Even though the Blues have been fairly quiet with just the signing of Ty Conklin as backup goaltender, there are some other player issues facing the team right now that we're waiting on.
B.J. Crombeen and Roman Polak remain two players from last year that the team has expressed interest in returning and have made the necessary steps to make it happen. Both have gotten qualifying offers meaning both are restricted free agents with the Blues holding the right to match any offer sheet or receive compensation if they let the player walk. And while Crombeen and Polak aren't exactly household names even in St. Louis, they did play important roles for the Blues during the course of the last season.
Last night, vigilant commenter Hildymac (SPOILER ALERT: You'll start reading her more often as an author around here shortly) made a fanpost last night saying several people on Twitter posted that Crombeen had signed a two year deal. This morning I look around the Internets and I don't find anything official. Only one Twitter person tweeted (I know, it sounds ridiculous) that Crombeen had signed. That person apparently read a post on that one hockey rumors site that we don't like to link around here because the guy with the fake name who runs it is right almost 3 percent of the time. And that's it. Well one tweeting by a person who's account name is BluesHockey (not the official Blues Twitter account) got retweeted by some people. It made it through the chain to our friend Norm Sanders at the Belleville News-Democrat who weighed in on the fact that Blues fans love grinders when they probably should love 30-goal scorers more. All that happens and it appears the Crombeen signing still isn't official.
With Polak, we've seen discussions based on the Twitter account with his name on it. Odds are it's a fake account based on some of the things posted on it. But some fans (many fans?) took it at face value when he said a contract had been worked out and details would be coming in a few days. Why? Because more and more of the hockey world has embraced Twitter as a way to get news broken and have instant analysis. The NHL draft was huge on Twitter with people like James Mirtle and Puck Daddy and guys from TSN breaking down picks in just seconds. When free agency opened last week. I didn't have TSN open on my computer, it was Twitter.
What's all this mean? Couple conclusions. First, sports fans (especially in hockey) love rumors. They want to know who is talking to who before the deal is done. Our most popular story on this Web site since the Blues were elminated was Gallagher's breakdown of a possible Dany Heatley trade to St. Louis and what a deal could look like.
Second, there are some good, valuable Twitter feeds for the NHL. Hell, you can follow me (GTBradLee) or Game Time (StLouisGameTime) or any number of reporters or bloggers. You can also follow the fake Brian Burke and Gary Bettman. There's a fake Chris Pronger. The Pension Plan Puppet guys say all sorts of nasty things about the Senators and Canadiens. Twitter is what you make of it.
But finally, just remember that when it comes to rumor and "breaking news," remember the source.
Commenters, what do you think of the Twitter? Who you following? Us? Let us know down below.