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What is Sacred? What I have found on the real "Dry Island" story. |
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Yesterday, as many of you know by now, a Philly newspaper gossip columnist released a story attempting to connect the Richards and Carter trades to an internal locker room challenge that Peter Laviolette issued to his players. In the game, called Dry Island, players would write their numbers on a white board and vow not to drink alcohol for thirty days. In the story the writer says Richards and Carter were never a part of Dry Island, and then the writer went on to ask Paul Holmgren about whether or not this had anything to do with Richards and Carter being traded.
Paul Holmgren, always honest to a fault, admitted in the story that the Richards and Carter didn't put their numbers up there but also that other players didn't as well. And then Paul got upset that this was out there... Adding "That's our locker room. Our inner sanctum. Our board. Someone's crossing a line here," in discussing the Dry Island.
Then came the rumor that it was two "current players" who leaked the story. I spent yesterday researching this. Several hundred of you were asking for me to chime in on this and wondering why I was silent. Well, to those of you whom have read me for years you know the distinctions I draw on my own moral compass.
I will report any transactional, hockey-related rumor I get from a solid source. Talking about hockey player movement is interesting discussion and while the vast majority of what is discussed never occurs....if you know where to look there are great clues as to the thinking of NHL teams in these discussions. If a rumored discussion never becomes a trade it more often than not is a sign post leading to a trade.
The laws of traditional journalism are more and more skewed each day. Since I am not sourcing my rumors (because by allowing my sources anonymity they grow more comfortable sharing with me) much of what I write would never be allowed in a major newspaper...
So the laws of Internet journalism are still being defined, and largely rest in the moral compass of the individual writers. I don't believe in writing about a player's personal life. In my opinion that crosses a line into "gossip." Personal lives are personal. Players are public figures and when someone is a public figure they give up enough of their personal lives by default.
So back to Dry Island...
All the players and NHL people who texted me yesterday looking for who it was in the Flyers room that leaked the Dry Island story were shocked by the notion that it could be current players.
One reporter said to me "I hear it is two current Flyers" to which I responded, "If that's true they won't be current Flyers by day's end."
When said to one Flyers veteran "I can't imagine it could be a current player, because I would hate to be that player were it discovered. The veteran core of this team would destroy that individual," the player responded, "You are right about that."
It's not #20
Then of course came the Pronger accusations. This was inevitable but honestly ridiculous.
"Chris is way too smart to say anything," one source opined.
People have made much of this adversarial relationship between Richards and Pronger, but to tell you the truth, like so much to do with Mike Richards' time in Philly, people are lazy in reporting what really went on between Richards and Pronger.
Just because Richards wore the C, and Pronger felt like the captain of the team, it didn't mean the two players didn't respect one another.
They are very different kinds of people. Richie was young, very quiet and guarded with the media, not a big talker. Pronger was always verbal and loved the limelight while he played with the media for sport.
Yet both guys stepped onto the ice with their hearts on their sleeves.
So there is NO chance that Pronger was the leak. None. No one would understand the media ramifications better.
Perhaps the only real "thing" between Pronger and Richards I have ever lent any credence to was Pronger's presence in the locker room could intimidate any young Captain. But I will also say that I know some of the great lengths Pronger went to play that down...and make Mike more comfortable.
The fact that Pronger and Laviolette were closer than Richie and Laviolette was more of a generational thing.
I do wonder about Richards being the Captain appointed by Stevens before Laviolette got there. I don't know that Peter would have made the same choice with the line-up he inherited. It's odd to me that a GM always gets to hire a new coach, but a new coach doesn't get to appoint a new Captain.
Mike Richards is a solid, good Captain, but he was also a Captain on a team of more experienced ex-Captains like Pronger, Briere, and Timonen.
Not Current Flyers
As I continued digging I discovered it was one former player who I believe was the culprit, but since this individual has yet to fess up I am not comfortable saying his name. My sources also led me to a former team employee who I also connect with the Hartnell/Carter gossip the Inquirer irresponsibly went with last year. (I just deleted what I really feel about this style of reporting from these parenthesis.)
What is sacred?
HBO's 24/7 was amazing last year for fans to see, but it also opened up a can of worms that isn't easily closed. This Dry Island story is not significant when it comes to trying to draw the lines between "the end of the Richards/Carter era" and "wild out of control partying," and Carter and Richards would still be here if the team won, etc.
The Dry Island story is significant because of the fact part of the inner sanctum was released by a person close to that sanctum with obvious nefarious intentions to "get back at Carter and Richards now that they are gone."
It's so frigging easy to kick these guys now that they are gone and blame the partying while invoking the "Old City entourage" stereotypes. The Flyers never had an issue with these guys when it came to the rink. They didn't love their faces showing up on Facebook, but they wouldn't trade them for it.
Yes, Mike and Jeff liked a good time and had a lot of fun. But guess what? They aren't the first young, single, good looking hockey players making millions of dollars who enjoyed the spoils of a hip, cool city. The stories and tales of their escapades were way overblown. Mike and Jeff knew this, and the Flyers knew this.
I can't tell you how many ex-NHLers have joked with me saying, "If Facebook and camera phones existed when I was starting out I'd probably be in jail now!"
Whoever leaked this story will have to answer to NHL players in whatever locker room they are heading to this fall. This is not a Flyers thing. This is an inner sanctum thing, and that is why Paul Holmgren is mad. He was an NHL player first and is still a player at heart. This is beyond wrong.
Like I said. The best indication that we aren't dealing with current Flyers is we haven't seen a trade in the last 24 hours. If the Flyers knew who said this, they would be gone. Immediately.
But as I stated previously...my strong belief is whoever leaked this Dry Island story is gone already.
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