Box office blatherings

As far as Rumors go, Boltsmag tends not to dwell in that category because of individuals who have spread nothing but bullcrap the past year and have had that bullcrap eaten up by the masses.

In the past I've been fed rumors that come by way of the St. Pete Times Forum box office. There have been various things that have fallen my way from ticket reps and from others in the box office that always gie me a chuckle - if not make me roll my eyes and worry about hte future fo the Lightning franchise.

An example of which would be a rumor passed on to me by a potential season ticket holder in 2000, who was talking to a ticket rep about the status of then-QMJHL wunderkind Brad Richards. Would Richards be signed before the junior deadline by the Lightning or woudl they just give up on him? What was the status with that?

THe ticket rep happened to pass on the "knowledge" that the Lightning were either going to trade Richards or not sign him because the Bolts were planning to go after quality players who were ready to contribute right now... not bring in more kids to build for the future.

One Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe trophy later, I wonder where aforementioned Ticket Rep is now?

...

The last rumor I heard by way of the Times Palace box office centered around injured defensiveman Pavel Kubina. There was supposedly another reason Pavel was being kept out of action and that was because of his imminent trade to the Washington Capitals for Olaf "Ollie the Goalie" Kolzig. Never mind there was a roster freeze in effect, never mind that the team was playing with only five defensivemen and that was an obscene challenge in itself... The Lightning were to deal with their unstable goaltender position by trading not only in-conference but also in-division...

:roll:

I might here some more Box office blatherings in the future and I'll pass them along if and when it happens. Rumors -- can't trust them, can't believe them, can only roll your eyes and chuckle at them 95 percent of the time.