CALGARY — The Calgary Flames shook up their front office Thursday after a disappointing start to the season, firing general manager Jay Feaster and assistant general manager John Weisbrod.
The Flames have just 26 points this season, good for 13th place in the 14-team Western Conference.
Brian Burke, the team’s president of hockey operations, will serve as acting general manager. He said the search for Feaster’s replacement is underway.
Burke felt the moves needed to be made to get the franchise back on track as it tries to pursue a championship.
“I wouldn’t have come here if that wasn’t the ultimate goal,” he said. “I have to look at the steps that have been taken and figure out what’s the best way for us to get on that path.
“And I reached the conclusion that we needed to make this change.”
Burke added that one of the priorities for the Flames is to get tougher and more “truculent.”
“We want black-and-blue hockey here, that’s what we do in Alberta,” Burke said. “We’ve got to be big and more truculent — I know you’re all waiting for the word, there it is. I want a little more hostility out there than what I’m seeing right now.”
Burke said it was tough to fire Feaster, who he called a friend. But he said potentially unpopular decisions come with the job.
“I’m not kissing babies up here,” he said. “I’m not running for office. This is about winning hockey games. And I have to take the steps that I think are going to lead us to win the most hockey games we can win.”
Calgary took an 11-15-4 record into Thursday night’s home game against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Burke, who was hired by the Flames in early September, said one of the reasons for the shakeup is because he believes the Flames are giving up points in games they should win.
“I’m frustrated like all of our fans are with our inability to hold leads,” Burke said. “I love how this team works, I love how the coaches are playing the kids ... I’m just frustrated that we seem to routinely turn third-period leads into losses.”
Calgary did not make the playoffs in the two full seasons Feaster served as GM. He took over in an acting role midway through the 2010-11 season, and Calgary did not qualify that year either.
Previously, Feaster served as GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who he guided to a Stanley Cup win in 2004.
Burke has had a long career as a hockey executive. He has previously served as GM of the Vancouver Canucks, Toronto Maple Leafs, Hartford Whalers and Anaheim Ducks, who won the Stanley Cup under his watch in 2007.