CALGARY—Brian Burke can accused of being many things. A brilliant hockey executive and Stanley Cup champion. An out-of-touch hockey executive who destroyed the Leafs. An ambassador for gay rights. A pain in the butt for reporters. A godsend for reporters.

But there’s one thing Burke could never have been accused of being: quiet.

Until now.

“Not doing media, thanks.”

That’s it. A wave, a nod and a thumbs up as he rumbled by, that was the extent of Burke’s interaction with the media last week. He has taken a stand-back approach, allowing the focus be on his Calgary Flames, who shocked many by making it to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

It was Ken King, chief executive officer of the Flames, who hired Burke as president of hockey operations. Burke remade the front office last summer, bringing in Brad Treliving from the Phoenix Coyotes as general manager and Brad Pascall from Hockey Canada as assistant GM.

“What we agreed is the general manager would be the voice of hockey,” King says. “It takes a little getting used to. There would be times (Burke) wants to jump up and get his two cents worth in. But he’s a smart guy, he understands protocol. It’s not an egotistical blow to him. It’s a strategic determination of how we’re going to communicate certain things.”

Burke is as civic-minded a business leader as there is. He is involved in community events. He will be the grand marshal of the Calgary Pride Parade. He will pick his spots to talk, like he did when he asked fans not get disorderly on the Red Mile.

In Toronto, his relationship with the media was sickly symbiotic. It seemed Burke and the media couldn’t live with each other. But they couldn’t live without each other.

Part of the core of Burke’s outspokenness in Toronto may well have been the quality of the team he was running. The Maple Leafs simply weren’t very good. Burke hated seeing his players attacked in the media. So he’d step in.

“In Toronto, the one thing he always got in trouble for, he’d have our backs no matter what happened,” said Joe Colborne, a former Leaf and current Flame. “There were times — say James Reimer would be having a tough go, or Phil Kessel would be going through a tough stretch; it was Toronto, it could be anyone — and he’d come out in the media and he’d say something or do something to take the pressure off those guys.

“We all recognized in the room what he was doing. The media would jump all over him. He would take the blame for a lot of things. That was really selfless of him. There aren’t too many guys that would do that. It’s such a cutthroat industry, if you have one bad year, or you get on the wrong side of somebody, you’re gone. He’s never wavered.”

One thing about Burke is his ability to network. He meets people. He stays in touch. He’ll send a note out of the blue, cheering up someone who maybe got fired, or simply sending a word of encouragement. Maybe a friendship builds. You never know where it will go. And hockey is a small world. Having Burke on your side is a good thing.

Treliving first met Burke when Burke was the assistant GM in Vancouver and invited Treliving to camp. Treliving never rose above the AHL as a player, but he turned to the executive side quickly, co-founding the Western Professional Hockey league and merging it with the Central Hockey League for a bit. And he would seek Burke’s advice. Then he spent nearly 10 years as the assistant GM of the Coyotes until Burke hired him.

“He really builds relationships with his staff and his player,” Treliving says. “You see it now at the rink, there’ll be someone who played for him 20 years ago that makes a point of seeking him out.

“Quite frankly, taking this job, the one thing, he really supports his people. It’s been better than I’d have imagined. He’s there to bounce ideas off, throwing his own ideas in. You beat up an issue to make a decision and once it’s made, he’s a really supportive guy.”

Burke also decided to retain head coach Bob Hartley, whom he had known in passing before coming to Calgary. When Hartley’s Colorado Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, Burke phoned to congratulate him. When Hartley was fired in Atlanta, Burke called to cheer him up.

“He’s always there to support you, always on an even keel, whether it’s after a win or a loss,” Hartley says. “His experience, his demeanour reflects well on this team. He has a positive influence on all of us. We have the feel that he has our back.

“He’s got that magical touch to make you feel better.”

Burke traded Matt Stajan in 2010 in the seven-player blockbuster that brought Dion Phaneuf to the Leafs. Now Burke is Stajan’s boss again. To the players, nothing has changed.

“Burke has been the exact same since the first time I met him,” Stajan says. “He’s never treated anyone differently. He’s a straight shooter. He’s really brought a presence to this organization. It’s helped get us to where we are so quickly.

“I see him in the dressing room. He’s the same guy. He hasn’t changed at all. He says it like it is. He’s a guys’ guy. He’s fun to be around.”

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But he traded you?

“Yeah, and when he did, he told me, ‘No hard feelings. It’s part of the business.’ He was straight up with me. It’s a business at the end of the day. People have to do what they think will help their team. As a player, you have to understand that.

“When he came here, from the outset it might have looked like he wanted to move me again, but he came right up to me and said: ‘Staj, I’ve always liked you as a player and a person. You’re going to be part of this.’ I really respect him.”