"There was a little bit of confusion that sprang from a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article on Wednesday that stated two of the people who are interested in buying the Stars are also inquiring about a possible purchase of the St. Louis Blues.

Stars' stalking horse Tom Gaglardi is not one of those people.

My guess is that the two mentioned in the article are Detroit businessman Christopher T. Charlton and local sports entrepreneur Chuck Greenberg. (UPDATE: Greenberg said he is not interested in buying the Blues). Allen Americans owner Doug Miller is from the St. Louis area and is a huge Cardinals fan, but I believe his hockey interest is anchored in Dallas. He has supported youth hockey here for more than a decade.

Which brings us to Gaglardi, and where his bid is. Several people I have talked to said he is in New York trying to push through all of the paperwork that needs to be pushed through, and this is a difficult time to do that. In addition to lawyers, there also are financial people involved in drawing up loans, and this is a volatile time in the financial market.

St. Louis representative Robert Caporale told the Post-Dispatch:

"We're basically told that (the Stars' sale) is going to happen any day," Caporale said. "I don't think it puts us in a bind. If (the bidders) are smart, they'll submit a compelling proposal with respect to the Blues, but I can't predict what they'll do."

I have been told that ``any day'' is not exactly accurate, because there are so many steps.

Gaglardi and Monarch Investments already have done their negotiating, and now lawyers for the many lenders and the NHL and the Stars are looking at all of the paperwork. They are closer than they were two weeks ago, but nobody really knows when all of the lawyers will be satisfied."