Canucks & Beyond
Next entry: Stan Smyl Survives Yet Another Regime Change
Previous entry: HNIC Theme Contest Opens Today
The Garrioch Effect
by Alanah McGinley on 06/19/08 at 01:36 PM ET
Comments (8)
I usually like hockey trade rumors; even if they’re wrong, they’re fun fantasies of what could be without being burdened too excessively by things like ‘reality’.
As a Canucks fan, I particularly appreciate temporary escapes from reality. When rumors run amok about the likes of Olli Jokinen and Ryan Malone coming to Vancouver, I’m entertained. I separate myself from that troublesome inner-knowledge that “Canucks fans are never that lucky.” And it’s pleasant for as long as it lasts.*
But escapes from reality are one thing—manipulating hockey fans to drive website traffic and sell newspapers is another thing all together.
Or maybe it’s not even that sinister. Perhaps some reporters are just stupid.
I’m not the type to throw around snarky personal insults very often—if ever—but today I’ve reached my limit. And his name is Bruce Garrioch.
What, in the name of all that is supposed to be holy and ethical and above-the-rif-raff in journalism, is going on with the Ottawa Sun columnist lately?
His column this morning noted this blockbuster revelation:
League sources say Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero offered all-star centre Evgeni Malkin to the Kings for the No. 2 overall pick in the draft and a player, possibly centre Mike Cammalleri. [...]
And he goes on to suggest that the reason Kings GM Dean Lombardi turned this offer down was related to his comments yesterday that the Kings “decided to stay the course by building with young players.”
Madness. So I’m going to reiterate my earlier rant about this idiocy (which I originally left on a KK Hockey post this morning) and that is: either Garrioch is purposefully manipulating hockey fans and the rest of the media with outrageous rumors, or he’s flirting with incompetence.
One way or another, he and his “league sources” have less credibility with me at this point than those of a fanboy on the Canucks.com message boards.
It was also Garrioch’s “league sources” he claimed tipped him in this column (the content of which has since been changed) that he wrote a couple weeks ago virtually guaranteeing that Peter DeBoer had been hired for the Senators coaching gig. This was promptly denied by Sens GM Bryan Murray and 2 days later Craig Hartsburg was hired by the Senators and DeBoer was hired by the Florida Panthers.
On the surface, the only evidence it appears Garrioch ever had was the knowledge that DeBoer had traveled to the tropics for an interview with the Sens’ owner, Eugene Melnyk.
Whoops.
But sure, okay. Mistakes happen. Bad information. I get it.
But now he claims that LA turned down an offer for Malkin at the price of their #2 draft pick and Cammalleri? Are you kidding me? The entire point of draft day is to find a player like Malkin—as if LA is seriously going to turn that deal down. And as for Garrioch suggesting that Dean Lombardi might have turned it down in order to build with “young players"… wtf?? Malkin is 21 years old.
But despite my rant, I do want to be generous here. So maybe Garrioch really does have these mysterious “league sources” and he’s not entirely making this up (*not an accusation I have any foundation to make, but I’m telling you… it’s crossed my mind). In which case, my guess is those sources are screwing with him for their own personal entertainment.
How else do you explain it? Other than to say that Dean Lombardi would have to have completely lost his marbles.
In the past, we would enjoy these pie-in-the-sky rumors either through the madness of hopeful fan bloggers (and there’s nothing wrong with that), or the calm analysis of journalists (such as what Lyle Richardson does so well) who might report the odd crazy rumor, but gave us their insider’s-take.
We would learn something about the possible scenarios and it was often educational about the behind-the-scenes negotiations of the NHL.
But not this year. Blurring the lines of journalism for the self-aggrandizing goal of getting “The Scoop” is seeming far too common.
To the mainstream media reading this that might stick up their noses to the thoughts of a lowly hockey blogger on the ethics of journalism, I hope you’ll bear in mind that I in no way claim to be a “journalist” and nor do I want to be. It is you guys that I (and most hockey bloggers) look to for the best analysis in the hockey world. Which is why I think of this Garrioch business deserves questioning. The Garrioch Effect is a slippery slope, methinks.
Secondly, plenty of your own brethren are thinking exactly the same thing I just wrote in this post. I’ve heard from enough of them about that column of Garrioch’s this morning to guarantee it.
_______________
*Of course, the Roberto Luongo deal was the singular exception. But there were no rumors about that before that one happened—and no one would’ve believed them if there were, I assure you! 
Filed in: hockey media, nhl general | Canucks and Beyond | Permalink
Tags: bruce+garrioch, evengi+malkin, hockey+rumors, media, ottawa+sun,
Comments
He is definitely off his rocker. But the Sun does need readers, and it does get people’s interest when he says those things. It’s similar to CBC’s Hotstove, when the ‘brilliant’ suggestion went out that Spezza and Luongo would be traded.
Posted by anonymouss from Waterloo, ON on 06/19/08 at 01:16 PM ET
This just in....Zetterberg is being traded to same division Chicago for a 1986 Ford Tempo and the rights to take Havlat out for dinner one night.
Can I be a Sun journalist now? Maybe take over Cox’s job?
Posted by 41 Long Ones from Edmonton on 06/19/08 at 01:38 PM ET
Look. Garrioch is an idiot.
If the Pens play Malkin another year, then let him walk, they get 4 first rounders. FOUR FIRSTS. So if he has 4 firsts and another year at the entry level, then that makes his trade value what, oh one first and Cammo? Even if you could count the #2 as two, Cammo isn’t worth one pick, let along the other two and the free year.
Posted by Garrioch is a Joke on 06/19/08 at 02:26 PM ET
well said… throw Larry Brooks from the NY Post into the same category
Posted by puckeye on 06/19/08 at 03:14 PM ET
Garrioch is the new Eklund. Ugh.
Brian Murray was just on Team 1200 and said he talked to Pittsburg because he wanted in on any Malkin deal...and was told the rumors are false.
Posted by Rachel from Calif on 06/19/08 at 03:15 PM ET
Garrioch makes stuff up. I have no doubt of that. The problem with Ekky’s idol is that Garrioch does occasionally get an absolutely spectacular tip to put amongst the drivel he makes up each week (Lyle “Spector” Richardson could base his career on debunking Garrioch’s every-Sunday lies, rumours, and made up sh** alone), so people keep listening to the guy.
I take his columns as mostly entertainment, frankly, like reading a horoscope instead of actually expecting him to predict the future, because his most reliable trade rumours are usually the biggest lines of BS this side of a Gary Bettman press conference.
Sometimes I wonder who these “league sources” are. Does Garrioch talk to the janitorial staff of various NHL rinks? Zamboni drivers? Ushers? Guys who frequent the same coffee shops as GM’s, and hear them shooting the crap and saying, “Gee, wouldn’t it be great to get Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, and Joe Thornton for a half-empty bottle of Labatt’s and two pairs of skate laces? Ha ha ha, I’d take that deal any day!”
Garrioch finds about one real and substantiated rumour in 200, and he writes well enough to make the rumours he makes up seem credible and imminent. That’s why he doesn’t need to rumourmonger by numbers (BG 95, BG 1,054, BG 1,832,963) and finish every column with, “More to come...”
He’s a bullsh** artist of unparalleled audacity and insistence that his rumours really have a grain of truth somewhere in an empty silo, and because he both writes like a soap opera scriptwriter and doesn’t ask people for money to read his drivel, many people are gullible enough to believe that, one day, soon, Garrioch will be proven right.
That’s all he does--he strings people along with promises that his rumours are substantiated by someone with a tangential connection to the NHL, and he paints a picture of desperation and general managers gone wild (that’s a scary thought) that’s good enough that some people believe him. Regrettably, 99% of it is a con job, and for some reason, he’s rewarded for the audacity to make up trade scenarios that almost make sense until you realize how staggeringly stupid they are with employment.
Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 06/19/08 at 03:33 PM ET
Bruce Garrioch is more than a hack - in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline, he threw up dozens of trades involving Jokinen, Sundin, McCabe, et al. - that never happened! He will throw trade rumors out involving players with well-known no-trades, and it’s all just speculation - the only difference between Garrioch and Eklund is that Garrioch seems to work for a MSM newspaper…
Posted by Vin from USA on 06/19/08 at 06:49 PM ET
Add a Comment
Please limit embedded image or media size to 575 pixels wide.
Add your own avatar by joining Kukla's Korner, or logging in and uploading one in your member control panel.
Captchas bug you? Join KK or log in and you won't have to bother.
Most Recent Blog Posts
Wellwood Returning to Vancouver
In Defense of Dany Heatley (sort of)
Sedin’s Agent Not Optimistic About a Vancouver Deal, but is Anyone?
Mike Keenan Joins the Canucks?
GM Place Keeps its Name; Disaster Averted
What’s Trevor Linden Been Up To?
About Canucks & Beyond
Alanah McGinley has been blogging hockey since 2003, sharing opinions, rants and not-so-deep thoughts with anyone who will listen. In addition to writing Canucks & Beyond and helping manage Kukla’s Korner, Alanah is one of the founders and co-hosts of The Crazy Canucks Podcast, as featured at Canucks.com.
She has contributed pieces to FoxSports.com and the New York Times Slapshot blog, as well as other stray destinations in cyberspace.
Email:
Alanah’s Twitter: Not really hockey-ish. [LINK]
Other Canucks Blogs
If Shero offered Malkin for this pittance, it would go against his reputation for shrewdness in trade negotiations and the stupidity of this move should get him fired.
If Lombardi turned down this steal, his reputation for competence would be shattered and he, too, should be burned in effigy for this lost opportunity.
This is either a Jordan Staal (not a Malkin) trade offer or a complete fabrication.
Posted by Steve on 06/19/08 at 12:47 PM ET