Hockey Insiderr, An Anonymous NHL Source, Is Nothing But A Fraud: REVISITED

The Timeline

5:01 PM

“Hockeyy Insiderr” tweets the following:

This did not directly relate to my information sent to him, but it did mention that the Sharks were “active” on the trade market. My ears was perked as to what he would tweet next.

5:07 PM

I receive a reply in my inbox from the “insider” that blew my mind away:

"Thank you for the scoop, Eric. I will share this with my followers."

I sat there, looking at my phone, staring in disbelief. That was it? It was really that easy to prove that this supposed “insider” who had gained vast attention on social media was a complete fraud?

It was obvious at that point that this guy wasn’t who he claimed to be. If he really had “sources,” he would have checked with them regarding a trade between the Sharks and Bruins, and he obviously would have gotten nothing because there is no trade happening between the two teams.

What’s more, he never asked me a single question about the trade. He never questioned who my “source” was, whether I had broken trades before, or — more perplexingly — why didn’t I post it on my own site first? Golden Gate Sports covers the Sharks, so if I had some inside information that nobody knew about, wouldn’t I break the story on my site instead of giving it away to some anonymous “insider”?

5:09 PM

The big moment I had done all this work for:

Hmm…I wonder who that “West coast source” was?

5:10 PM

He wasn’t done quite yet. My email was longer than 140 characters:

Gee, a second round pick and a defenseman prospect. This “source” must really have some insight.

5:12 PM

Another tweet from the “insider”:

Exactly what I had told him: Clowe to the Bruins, second round pick and defenseman to San Jose, and the Bruins had backed off their demands.

5:13 PM

Last tweet:

I don’t know where he got the Leafs and Habs from, but undoubtedly the Bruins portion of the tweet came courtesy of yours truly.

8:12 PM

The “Hockeyy Insiderr” finishes it off with this post on his website that did a pretty nice job of paraphrasing my email:

"According to Western source, the Bruins are the front runners in acquiring Clowe from the Sharks. There is an offer on the table for 2nd round pick plus a defenseman prospect. At first, the Sharks asking price was a 1st plus a prospect, but that has since gone down. Leafs and Habs remain interested but the Bruins are the front runners at this point."