Apologize for the delay in my blog this morning, I have been chasing down this rumor since late Saturday and had various aspects of it (on and off) the record and still have heard some variances in the rumor itself which I will attempt to outline (and most certainly update)...but here are the nuts and bolts..
About a month ago we all heard the Flames were "close to something big" and there has been continual talk that "we won't likely see a coaching change in Calgary, we will see a player trade."
Then, last week when the coaches were hitting the fan I was once again told: "The Flames are working on something bigger and the coach will survive if the deal can be worked out by mid-January..the only way we see a change is if the deal falls completely apart."
Then last Friday, I was getting close to getting the approval I needed to go with this and reported, AGAIN, I would have some Flames news coming (something a few of you have reminded me about:)
However throughout the weekend all went VERY quiet, too quiet if you ask me, and I was unable to land the needed OK's to go with this...until today.
(excuse the next 2 paragraphs if you don't need what I do explained to you for the upteenth time...I only put it in because so many ask)
Delays like this are a frustrating part of my job, but a necessity of my business. I have built up a great deal of trust in some very strong sources and while it would be easy to "just throw this out there" I would never be able to call on a source again if I were to break that bond. Even in the age of twitter, it just isn't worth losing a source just to be first. Twitter gives us more info than ever, but information from people who are simply good at doing twitter searches and putting together 1+1 is never as strong as information that comes from the guy who knows the people personally. There's an old newsroom saying, "Know who the guy drinks with and you'll know the story." What I have found is the more information available the more important knowing exactly who knows who is becoming.
Some will point out how I do in fact throw many rumors out there quickly without worry. That is absolutely true. However, I never do that when asked not to by a source. My sources know my off-the-record reputation. There is a whole separate world going on below the surface of my job.
On to the rumor...
The rumor is that the Caps and Flames have discussed the possibility of a swap of Iginla for Semin...in actuality they have been discussing this on and off for two and three quarter years (to my best estimate)
Now however it is gaining some major momentum...
The details I have heard most often are...Alex Semin, Braden Holtby and 2 picks for Jarome Iginla, Chris Butler and a prospect...(some say Howse, a few have said the Caps want Brodie (of course they do!)
What I do know is this...there is a TON of smoke behind this rumor, but obviously it goes along with Iginla whenever his name is brought up...There are also a great amount of people out there who tell me Calgary is playing this as close to the vest as ever...especially regarding whether or not Iginla wants to go or Calgary wants him to go...
I will have more on this in the coming days for sure...This is one of those deals which would more than likely happen sooner than later, but until the deadline passes will definitely remain as a contingency plan or "keeping our options open" type of rumor...But again, in this case I see this either happening or not by mid-January.
And this will likely not be the only Semin or Iginla rumors that surface as both the Caps and Flames attempt to get full value...
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