• For users coming over from tmlfans.ca your username will remain the same but you will need to use the password reset feature (check your spam folder) on the login page in order to set your password. If you encounter issues, email Rick couchmanrick@gmail.com

Random rumours

Nik the Trik said:
CarltonTheBear said:
Also, what a generic statement. The Leafs have been working on clearing cap space since the cap was put in.
Click to expand...

Report: I can't speak to specifics but sources tell me the Leafs are trying to improve as a hockey team.
Click to expand...
And they are on the phone daily talking with 29 other teams,at least that's what my sources are saying.
 
bustaheims said:
This is the same Howard Berger who reported the Leafs were buying out Liles this summer, right? There isn't another Howard Berger out there?

Credibility = 0.
Click to expand...

Berger was playing the odds, they actually should have bought out Liles and used a regular buyout on Komisarek.  Oh well.
 
Zee said:
Berger was playing the odds, they actually should have bought out Liles and used a regular buyout on Komisarek.  Oh well.
Click to expand...

The way he reported it was like it was actually going to happen, not him guessing they would. It was also well after they had bought out Komisarek. He "reported" the Leafs would buy out Liles in the post-arbitration buyout period. He's also just playing the odds here. He's really just putting two and two together - if the Leafs intend to keep Rielly, they need to move a defenceman so he can get regular ice time. They also need to clear cap space. Nothing newsworthy or groundbreaking. So, typical Berger.
 
bustaheims said:
Zee said:
Berger was playing the odds, they actually should have bought out Liles and used a regular buyout on Komisarek.  Oh well.
Click to expand...

The way he reported it was like it was actually going to happen, not him guessing they would. It was also well after they had bought out Komisarek. He "reported" the Leafs would buy out Liles in the post-arbitration buyout period. He's also just playing the odds here. He's really just putting two and two together - if the Leafs intend to keep Rielly, they need to move a defenceman so he can get regular ice time. They also need to clear cap space. Nothing newsworthy or groundbreaking. So, typical Berger.
Click to expand...

Does Berger even have "sources" anymore?  Is he working?  I know he has a blog but is there a newspaper/radio paying him?
 
Zee said:
Does Berger even have "sources" anymore?  Is he working?  I know he has a blog but is there a newspaper/radio paying him?
Click to expand...

I think the blog is all he's got right now, so, whether or not he still has sources that are legit is very questionable.
 
bustaheims said:
Zee said:
Does Berger even have "sources" anymore?  Is he working?  I know he has a blog but is there a newspaper/radio paying him?
Click to expand...

I think the blog is all he's got right now, so, whether or not he still has sources that are legit is very questionable.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying everything he reports is absolutely accurate and unbiased, but I don't think you can cover a hockey team as routinely as he did for twenty years and not pick up a few friends in high places, that are still in the game today. No need to completely discredit him here.
 
RedLeaf said:
I'm not saying everything he reports is absolutely accurate and unbiased, but I don't think you can cover a hockey team as routinely as he did for twenty years and not pick up a few friends in high places, that are still in the game, along the way. No need to completely discredit him here.
Click to expand...

His credibility was very questionable when he covered the team. The quality of the sources he had back then wasn't exactly high. It's not much of a stretch to believe that now that he's been away from the team for a few years, the few credible sources he may have once had are no longer willing to pass information on to him. Part of the reason he doesn't cover the team anymore is that he wasn't particularly well liked by those in management positions with the Leafs. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if he doesn't have any more "friends in high places," as he didn't have many when he was working.
 
RedLeaf said:
I'm not saying everything he reports is absolutely accurate and unbiased, but I don't think you can cover a hockey team as routinely as he did for twenty years and not pick up a few friends in high places, that are still in the game today. No need to completely discredit him here.
Click to expand...

But people don't typically leak things to sources because they're "friends". They do so because they want an advocate or they want to send a message anonymously or to influence public perception from cover. The symbiotic relationship exists so that reporters have things to report and sources have means of direct communication with the public. A reporter is only valuable in that regard to the extent that what they write is read by people and so it's not unfair at all to suggest that someone wouldn't have access if they...lost professional access.
 
OldTimeHockey said:
RedLeaf, this is a message board....surely our sources are better than Berger's ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah. I guess once these guys lose their press passes, they become instant hacks.
 
RedLeaf said:
bustaheims said:
RedLeaf said:
Yeah. I guess once these guys lose their press passes, they become instant hacks.
Click to expand...

Berger was a hack well before he lost his press pass.
Click to expand...

Just an observation, but 20 years on the beat suggests otherwise.
Click to expand...

But the minute they changed program directors at the Fan he was canned.  Suggests to me he was protected by one guy who liked him.  He must have liked him a lot for all the issues he caused, including almost getting sued by Sean Avery. Seemed like once a year he was issuing a public apology for something he did.
 
RedLeaf said:
Just an observation, but 20 years on the beat suggests otherwise.
Click to expand...

Just because he maintained his job doesn't mean he was good at it. Especially in the later years. He got caught a number of times purely making things up or trusting "sources" that had no reliability or inside information - like the whole 'Ron Wilson's cousin email' BS. He may not have been a hack his entire career, but he certainly became one later in it. He did not adapt well to the internet becoming such a big part of sports coverage.

His last few years on the job, he basically tried to be Damian Cox, but without being able to write as well as Damian Cox.
 
bustaheims said:
RedLeaf said:
Just an observation, but 20 years on the beat suggests otherwise.
Click to expand...

Just because he maintained his job doesn't mean he was good at it. Especially in the later years. He got caught a number of times purely making things up or trusting "sources" that had no reliability or inside information - like the whole 'Ron Wilson's cousin email' BS. He may not have been a hack his entire career, but he certainly became one later in it. He did not adapt well to the internet becoming such a big part of sports coverage.

His last few years on the job, he basically tried to be Damian Cox, but without being able to write as well as Damian Cox.
Click to expand...

Plus he started writing for Hockey Buzz near the end.. if you choose to do that your credibility is instantly dropped a few notches.
 
Corn Flake said:
Plus he started writing for Hockey Buzz near the end.. if you choose to do that your credibility is instantly dropped a few notches.
Click to expand...

Well, in his defence, he wasn't actually writing for the site itself. He just agreed to repost the same stories he put on his blog on their site. Reaching a wider audience isn't necessarily a poor move and isn't in and of itself detrimental to your credibility, but, in his case . . . well, reaching a wider audience just made his declining credibility that much more obvious. On top of that, he started pandering to the audience that frequents that site, and, well, he didn't make any friends doing that either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top