For those of you who chose to sleep more than three hours here is the update to both get you up to speed and give you a sense of what I "speculate" is happening given the rather extreme amounts of misinformation...

I will tell you this much, as much fun as this mystery has been, I will have another blog out shortly because today will NOT just be Billy Guerin day at hockeybuzz.com.... There are plenty of other rumors that I have been chasing until 4:30 am last night (we have a cool little insomniac club going on the site now that tunes in after 3 am)

but getting to the story:

My hat goes off to our own Andy Strickland and Chris Botta at http://www.islanderspointblank.com/ It is basically their reporting that EVERYONE else is chasing.

Here is the order of events and how I interpret them...

1. at 7pm I got a call from Garth who informed me that Guerin had taken the morning skate, but was nowhere to be found for the warmup.

2. Strickland gets a simple text from Guerin that "we will know more in the morning."

3. I talk to Andy and tell him the three main teams that I have heard were the Bruins, Devils, and Caps.

4. Andy talks to sources and eliminates the Bruins and the Devils, and confirms the team is in the east.

5. I hear that it is a "contending team" in the East. I make some calls and eliminate Philly.

6. I hear that Washington, Montreal and Buffalo are possibilities

7. Botta reports that it is either Montreal or Washington.

8. CBC's Hockey Night in Canada believes it is Washington leading several other outlets to believe it is Washington.

9. Botta speculates that NJ could be in it noting that only Lou would be able to keep something so secretive.

10. Andy reports it is NOT Washington.

11. Sources tell me that Montreal is the team and the delay has to do with another deal that Montreal is trying to work out, perhaps with Calgary

12. We all sleep for about three hours

13. I am told it could also be Carolina while recording a podcast with Bill Clement that will air over the next four days.

14. An hour ago Botta reports that it "could take all day and something is holding up."


So given that I spend most of my life sorting through these kinds of plots here is what I think happened.

The Islanders had at least two or three teams that they were close to dealing Guerin to leading them to send him home. I believe the Capitals were the closest to done at that time. Something then happened as word got out of the Caps having traded for Guerin. I don't know if it was Washington pulling out or someone else upping the ante, but for guys at Hockey Night to report it done it must have been pretty close. And talking to my sources I too was close to reporting it done as I put it at an e4 an hour before CBC reported it.

But I believe Snow may have created a little bidding war here...Maybe even by sending Billy home...

The one thing I will say is that I would stick with Andy Strickland on this one. My guess is that Andy may even know what the team is, but can't yet say. So might Botta.

However, it is also quite possible that the deal is not done due to the fact that the other deal that the team getting Guerin needs to pull off may have been snagged....I will stay on it, but as I said....I am about to immediately start working on another blog here...because there is much going on..

As for Pronger to Boston....stay tuned...

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