Cullen to Canes Challenge—Prove That I Didn't Nail It First!

Maybe it’s a case of petty-pomposity, or maybe I just have nothing better to do with my time. But my July 9 blog was the first written occurrence in the hockey world to speculate on the Rangers trading Cullen back to Carolina.

Click Here to See the First Written Mention of This Trade:

It wasn’t a case of sudden, brilliant prognosticating. Instead it was a simple case of putting 2 and 2 together (No I’m not cloning Brian Leetch, bringing them out of retirement and pairing them with each other).

It was reported that Carolina was looking for a third line center, and with the Rangers tight to the cap and having recently acquired Gomez and Drury, Cullen’s expendability and recent history with the Canes seemed to make this one obvious. Within a couple of days of July 9, this trade was being speculated everywhere. But on July 9, it was only “moi”.

The Challenge: If anyone can produce concrete evidence that this trade was publicly mentioned in writing before my post on July 9 at 4:06 PM Eastern Time, then I will owe you a bag of pucks.

Not much I admit, but I’m just an unpaid, volunteer blog writer. If by some miracle you do win this challenge, hit up Matt Cullen and his $2.8 million a year contract for a grander prize. Besides, humiliating the Hockey Humorist in public should be reward enough for any of you.

Ranger Tradewinds: A Hurricane or a Bunch of Hot Air?

On another slow news day for the Rangers, I offer up this speculative tidbit. With Carolina reportedly seeking a third line center and former Hurricane, Matt Cullen, one of the three most likely Rangers to be traded (along with Marek Malik and Paul Mara) in order to free up cap space, could Cullen be headed back to Carolina?

There are no specific rumors out there (other than this one) regarding this potential trade, but depending upon the priorities of GMs Glen Sather and Jim Rutherford (who apparently is shopping a defenseman to acquire the center), it could make sense for both of them.

Sam Weinman, the Rangers beat reporter for The Journal News, expects the Rangers “to close in on something fairly soon”. However, it remains anyone’s guess as to which one of the known “somethings” is closed first.