Cracking The “Esiason Code”
Does anyone else feel like Tom Hanks? Looking to crack Boomer Esiason’s tweets is like trying to solve a Dan Brown mystery! Are the NYR on the verge of deal?
We attempt to crack the “Esiason Code”.
The Chain of Events
It began Saturday Night with this tweet:
Its coming and it will be huge. Surprising, shocking, inevitable, and all about business. $$$ #NHL #tradedeadline
— Boomer Esiason (@7BOOMERESIASON) February 23, 2014
From there a firestorm of questions and sometimes cryptic answers began. Our own Will Cullen captured them here:
1. Gut Feeling, Callahan stays or goes? Goes
Callahan and Girardi go? Or just 1? I say just 1
2. Vanek for Callahan ++ No way!
3. Callahan to NJ? not now!
4. If the trading partner East or West? East
5. Looking for offense or defense? Offense
6. Ovechkin hahahahaha no way
7. More than 1 player leaving? I have 1 for 1. Maybe a conditional pick
8. Would they trade with Bruins, Pens, Philly, Devils, Isles? I don’t
think they would
9. Happy or not? First game was in 04 I think you won’t be happy
10. We looking at a tremendous upgrade? i would think so
11. done deal? The only thing that upends the deal is if said player
(Callahan) changes his mind about $$$
12. Callhan to Buffalo? Most likely in Free Agency
13. Is Cally going as a rental? yes
14. Prust? No
15. Staal, Hank, Stepan, Nash? All No
16. Buyers or Sellers? Both
17. I like Ott. Your thoughts? if he ain’t wearing a NYR jersey I can’t
stand him. Think Carcillo.
18. Is it Stewart? No
19. Moulson? No
20. Is the trade agreed upon? As I see it, yes
21. Olli Maatta? No
22. Pens? NEVER!
23. Colorado? No
24. Dubinsky? No
25. Matt Martin? wouldn’t that be something
26. will we be happy? passion of NYR fans is evident. If this happens, it
will be some debate
After reading that, I could solve the mystery of life on Mars faster. It didn’t end there as he continued today:
9:47AM:
It is not Moulson or Evander Kane
It is not Artem Anisimov and a first round pick
It is not PK Subban
Is it not Iginla
Callahan is not going to Toronto or Boston
10:18AM:
It is not Martin Erat
This was something that no-one saw coming
The player coming back to the Rangers played in Sochi
It is not the Penguins
It is not the Caps, Sens or Devils
DIGGING FOR ANSWERS
Anyone else have a headache? I know I do, so I went to my sources. The consensus is that Boomer may or may not know something. Even Boomer admitted this could all be a scare tactic to get Callahan to finally come down on his salary demands.
When we pressed one other source, he said the “deal will blow our minds”. The player coming back is not a “superstar” but someone of equal value and skill set. He also confirmed that it’s a team from the East and the “shock” would be that they are helping each other. Lastly, no one is really talking in the organization anymore, which indicates it may be as good as done.
DECIPHERING THE CODE
Boomer also reference the song “Reunited”, which many assumed it meant Marty St. Louis and Brad Richards. With the info we gathered we know it can’t be him.* One thing no one addressed is if it’s Callahan reuniting with a former teammate?
*(Update 2/24: One of our sources said this was old news, leading to the statement above. Boomer Esiason also said that he received this trade proposal 4 weeks ago.)
TSN’s Bob McKenzie stated that the NYR and their UFA’s have made no progress in contract talks.
That said, at this time, NYR don’t have anything imminent in terms of trade for either guy. Expect it all to play out over 7 to 10 days.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) February 23, 2014
If you listen to him and what we’ve said before, no trade will come until the deadline. So who will you choose to believe? It’s very probable that Boomer is right and so is Bob McKenzie.
Glen Sather is a master at playing this game. He will either get Callahan and Girardi to sign deals he feels makes sense or they will be moved. As of this moment, there are still clues that need decoding and we will be following it every step of the way.
Potential Trade Partners:
Boston Bruins – Patrice Bergeron (28 years old / 6.5M Cap Hit)
– How it fits: Played in Sochi, disliked by other teams
– How it doesn’t: Why would Boston trade a guy they signed thru 2022 for a rental?
Philadelphia Flyers – Jakub Voracek (24 years old, 4.25 Cap Hit)
– How it fits: Played in Sochi, offensive player, his shot hit Staal in the eye
– How it doesn’t: Would you give up a young player for a rental?
Montreal Canadiens – Max Pacioretty (25 years old, 4.5M Cap Hit)
– How it fits: Played in Sochi, disliked by other teams, offensive
– How it doesn’t: Why would MTL trade a guy they signed thru 2019 for a rental?
Washington Capitals – Brooks Laich (30 years old, 4.5M Cap Hit)
– How it fits: Tough to play against, not really an upgrade
– How it doesn’t: Did not play in Sochi
Washington Capitals – Marcus Johansson (23 years old, 2M Cap Hit)
– How it fits: Played in Sochi
– How it doesn’t: it just doesn’t fit
Tampa Bay Lightning – Martin St. Louis (38 years old, 5.6M Cap Hit)
– How it fits: Played in Sochi, Offensive
– How it doesn’t: needs to waive a no trade, superstar
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