In my stories on Hockeybuzz.com you will often find many rumors about players being discussed in possible trades....these rumors are interesting and enjoyable for all of us to ponder, discuss and debate.

In my stories on Hockeybuzz.com you will NEVER find any gossip about players in regards to their life away from the rinks or their personal lives...

There is a huge difference, and I take that difference very seriously.

There is a huge difference, and everyone I have ever hired to work here at hockeybuzz has heard me tell them the one basic rule: You can write anything at all about your opinion about a player's performance on the ice, but NEVER, even if you see it yourself, report on a player's personal life.

That is not a hockey story.

I first heard during the second period of the Sabres/Flyers game on Thursday night that something "big" might be about to go down in Montreal. Naturally my first thought was that a major trade was going to take place following the Habs' game in Pittsburgh, but after making a few calls around I was told that no trade was likely until Saturday at the earliest....

Then I started to hear that this "big" story may instead involve off ice activites of some of the Canadiens' players. None of this was substantiated in the least, but it doesn't take much to get the gossip rolling in the hockey world...Especially in hockey crazy cities that are struggling...

According to a report later posted by RDS, the Montreal newspaper La Presse was reporting that several Canadiens' players may be acquainted with an individual named Pasquale Mangiola who was recently arrested in Montreal as part of an undercover police operation in that city. Nothing in any of the published accounts that we have seen so far, however, actually connects the players in question with any potential illegal activities of Mr. Mangiola. Only that he was arrested in a police operation (Operation Axis) based on wiretaps. While one or more Habs' players may be acquainted with him to some unspecified degree, none have been officially linked in any way to anything that he have been arrested for.

And that's it.

In my opinion what we are seeing put out by La Presse is very sketchy at best, and truly is as tabloid as tabloid can be...

RDS reported that La Presse questioned Andrei Kostitsyn about his "relationship" with Mangiola after the game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The elder of the brothers Kostitsyn confirmed he knew Mangiola, but said he knew nothing about him.

So what is really happening here?

Well based on this, we simply don't know. And it would be unethical and flat out inappropriate to imply that these kids have any legal responsibility for anything Mr. Mangiola may or may not have done. This trick of the modern day press to ask questions like "Are the Kopstitsyns Involved With (pick your poison)?" is pure speculation and innuendo. The fact is when many people read something like this, they don't read the question they just make unsupported assumptions. When is the answer to a headline like that ever meant to imply "No" ?

I feel for these kids right now. They are Russian kids facing a firestorm that they can't possibly understand fully. Maybe they were taken advantage of here. Maybe they weren't. Until we know more we really know nothing...And in the end this may be an embarrassment only to the team. These players have their lives to live, and doing so as professional hockey players in the hockey fishbowl that is Montreal is hard enough.

This story is still far from complete, and it is quite possible that it is really no story at all. Until we know more....much more...let it stay that way.

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