Harmless speculation about a rumor
Like most college students, I am a Facebook user. So when a friend told me that a legit looking Valtteri Filppula profile updated his status with “traded to Atlanta…”, I had to take a look myself. It is probably the most legit looking hockey player Facebook profile I’ve seen, but that still doesn’t mean I believe it. I just think it’s fun to speculate a trade where GM Ken Holland sends Filppula to Atlanta in return for Hossa, who would have to sign an extension for Holland to do this (I’d believe at least).
Here’s a small screencap of Filppula’s profile as of 11:06pm EST:
By 11:14pm, “Filppula” had removed his status and the portion on the profile thanking Wings fans:
If it’s not legit and it’s just some random guy who pretended to be Filppula and got over 125 Finnish friends and is now laughing at us, I will be quite impressed with the effort. Than again, I’m not saying I believe this is the real Filppula. But it is fun to speculate…
Update: As of 12am, you can no longer view his wall. By 12:15am, the profile picture changed to what you see below:
Yep it’s official, I’m a Facebook stalker but it’s my job to keep readers updated so that’s my excuse.
Update - 11am on Wednesday: After I went to sleep, his profile was apparently deleted. But right before it was, “there was a caption on a pic of him and Hudler that said “Me and this midget are going to win a Cup in Atlanta.” For more information and some fans who have done their googling homework, read the comments below this post.
On one hand, this could make sense because Hossa could command the price of a Filppula and Hudler type player and we may not have heard anything because GM Ken Holland is trying to sign Hossa to a longer term contract before the trade goes through.
On the other hand, if this was actually true I feel we might have heard about it through some other avenue and why would Filppula know already?
If I had to pick a side, I would say it’s not true, but the guy behind the profile is a genius with waay too much time on his hand and actually knows Filppula a bit too well. But apparently since everyone has an opinion on this facebook trade, it’s quite an interesting topic to speculate and even if nothing comes of it like I suspect, it’s been fun.
Update - 12:40pm on Wednesday: Thanks to Bruce MacLeod at Red Wings Corner, we know that Valtteri Filppula is at the Wings practice right now.
Valtteri Filppula is on the ice at Joe Louis Arena right now, practicing with the rest of the Red Wings. That means that the intriguing facebook find posted on Behind The Jersey — a Filppula facebook page saying that he had been traded to Atlanta — isn’t valid.
As I said before, I posted this because there was a small chance it was legit (but an unlikely one) and I just thought it was fun to speculate the possibilities of a big trade going down like that. Unlike certain websites, I am not one to talk a lot about rumors, but this was a hard one to pass up. And the many LetsGoWings.com forum members who have commented on this 23 page thread regarding this very topic will agree with me.
Update - 3:30pm on Wednesday
Bruce MacLeod talked to Filppula after practice today and he says it isn’t his Facebook account.
I talked with Filppula after practice. That’s not his facebook account.
Facebook Filppula is now back up and he’s apparently single now. Here’s a screencap:
Now I just wish I knew who the brains behind this operation was because this was certainly impressive to say the least.
Update - 6pm on Thursday:
In conclusion, this rumor will be laid to rest. It was fun to speculate, which is why I kept updating this post (plus it was a nice break from homework and exams). Both Kevin Allen @ USA Today and Craig Custance @ Atlanta Journal-Constitution briefly addressed the Facebook Filppula rumor in articles today:
You know that the hockey world has entered the 21st century when the Atlanta Thrashers and Detroit Red Wings had to deny a rumor that appeared on a bogus Valtteri Filppula Facebook page earlier this week.
Myth: Valtteri Filppula said on his Facebook page that he’d been traded from Detroit to Atlanta in a deal for Marian Hossa.
Truth: It was a fake. Filppula has contacted the Red Wings front office to alert them that somebody is using his name on Facebook. Actually, it’s fairly common for people to do that, which is pretty scary. More than one of the Thrashers has said people have used their names online, and had conversations with friends and families posing as them. Hey, that’s a story.
In the comment section of Craig’s article, a reader asked how he knows which rumors to look into and which one to ignore. Craig’s response:
You look at the source. But even something like the Facebook rumor, I made some calls/texts/emails because in this day in age it wouldn’t be surprising if that’s how a story like this broke.
While the guy or girl behind the Facebook Filppula profile probably had a good laugh at us Wings fans speculating a trade of this magnitude, it looks like Filppula has actually talked to the Wings front office about the fake profile so I wonder if any action will be taken.
Thanks to the many readers for visiting Behind the Jersey over the last 48 hours. BTJ usually does not address rumors, but I hope you still find it a good source for Red Wings news and opinions and decide to visit again!
Related Posts
12 Responses to “Harmless speculation about a rumor”
Leave a Reply
February 20th, 2008 at 3:11 am
I’m glad I’m not the only one staying up late playing with Facebook!
If that’s not his profile, it’s the best hoax I’ve ever seen and the prankster is playing it to perfection. If you’re going to just screw with people, why not leave the status update up and keep the wall? Seems like you’d trick more people that way.
The only chink in the armor is that if you do some googling, supposedly his girlfriend’s name is Heidi, not Ariel. But I suppose things could have changed.
If you look at the guys that “Flip” is friends with, it includes his brother and cousin, Eric Himelfarb (who would make a fake profile for him, honestly), and most of the Wings that he’s friends with are younger guys and have candid shots in their profiles too (Howard, Quincey).
Usually I’d be 100% skeptical about something like this, but this one has enough realistic stuff in it that I feel like it could be true. It’s at least plausible. And a brilliant hoax if it’s not true.
I think it’s high time that a major trade breaks on facebook.
February 20th, 2008 at 3:21 am
Update: His profile is now gone. One poster claims that before it became as invisible as Flip himself has been lately, there was a caption on a pic of him and Hudler that said “Me and this midget are going to win a Cup in Atlanta”.
Again, it’s either real or the best hoax I’ve ever seen.
And if we moved both Flip and Huds…can’t say I care as long as we lock Hossa up. Hossa is NASTY.
February 20th, 2008 at 4:00 am
On the same note, however, apparenlty the person he’s supposedly “in a relationship” with is like a fifteen year old high school kid…..
February 20th, 2008 at 7:40 am
[…] be a great trade, but Hossa would bring that shot on the power play that everybody’s looking for. Harmless speculation about a rumor | Behind the Jersey __________________ "Picked off by Michigan State, 3 on 1 down the ice. Abdelkader to the […]
February 20th, 2008 at 10:12 am
No Effing way. That’s the worst trade if true ever.
That does look legit as hell though.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:14 am
It would be bittersweet to lose two young guys like Filppula and Hudler but if the Wings did acquire Hossa and could sign him beyond this season like Packer says that would be pretty sweet.
February 20th, 2008 at 11:17 am
The Atlanta fan in me would be really ecstatic to have Filppula and Hudler.
The Detroit fan in me would be very interested to see how well Hossa takes to playing in the Western Conference, and would look to see if Detroit locks him up. Hossa has said that he likes it in Atlanta, but he’s also said he “wants to play for a [Stanley Cup] contender.” My Wings are definitely a cup contender, that’s for sure.
It’ll be interesting to see what really happens, but I’m very skeptical that Holland would send those two south for anyone other than Hossa. And even then, I would expect Hossa to have been signed to an extension first.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:40 am
I cannot believe people are taking information on a player’s fake Facebook page as being possibly accurate.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:52 pm
There’s nothing impressive whatsoever about anybody who creates a hoax. So-called genius or not, whoever’s behind that or anything similar needs to grow up.
February 21st, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I hope that “genius” (it doesn’t really take much brain power to fill out some boxes for a Facebook profile) takes this down now that Val has brought it to the attention of the Wings front office. I’m not a legal expert, so I don’t know if there will be any trouble with the law, but I think it is creepy when people pose as pro athletes, actors, etc. on sites like MySpace and Facebook. I know I would be freaked out if someone used my name and photos to create a page and pose as me.
Speculation on a Facebook hoax is something I’d expect to see on a gossip site.
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:35 am
Amy- I’d first like to thank you for your honest comment regarding this situation and I’m sorry you were disappointed to see BTJ cover this story.
I know, of course, that there are unfortunately many many fake profiles of hockey players at all levels, especially the NHL. And yes, they are pretty easy to point out. However, there are some Red Wings players/prospects (ie. Jimmy Howard and Kyle Quincey) who do really have a Facebook accounts and I know those are accurate because I have friends who are real life friends with these individuals and thus I know those are real.
This Filppula account was created by someone who does know Filppula a scary amount, I will certainly give you that. That profile contains 144 Finnish friends, 600+ friends, has a history older than his career w/ the Wings, and is linked to other accounts of minor leaguers, known friends, known family, and even kids off the summer camp program. Several photos are not able to be found online, and do not appear to be photoshopped (this last sentence was taken from a user at the LetsGoWings.com forum thread).
For those reasons, I elected to post this to my blog because it was the most realistic hockey player account I have seen in my life. Yes, there was a very small chance that it was legit because it is, in fact, Facebook, but I felt it was too good of a story to pass up. I mean two different reporters, Atlanta and Detroit beat reporters, thought it was a reasonable enough rumor to actually follow-up on it.
And yes, there is definitely a good chance that the person behind the fake Filppula account will get in some sort of legal trouble. If I recall correctly, numerous others have gotten into trouble after impersonating a celebrity/well-known person on Facebook. And yes, I probably shouldn’t have used the word genius to describe this person. That was a poor word choice on my part.
I hope this helps to explain where I’m coming from and I hope you have a great weekend. If you leave another comment, I won’t be able to respond until I get back from spring break. Thanks.
February 27th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Craig Custance is a professional journalist, a writer I happen to be a big fan of. He *briefly* looked into the situation because it is his job to report any new information on the Hossa saga for anxious fans in Atlanta. He only reported on it after he was 100% sure that there was no truth to it. He didn’t have a minute-by-minute breakdown of profile tweaks.
I am not a regular reader of this website; I was referred to this link by a couple of fans from Atlanta who thought the absurdity of all this was hilarious. I have never seen the profile in question, but I was told by a couple people that “Val” was “in a relationship” with some high school kid. Yep, that sounds like all kinds of legitimate right there. I student teach in a middle school, and the obsessive analyzing of social networking website profiles is practically a daily ritual among that crowd. This just appeared to be more of the same.
Now, I am just “harmlessly speculating,” but I would think that the Red Wings organization and the NHL have made it pretty clear what is expected of players when it comes to the internet. In my years of being an NCAA athlete, my teammates and I sat through at least a half dozen speeches from coaches and athletic administrators about proper internet behavior. I even had to sign a few things saying that I wouldn’t do this or that online. I would expect that if these precautions were taken with members of a non-marquee women’s college team, then there would probably be at least something similar done with professional athletes (and I’m assuming Jiri Tlusty slept through that meeting).
Now, I can’t speak for Valtteri, but I can imagine that if I were in his position, I’d be pretty embarrassed. It’s unfortunate that the antics of some low-life on Facebook have been plastered all over the internet for the entire hockey world to mock, all in the name of a juicy rumor blog post.