Flames president Burke on outdated Saddledome: 'It's embarrassing'

Calgary Flames president Brian Burke apparently isn't too fond of the Flames' out-dated home arena, the Scotiabank Saddledome.

Describing the arena as "embarrassing" Thursday night, the always outspoken executive made it clear while speaking to the Chamber of Commerce in Calgary that a new home for the Flames is a long-term priority for the club.

"There is one building worse than ours … the Islanders'," said Burke per Global News, referring to the Nassau Memorial Coliseum on Long Island. 

Opened in 1983, the Saddledome is the fifth-oldest home arena in the National Hockey League. It's also worth noting that the four teams that play in older arenas - Detroit Red Wings (Joe Louis), New York Rangers (Madison Square Garden), Edmonton Oilers (Rexall Place), and the Islanders (Nassau Memorial Coliseum) - have either spent an astounding amount of money on renovations, or are in the process of moving to newer, state of the art buildings.

"We need a new arena in Calgary," Burke continued. "There is absolutely no reason we should watch a new building going up in Edmonton, and we should play in a 1988 arena here.

"Lower bowls in a newer arena are nine thousand seats minimum. Ours is what, six? So we are not generating revenues like other NHL buildings are," Burke continued. "The weight load that the roof will bear is tiny, so a lot of the big stage acts don’t come here. So it’s not just what a hockey team gets, what it adds to a hockey team, it’s what it does to a downtown core."

Despite Burke's lampooning of the antiquated Saddledome, the city has yet to receive any formal proposals.