthusiasm on this subject," said King. Calgary's mayor Naheed Nenshi even stepped up to deliver his opinion on the matter, stating that he feels Burke was just posturing and negotiating with his comments. Nenshi re-assured Calgarians by pointing to the NHL and its media's commitment to keeping two NHL teams in Alberta.

"Rogers has given [the NHL] billions of dollars and they're not going to let them remove a team from a western Canadian market," he said. The team is not going to leave Calgary despite Burke's threats. His tactics are also unlikely to bring the public funds he feels are needed for a new building, continuing an unsuccessful run for the arena lobby in Cow Town.

If only the team could find a local billionaire owner to pay for the building himself…