I truly hesitate to do this, because it reads as though I’m talking down to people even though that’s the farthest thing from my intention. But there is still almost one month until the trade deadline, and this thing is already death-spiraling out of control. Your e-mails and comments are ALWAYS welcomed, but I’m going to end up muttering to myself and wearing a bathrobe if I get any more “Is there a Jason Spezza trade coming?” e-mails.

There’s NOTHING happening on that front right now, at all. Not unless I’m being massively deceived, when in this case I’m fairly certain there’s zero reason for deception. Could it come up in the future? Perhaps, but I seriously, seriously doubt it.

My serious question is, why do people buy this stuff? Is it just sugary fun? Is this stuff really believable? If it’s the former, I understand. Sports fandom, after all, is a hobby. If it’s the latter, I honestly and sincerely hope that you re-evaluate how you get your news, not just about hockey but about everything happening in the world.

I’m sure that writing this will lead to a nasty e-mail in my inbox from someone, but I recently had several people asking me to confirm or deny a post on senschirp.ca. That led me to do two things: first, check out what in the world senschirp.ca was, and second, try to keep from smashing my head against the nearest wall. Really? Senschirp.ca? Yet another anonymous person who throws stuff out there while offering ZERO credentials for his or her “reporting”? Honest to God, if we get to the point where legitimate reporting is seen as being on the same level as senschirp.ca, I’m just quitting. I’ll find a new profession.

I’ll stop my rant now, because nobody likes to hear a sportswriter complain. Let’s make this productive. Here are some things that I CAN tell you about the trade deadline:

1) There are a lot of teams, over the next few weeks, that are going to be motivated to sell, either because of playoff positioning or because of bloated payrolls.

2) Dean Lombardi’s phone will be ringing, a lot, because of the Kings’ cap space. You’re going to hear the Kings mentioned in a ton of trade rumors, because every other GM is going to have their eyes on the Kings, regardless of whether the Kings are even interested.

3) Just because the phone rings, and because GMs talk, doesn’t mean a trade is coming. Usually, it’s just talk. Often an offer is made and rejected. Sometimes an offer leads to a different offer, or talks about different players. Anyone who equates a talk with an automatic trade is severely misguided.

4) If I legitimately find out that the Kings have a serious interest in a player, I’ll report it. If not, there’s zero motivation for me to go chasing my tail trying to find out every single player that has been offered to Dean Lombardi. I’d never have time to eat.

If this irritated you, I apologize. We’ll get back to talking about hockey with a live chat during tonight’s game. They have been really enjoyable, thanks to your participation. If I can find out about Oscar Moller’s status today, I’ll let you know.