New York Islanders Sale Talks: Rich guy, not a scrivener, prefers not to

When we last visited rumors and hearsay about potential bidders among the "multiple parties" who have expressed interest to Charles Wang about buying his beloved Islanders, we (and "we" are totally using the royal "we" here) wrote some pompous and preachy stuff about how to take each report with a grain of salt and a dash of amusement:

Some reports are too good not to highlight, and this is one: There's a billionaire who might be interested in the Islanders, and hey, maybe he'll decide this weekend if he's going to go for it, and he'd go for it alone

To update that story, then, apparently the billionaire came to his senses over the weekend. Despite "the lengthiest conversation on the topic" that the billionaire and Syracuse Crunch owner Howard Dolgon have ever had, for some reason the rich(er) guy has decided not to buy the Islanders at this time:

the mystery money man behind a possible bid for the New York Islanders has reconsidered and said he's 99 percent sure he will not fund a purchase offer at this time.

Well, damn the luck. Guess our prince will have to come from somewhere else.

In an added wrinkle of this meta-rumor-sourcery -- and this is where the reporting chase gets amusing, if you have a certain lens on sports and life -- the Post-Standard in that report had this:

Tuesday night, ESPN.com reported that another potential Islanders bidder, Philadelphia-based hedge fund manager Andrew Barroway, is interested in including Dolgon in his group.

... yet if you visit that link, the ESPN story ("Updated: April 23, 2014, 1:27 PM ET") makes no mention of Dolgon.

Meanwhile on Tuesday, Chris Botta -- the reporting outlet for the sources that have placed Barroway in conversations -- had this ultimate poo-pooing of the Dolgon and his Canadian girlfriend mystery investor friend guy:

There's nothing going on with AHL Syracuse owner Howard Dolgon and an #Isles sale. There never was. Likely never will be.

— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) April 23, 2014

Did ESPN update its story to remove key information? (Wouldn't such a significant update require specific mention of a material change?) Or did the Post-Standard link the wrong story, or completely misunderstand/misrepresent what ESPN "has learned"?

Finally, the close of the Post-Standard story hints at what ultimately is going on with the Syracuse owner...

Reached by phone on Tuesday night, Dolgon said he does not know Barroway and has never spoken with him.

"Certainly I'm reachable, if he'd like to reach me,'' Dolgon said.

...namely: Syracuse Crunch owner and Brooklyn native would like to buy the Islanders, but doesn't have the money. Is open to partnering with someone who does.

P.S. So would I, er, I mean "we."