As many of you have already read Eklund's current blog on the news surrounding the Montreal Canadiens which concluded with his request for everyone to abstain from speculating until all the facts are on the table, I just wanted to inform you of the following before you read on: At no point do I plan on piecing together what little information has been released in order to form some masterful hypothesis for you all to consider. I too respect the players' rights to keep private matters, well, private. I merely wanted to share my experience of witnessing chaotic bedlam take place on various hockey forums as news spread of a "bomb" being dropped this morning that would unleash "the darkest day in Montreal Canadiens history" upon us. Here goes...

As a fan of not only the Bruins but the National Hockey League as a whole, I feared for the worst. No matter how much I detest Boston's arch rival or how often I make light-hearted jabs about their personnel, there would be no satisfaction in seeing not only personal lives but potentially an organization in shambles were a genuinely catastrophic announcement looming. The NHL has been virtually controversy free for some time now. Aside from the Staal brothers getting bagged for drinking a bit too much at a bachelor party and Sean Avery stirring the pot while recounting his former flames, the NHL has essentially been squeaky clean in recent years.

Were you to believe all the hype coming out of multiple media outlets last night, you likely shared the same fears I did. Us crazy hockey fans and rabid internet addicts often let our minds wander a bit. We're all guilty of occasionally reading too far into things and speculating with little to nothing to go on. But we were force fed information by people guilty of the same thing: speculating. We were roped in, anticipating an announcement that would leave the sport of hockey with a doozy of a shiner as ugly as the ones perpetuated by Alex Rodriguez and Tim Donaghy upon their respective sports.

The following conversation took place on RDS:

Demers: "Honestly, there are things I know, and what looks like what's going to come out [in the papers] tomorrow, I swear to you, I thought about Mr. Beliveau tonight...and I just hope I'm dreaming. I'm a proud Canadien, the Canadiens are my life, and I hope I'm dreaming but I don't think I am"

Bergeron: "I feel the same way. It's unbelievable. Tomorrow, hockey will be second. I don't like at all what I've heard today."

Hartley: "If everything we've been told is true, I've never seen that in my life. If it's true, I'm going back to Atlanta [joking]"

Mitchell: "The Canadiens are my roots, and my idols, like you guys...and it looks like the foundation is going to be shaken. Not just for the Quebecois but for anyone who wears the Canadiens sweater around the country. To me, what's happened, it's unacceptable".

Crete: "We can't go into many details but something has happened that will implicate not just one Canadiens player but many. You'll be hearing more tomorrow."

The widespread speculation set off a firestorm in hockey forums everywhere. Eric Engels blog here was up over 700 comments in a matter of hours, while chatter on the Canadiens forum at HF boards made deadline day and free agency threads look like child's play in comparison. My oh my what a press leak can do! No one was without a theory as word spread that the police were waiting at the airport for the Habs to arrive. By the time the news eventually broke, one might have gone as far as to ponder if Adolf Hitler, Whitey Bulger and Kim Jong-il were about to deboard.

The place went flat out berserk in anticipation as a cast of characters chimed in. There was the "guy who knows a guy" spouting off "inside information", there were the jokesters claiming "all i hope is that Halle Berry is involved and there are photos", there were nervous nellies citing they were going to hurl as they awaited the big announcement. Hell it was even an educational experience as one user posted a link and info on how to track the flight. It's true when they say you learn something new every day.

My refresh button got the work-out of a lifetime tonight. As minutes passed and many posters expressed frustration, just as eager to get to bed as they were to find out what all the fuss was about, the anticipation finally hit it's crescendo. As I took a deep breath with my eyes prepared to take in the tale of woe, Ashton Kutcher suddenly burst through my door. As I gave him that classic "Hey, I know whats going on here" look, he plopped down across the room and grabbed the remote control. As he began laughing hysterically, the picture began to fade in as the volume escalated. And there he was, on my television, that red-headed, trench coat wearing soulful man who has wreaked hilarious havoc on every man, woman and child for far too long. "Never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down" I heard bellowing from the speakers. I turned and shook my head at the giddy Kutcher. I'll be damned, I was just simultaneously Punk'd and Rick Roll'd.

Well, at least that's what it felt like anyways. As I stated from the get-go, it's now 6:00am here on the east coast and who knows what lies ahead in the coming hours. A far more detailed controversy may be on it's way to a newsstand, mailbox, or doorstep near you. But for now, I feel a bit victimized. I feel like someone, somewhere, got out there lasso and roped everyone in with me for a ratings bonanza. All because, and I'll say it again it's all that is known at this hour, a few members of a major sport's team are associated with a shady character.

This is groundbreaking, earth-shattering, apocalyptic news? This is of such high severity that the entire province of Quebec is going to implode upon itself? Wow. I'm dumbfounded. Is it wise to associate oneself with a person like Pasquale Mangiola? Of course not, especially in the position these players are in. But hey, if having shady friends with criminal backgrounds is worthy of so much hype, such enormous television ratings, such an astonishing number of website hits, well, coming soon to you (should it not exist already): NBABuzz.com! I'm going to be a trillionaire in no time! Or maybe I could get into the fashion industry, I can see it now: "I scrolled through hundreds of pages on a Habs' board waiting for big news and all I got was this lousy t-shirt". Okay, maybe it needs to be condensed a bit, but we can always work on that later.

For what seemed like eternity I waited, and waited, and waited with thousands upon thousands of fans. By the time news broke I was ready for something as shocking as Watergate, something as monumental as Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. Instead, we essentially all got Y2K'd. All the buildup in the world for what now seems like a mere hiccup compared to what all of our wandering minds proposed.

But you know what? If I wake up and indeed this was all their was to it, the hype was all for not and every secret has been revealed, saving the sport we love from having to deal with a public relations nightmare of epic proportions...I'll be A-okay with that. Thankfully Ashton Kutcher vacated my room, so I will now sleep with my fingers crossed that this story has been blown way out of proportion on behalf of hockey fans everywhere. Feel free to follow suit.

Good Night,
JC