Well there you have it, Horcoff isn’t coming to Edmonton on a PTO and Gryba is still on the market. Brandon Pirri has signed in New York and if things follow the same path, Raffi Torres will still be a UFA by the time the 2016/17 NHL season starts.
All of the things I have tossed out there in the last week or so have passed without happening and I feel bad for you the reader but unfortunately that’s how she goes. Not everything I’m told comes to fruition, in fact very little of it comes true. I don’t put tons of concern into that though because, to be honest, it’s no skin off of my back. I don’t write for anybody but myself if we’re being completely frank.
I’m stoked that you will come to our site here and read what we have to say and comment on it but it’s really no different that heading over to the water cooler or coffee machine at work and having a chat about the Oilers.
That being said, Bob Stauffer mentioned on Oilers Now! that Matt Benning is signing somewhere (talked about 4 or 5 other teams being in the mix but tossed EDM and LA out specifically) by tomorrow afternoon and to keep an eye on Michael Stone.
I asked my source about Stone and it said that the Oilers are going to watch the Stone situation “loosely”. I guess that means they’ll be keeping an eye on him to see if he re-signs with the club or is shopped.
Stone is coming off of knee surgery and recently signed a 1-year deal with $4M according to Capfriendly.com
Now to the Main Attraction!
The title of the post is called “Questionable Sources” because of this post by Matt Henderson.
“It had been reported by some questionable sources that the Oilers were relatively close to signing veteran and former Captain Shawn Horcoff to a PTO. At the same time those questionable sources also suggest that Gryba was close to signing a PTO with the team.”
Now, as far as I know there were three accounts on Twitter speaking to one or both of the Horcoff/Gryba PTO rumours.
Eric Gryba has, in fact, been offered a PTO by the #Oilers. I'm not sure, however, if he has accepted yet. Likely hoping for a contract.
— Kurt Leavins (@KurtLeavins) August 24, 2016
Kurt is a good guy. we’ve had a few chats on Twitter in the past. He’s not known to be the breaker of Oilers’ news per se but a wonderful writer over at Oil on Whyte nonetheless.
.@EdmontonOilers & the Shawn Horcoff camp have spoken about a PTO. #Oilers could use him down the middle if RNH or Drats moves to RW……..
— Ball/Ice HKY Insider (@Boscorelli_HN) August 17, 2016
This account belongs to Joshua Marshall I believe (E3), and it’s the one that put out the Yakupov for Petrovic rumours earlier this summer. I’m of the belief that Marshall is a good friend of Petrovic’s and that rumour might’ve been a practical joke.
I’ve never met this bloke before, seen his posts in the Edmonton Oilers Fans page on Facebook a few times, but a chance to talk to him, I have not had. 3PD tells me he’s good sh*t though.
Tops Off for Horcoff Again? https://t.co/wpt1SLhKU9
*Please Retweet!* Thx!
… pic.twitter.com/GcTVFPZfWi— Beer League Heroes (@BeerLeagueHeroe) August 24, 2016
Personally I have no problem with folks claiming they have an inside track because I know the odds of that being true or not. I think the fact of the matter is that it’s entertainment, we live in a gossip culture and everybody wants to know what’s going on behind the curtain. It drives hits to websites and followers to Twitter accounts. If you’re fortunate to work for a major media player, those hits and followers turn into $$$.
So maybe that’s the motivation for folks to have these rumor accounts? Maybe there’s a pipedream for some bloggers that believe that if they post these things, they’ll get a job with a team or a media conglomerate. I don’t know.
I write because it’s fun. If something comes of it, great! If nothing, that’s okay too!
The problem I do have is when writers like Henderson use phrases like “Questionable Sources” when everyone knows who the bloody source is. We all drink from the same watering hole, do we not? It’s a dick move to be honest. Either you say who it is or you don’t write it.
I don’t know, maybe my ego is so big that I couldn’t fathom anyone talking about anything other than myself or maybe Henderson is afraid to link to my post where I wrote:
“I’ve been told there’s a chance that Shawn Horcoff and Eric Gryba will be offered a chance to make the 2016/17 Edmonton Oilers if they choose to accept a PTO.”
Then again maybe we don’t know but you can take a pretty educated guess if you’re paying attention.
So Henderson writes,
“…the Oilers were relatively close to signing veteran and former Captain Shawn Horcoff to a PTO. At the same time those questionable sources also suggest that Gryba was close to signing a PTO with the team.”
And I write that,
“there’s a chance…”
Maybe my post wasn’t the source but there’s a chance…
Well anyways, that Matt Henderson post on Hockeybuzz is a pretty big ego trip of its own in my opinion.
“I make an effort not to “Break” news unless I have a very good reason to believe I have good information. To date, it has happened once. It was Jeff Petry’s contract negotiation status…
I wouldn’t even consider stating that Horcoff and Gryba were close to signing PTOs without having heard that from a legitimate source.”
Well good for Matty. What a saint.
With regards to that break on Jeff Petry’s contract negotiations, I was talking to the exact same contact that Henderson was but I was told not to say anything online about it. So either in my naivety or my stupidity, the contact went to Henderson with the info and Matt posted it on Oilersnation and was on Lowetide’s show talking about it.
I’ve often found it weird that this person didn’t go to Jason Gregor, Lowetide, or a guy like Ryan Rishaug with the information. Why go to a guy that calls himself Beer League Hero or Matt Henderson?
Anyways, the tidbits I get told are things I feel I should share with you because I feel like you’d like to know. I’m not afraid to share them with you because, like I said above, it’s no skin off of my back and we don’t sell more shirts because of it.
My source trusts me and I trust it.
You should never be afraid to do or say something in fear of what others will think or say. Within reason of course.
Matt Henderson is a wonderful Oilers blogger, really. I have no qualms with him on a personal level. He’s great on Twitter and his spots on Reid Wilkins’ show are quite entertaining. If you’re not reading his posts on Hockeybuzz or Oilersnation, you really should be.
To conclude, I’m a bit bent about his post but what Mr.Henderson wrote is not wrong at all. The source of the information in his blog, be it my post or another, IS questionable. It should be.
But shouldn’t everything be questionable? Especially the shirts below!
