We regret to say we cannot confirm nor deny that any questions were asked of any alleged trade demands involving current or former members of the Montreal Canadiens or indeed any other Quebec-based NHL franchise.
Furthermore, we are not in a position to affirm, let alone contradict, any talk of any kind surrounding Jaroslav Halak or any other Slovakian hockey players, a group including, but not limited to, netminders.
Most especially Ruefrontenac.com reports carrying unconfirmed quotes from someone who may or may not be Habs GM Bob Gainey carrying the suggestion that a certain Slovak national has indeed made a trade request, possibly through Allan "I tweet therefore I am" Walsh, who may or not be his agent.
Don't even get us started.
We couldn't possibly confirm such information, and will vigorously contest and litigate any attempted portrayals to the contrary.
What we will say is this: "It's between me and my agent, I'm not going to say yes or no."
The above quote can be attributed to Halak, but only in so far as it is not misconstrued as an admission of any kind.
Same goes for this quote: "I guess it's positive, that some other teams have shown interest in me, that Bob called them."
In no way should this be interpreted as confirming the Ruefrontenac.com reports that Gainey contacted the Philadelphia Flyers about the 24-year-old, who will be a restricted free agent next July.
Gainey may well be in his hometown of Peterborough, Ont., to carry the Olympic torch today, but if you cite us as a reference in the dissemination of such information we will be obliged to deny it.
However, we are happy to confirm without reservation or condition that Halak did say "we are two young goalies, we both want to play, but even if I don't play, I'm a team guy, I just want to win ... I'm happy to be here."
Halak has started only 4 of the Habs' 17 games since Walsh's well-publicized and ill-advised tweet concerning Carey Price's win-loss record following a 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Nov. 7.
He's 2-2 over that period, including a 4-3 loss to Buffalo on Monday.