I really dislike the rumors as well. But Frei does not touch on WHY the other major sports leagues (in North America) don’t have as much open speculation and rumor-mongering as this.

In the NFL, there’s not much in the way of trade rumors because trades simply don’t happen. In the NFL, players have such a short shelf life that everything is about getting the best players possible at the draft and getting them right on the field, or getting players in their first shot at free agency. Also, there’s so much parity that save for the Detroit Lions, you got damn near an equal shot at winning with any club in the league.

In the NBA, there are a few trades, but less rumor mongering because NBA trades are more difficult to conceive because of the way their cap is set up. It’s very easy to discredit what seems like 95% of the rumors people make up about NBA trades simply because they would be illegal within the NBA cap rules.

In MLB, the trade deadline is at a weird time in the season. The draft is in the middle of the season. There are a lot of trades for prospects and minor league players for depth all year round, but not much in the way of big name players. I think that when you talk about the MLB deadline and speculation, etc., there is quite a lot of it, it’s just that the “hotstove” has been a more accepted part of MLB for a much longer time than it has been in the NHL. And frankly, I think the quality of journalist that’s covering baseball, at the highest level, is just much better than those that cover the NHL. In MLB, it’s tougher to make up trade rumors because contracts for decent players are so massive, even without a cap… in the NHL, even the biggest contract is pretty manageable by comparison, and only a few times have the cash and the willingness to take on big salaries and/or long contracts via a trade risk (Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers), so there’s a real limit to what rumors you can foster that anyone will even buy.

But I will say, for anyone that thinks rumor mongering is bad in the NHL, just pay attention to European soccer for a week or two.

Posted by Nathan from Jonny Ericsson's ice cream truck on 02/22/09 at 09:34 AM ET

From what I understand, agents fuel a very significant portion of the rumour mill.  It’s tampering of a GM mentions a specific player or specific team, but it’s not tampering if an agent tosses out a scenario he’d like to see happen with his client, a scenario he’d hate to see happen with another agent’s client, etc.

Posted by George James Malik from South Lyon, MI on 02/22/09 at 09:55 AM ET

There seems to be a bit more of a chummy attitude in hockey than other sports.  I wonder if it isn’t because so many of the journalists who cover it seem less ... not professional ... but maybe a little less detached than baseball writers.  There seem to be (especially on television) few commentators or reporters that are there as commentators or reporters, and a lot more who are just waiting out purgatory until they get another coaching or GM position.  As temps they don’t seem to put as much effort in being good at their current profession because they seem to see it as a stopgap, temporary measure.

I wonder if that will begin to change as teams look to stop recycling as many of the same names.  There was some bit I saw where the comment was made that more teams are looking for fresh attitudes and getting new coaches instead of the same old names, and Tortorella looked as though the thought caused him physical pain.

In other sports stupid rumours come up and are shot down, and that’s it.  In hockey a lot more of them keep turning up over and over and over, no matter how much logic goes against it.

Posted by Baroque from Michigan on 02/22/09 at 11:30 AM ET