"How close did we come, we shook hands on it, that's how close.

"I'd been on it since Europe. I had an agreement with Len Barrie. I asked him if he had the authority to make the trade, and he assured me that he did, because he was an owner.

"But the next day, I found out that he didn't. He went to run the deal by [GM] Brian Lawton, who wanted no part of it. As I understood it, the way it was told to me, Barrie was still going to make the deal, but then he was told that he couldn't unless he got the approval of [co-owner] Oren Koules.

"Koules shot it down, that was the end of it."

-Glen Sather, GM for the New York Rangers on how close they were in trading for Steven Stamkos in 2008. More from Kevin Power of Blueshirt Banter.