There were rumours, rumblings and no end of speculation Thursday in the aftermath of the NHL season being cancelled.
There was talk that maybe Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux were trying to spearhead emergency talks to try and "un-cancel" the season, perhaps reaching out to players.
Not true, says the Great One.
"I did talk to Mario today," Gretzky told the Fan 590 all-sports radio station in Toronto. "I had a brief conversation about pretty much what everyone else is talking about, can we believe we're in the situation we're in. Nobody understands why we're in this situation. Nobody has the answer to how we got here or how we're going to get out of here.
"To say Mario and I had a conversation to try to stir up the conversations and talks again, that's just not true."
The NHL Players' Association also denied rumours of players putting pressure on executive director Bob Goodenow to put another offer on the table.
"I've heard a number of rumours today about owners wanting to continue negotiations which Gary (Bettman) ended with his last final proposal," said NHLPA senior director Ted Saskin. "We've had no contact with the league office since our correspondence on Tuesday.
"All the players who we have spoken to understand the basis upon which Gary cancelled the season. As a result there is no expectation among the players that there would be further negotiation."
Saskin's counterpart Bill Daly, the NHL's executive vice-president and chief legal officer, also didn't expect talks to quickly resume.
"I have no reason to expect that. We haven't heard from the union since Tuesday night," Daly said from New York.
But the rumours of players getting involved to save the season persisted throughout the day.
"I've only heard it from other reporters myself," New York Islanders centre Michael Peca said from his Buffalo home Thursday. "I talked to the NHLPA and haven't heard anything to substantiate it."
A Detroit radio station reported Thursday that Red Wings veteran winger Brendan Shanahan turned down an interview request because he was involved in meetings.
"He got a call from a Detroit radio station and talked to an intern and simply declined an invitation for an interview," Shanahan's agent Rick Curran said Thursday from Philadelphia. "They fabricated the rest of it."
And Curran stressed Shanahan was not involved in any secret meetings.
"None whatsoever," Curran said.
New Jersey Devils CEO and GM Lou Lamoriello, who also sits on the NHL's board of governors, said he didn't know anything about it.
"All I've heard is all the rhetoric from phone calls like this (from the media)," Lamoriello, laughing, said from his New Jersey office. "I don't pay attention to that until somebody tells me factually.
"Believe me, I think I would have heard something factual but I just hear what everyone else is hearing (rumours). After a while you start believing it because you hear it so much but then you pinch yourself and remind yourself that there's probably nothing to it."
Said Red Wings GM Ken Holland: "I've heard the same rumours but I honestly don't know if there's any truth to it. I have no idea."
Agents Don Meehan and J.P. Barry represent more than 225 players between their two firms and neither of them knew any details of any secret talks involving players.
"I've had six of seven calls from media but none from players or agents," Meehan said from his Mississauga office. "I don't know anything about it. That doesn't mean it's not true, but I wouldn't know."
Ditto for Barry.
"I think all these people are trying to make something that isn't," Barry said of the rumours. "I mean, if a bunch of guys are telling something to (NHLPA president) Trevor Linden, then that's fine."
But it doesn't mean they're secretly negotiating behind the back of NHLPA executive director Bob Goodenow.
"Bob will be the one who get us a deal, no one else," Barry said.
The reality is likely that 730 players and 30 owners woke up Thursday morning and felt the heavy hangover of what transpired the day before, leading to all kinds of phone calls lamenting the situation.
"There seems to be a little bit of a sort of a panic mode because nobody ever thought we'd all get to this position," Gretzky told the Fan 590.
"As far as any kind of formal conversations, that's absolutely not true. First and foremost, the only way any kind of negotiating or deal can be done legally is between the two committees."
In fact, Gretzky has only spoken to one player.
"The only player that I've talked to since the cancellation of the season was our captain and our player rep Shane Doan. I had extensive talks with him for the last 24 hours, but to say that I'm involved or anyone's involved at this point of time, that's just not happening."
But Gretzky did seem to leave the door open for a minor miracle in the next 24 hours.
"At the end of the day, nobody wants this game not to be played and I think the players are showing that today. They want to play. The fans are obviously disgusted at everyone and they want to see hockey played. And yeah, there seems to be a resolution to this. They were so far apart for so many months . . . It seems like they're so close, or closer than they've ever been. Can't there be a deal to be done that's on the table?"